Development and Commercialization of Automated High-Speed Spectroscopic Ellipsometer "UNECS-3000A"
- Dramatically Improved Performance Through an Automated High-Speed Mapping Function -

August 29, 2011 ULVAC, Inc.

ULVAC, Inc. (Headquarters: Chigasaki, Kanagawa; President and CEO: Hidenori Suwa) is pleased to announce that it has developed and will begin sale of the "UNECS-3000A" Spectroscopic Ellipsometer, which can measure the thinness of a thin film and optical constant.

【Background】

A spectroscopic ellipsometer is a high-precision measurement instrument that uses the principal of ellipsometry to measure the thickness and refractive index of a transparent or semi-transparent thin film without making contact, and is an instrument that is used widely in a large number of fields such as the semiconductor and liquid crystal display industries.
Ulvac, Inc. first released the "UNECS-2000" compact, high-speed spectroscopic ellipsometer last September to favorable reviews.
This spectroscopic ellipsometer "UNECS-2000" has a compact sensor and performs measurements at a higher speed which was difficult to achieve with the previous spectroscopic ellipsometer. Commercialization of a product equipped with an automatic mapping function to measure the thickness distribution of the substrate surface and support φ300 mm substrates was expected as a next new product.

【Overview】

The “UNECS-3000A” automated high-speed spectroscopic ellipsometer to go on sale combines the ultra-fast measuring capabilities of “UNECS-2000” high-speed spectroscopic ellipsometer with an automated mapping function that can handle φ300 mm substrates, thus enabling greatly enhanced measurement of film thickness distribution. For example, it takes just 120 seconds to measure 106 points on a φ300 mm wafer. This is less than one fifth time for conventional products from other companies, meaning dramatic time savings on film thickness distribution evaluation. The “UNECS-3000A” is extremely versatile and can be used for purposes such as evaluating resist film thickness for semiconductor lithography and organic EL display film, and in a wide range of settings including on production lines and in research and development. Product features are described below.

1. Automated mapping function
The product is equipped with an programmable R-θ stage that can support a maximum φ300 mm substrate which can automatically measure the thickness of the substrate surface and optical constant distribution and display the measurement results on a color map. 2. Ultrahigh-speed measurements
This product can achieve ultra-high-speed measurements (maximum speed of 20ms/point) with the snapshot measurement by using spectroscopic ellipsometry with two high-order retarders which was impossible for the previous spectroscopic ellipsometer. 3. Cost performance
This product offers incredible cost performance because it comes standard with a lot of functions such as φ300 mm automated mapping, automated height adjustment, etc., a lap-top computer, analysis software, and other equipment. 4. Editable materials table file
The materials table file, containing optical constants for substrates and films, can be edited and added to by users, enabling the easy creation of user-unique databases. 5. Multi-layer film measurements
Up to six layers of film thickness can be analyzed at one time. (Film thickness and optical constants can be measured simultaneously only for the upper layer of film.)

【Sales Objectives and Price】

The Price of "UNECS-3000A" automated high-speed spectroscopic ellipsometer will be 15,000,000 yen (which includes the main unit, controller, and computer). We expect to sell 20 units during the first year.
The "UNECS-3000A" automated high-speed spectroscopic ellipsometer announced here will also be shown at the Japan Vacuum Show 2011 held August 31 (Wed.) to September 2 (Fri.) at the Tokyo Big Sight (West Hall 1, Booth No. 8) and at the JAIMA EXPO 2011 from September 7 (Wed.) to 9 (Fri.) held at Makuhari Messe.

ULVAC, Inc. Components Division compo_info