Charge Erasure Tool eliminates electrical charge build-up.
Press Release Summary:
RapidErase(TM) UV-based system, based on company's 200 and 300 mm photostabilization platforms, gives chipmakers high-throughput process for bringing voltage levels back in line, both in front- and back-end-of-line environments as well as in post-manufacture probe and test area. It incorporates microwave-driven UV source and precisely controlled thermal energies that result in high-throughput, non-damaging charge-release process.
Original Press Release:
Axcelis Introduces Next-Generation Charge Erasure Tool
RapidErase(TM) eliminates charge build-up with production-proven, cost-effective platform
BEVERLY, Mass.--Jan. 10, 2002--Axcelis Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ:ACLS), today introduced RapidErase, a next-generation ultraviolet (UV) based system designed to improve manufacturing yield by eliminating damaging electrical charge build-up in semiconductor devices. Based on Axcelis' production-proven 200mm and 300mm photostabilization platforms, RapidErase meets the IC industry's need for fast, reliable and cost-efficient charge erasure in non-volatile and Flash memory device manufacturing, and any IC on which charge build-up can present a manufacturing yield problem.
Electrical charge build-up - the result of plasma- or ion-assisted processes and thermal annealing - can lead to electron tunneling, dielectric damage or material breakdown across the gate oxide, all of which can reduce wafer yields. Offering the industry's shortest charge-erasure times, Axcelis' RapidErase system gives chipmakers a high-throughput process for bringing voltage levels back in line, both in front- and back-end-of-line environments as well as in the post-manufacture probe and test area.
"As chipmakers push ahead with device shrinks and the use of
advanced materials, charge build-up will continue to be a significant threat to fab yields," said Jan Paul van Maaren, vice president and general manager of Axcelis Technologies' Curing and Cleaning Systems. "Our collaborative experiments with customers have shown that the use of tailored, high-intensity UV radiation in combination with controlled thermal energies is successful in neutralizing these damaging charge build-ups. In RapidErase, Axcelis is extending its photostabilization leadership to offer the shortest charge-erasure times on a robust, cost-effective platform."
RapidErase incorporates Axcelis' proprietary microwave-driven UV source and precisely controlled thermal energies on a production-proven photostabilization platform. This results in a high-throughput, non-damaging charge-release process that has minimal impact on manufacturing flow in fab and probe and test area processes. Axcelis' range of bulb spectrums allows the process to be tailored to a variety of device types and customer-specific applications and new smaller feature technology nodes, including the combination of charge erasure and photostabilization processes on a single tool.
Backed by Axcelis' process support and UV-based development
knowledge, RapidErase is now available to meet customer requirements for both 200mm and 300mm manufacturing.
