FSI will exhibit at the Semicon China tradeshow to be held March 21-23, 2007 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center (SNIEC) in Shanghai China. Semicon China is the largest and oldest semiconductor manufacturing show in China, one of the worlds fastest growing economies. In five years the number of visitors has gone up more than six fold, from 4,000 to over 25,000, and the number of exhibitors has increased from 208 to over 1,100.

The theme of the exhibit will be “FSI’s experience in advanced semiconductor manufacturing helps China IC industry grow”. The exhibit will feature the ZETA^® G3 third generation batch spray processor, already installed in China in 130nm and 65nm production, and will emphasize FSI’s position worldwide in leading fabs at 65nm and beyond.

“We invite our customers to stop by our exhibit so that we can show them our appreciation for their acceptance of our products and technologies,” said Alan Tai, general manager Southeast Asia and Greater China. “We are eager to share our knowledge of current industry trends in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. We will also be happy to arrange specific meetings with our experts. Come visit us and let us show you how we can help you grow too.”

FSI has recently qualified a new Surfscan SP2 in its class 1 applications laboratory, extending particle detection capability down to 30 nm. The new system will allow FSI to continue to support its customers and its own product and application development programs through the 45nm technology node and beyond. The addition of the SP2 is part of a company wide effort to recharacterize all tools and processes at smaller particle sizes, ultimately providing direction for a coordinated program of reoptimization and product development.

“Clearly, as device geometries continue to shrink, smaller and smaller particles become significant,” said Jeff Butterbaugh, FSI chief technologist, “An important requirement of FSI products is to remove these particles from the wafer surface. If we can’t see them, we can’t know how well our equipment is performing. The addition of the new Surfscan SP2 allows us to continue to optimize current processes and develop new processes to meet our customers’ needs, at least through the next generation.”

“The ITRS roadmap anticipates a number of developments that will challenge cleaning processes,” continues Butterbaugh. “Shallower junctions will emphasize the need for resist stripping and cleaning processes that minimize surface damage, material loss and dopant loss. Porous low k dielectrics need cleaning and rinsing processes that do not degrade film properties. Increased integration of greater functionality on the chip, such as passive electronic components and lens or filters for optoelectronic devices, may not be compatible with current cleaning methods. To meet these and other challenges we need to maintain state-of-the-art capabilities in our applications laboratory.”

The Surfscan SP2 provides the increased sensitivity and throughput needed to monitor tool and process performance down to 30nm. Incorporating a new ultraviolet (UV) laser, new darkfield optics and advanced data processing algorithms, the Surfscan SP2 finds defects as small as 30nm, at throughputs up to five times better than the prior-generation tool. It can separate pits from particles and is designed to accommodate engineered substrates, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI), strained silicon and strained SOI.

Figure 1: The new Surfscan SP2 can detect particles as small as 30nm.

The Surfscan is only the latest addition to the impressive list of capabilities already found in FSI’s class 1 laboratory. Of course, the lab features FSI’s flagship 300mm surface conditioning products: MAGELLAN^® Immersion Cleaning System, ANTARES^® CryoKinetic Cleaning System and ZETA^® Spray Cleaning System. To ensure state-of-the-art process results, these process tools are facilitized with high purity gas and chemical delivery systems. In addition, these tools are supported by advanced 300mm analytical tools, including a Surfscan SP1/TBI, a thin-film ellipsometer, a XRF spectrometer, an FT-IR spectrometer, an automated 4-point conductivity probe, a full-wafer SEMVision SEM tool (200mm), and other miscellaneous support equipment such as microscopes. The lab also has the ability to create challenge wafers, containing contaminant particles of known type and size, used to test particle removal performance.

“Ultimately, our lab enables us to deliver what's important to our customers—development and verification of technology-enabling and cost-efficient processes that are production-ready to meet leading-edge device demands,” said Tom Wagener, FSI Applications Engineering Director. “Using the resources of the FSI lab, we partner with customers throughout the world to develop new processes to solve their problems and advance to the next technology nodes – often implemented on their existing equipment. Faster implementation means our customer's achieve faster revenue and return on their investment with our products.”

To learn more about how the FSI Advanced Process Lab can benefit your lab, please contact your local account manager or click here to complete an experiment request form.

Since launching the first Knowledge Services™ Seminar Series (KSS) in Asia in 2004, the event has developed into a regularly scheduled, worldwide program. KSS has been held in Europe and the Middle East, the United States, and is now returning to Asia with a series of seminars to be held in:

• Seoul on April 11
• Singapore on April 13
• Shanghai on April 17
• Hsinchu on April 19
• Tainan on April 20 (does not include morning session)

The series will retain its popular daylong format with a morning short course and an afternoon of presentations from IC maker presentations describing their real-world problems and solutions and FSI experts on our latest products and technologies. You can attend both sessions, or you can attend just one, as they have independent content and focus.

Morning Session: Fundamentals of Particle Adhesion and Removal: This short course will review the state of the art in understanding the forces that control particle adhesion to surfaces in different media. Participants will acquire understanding of the effects of the particle (size, shape, roughness, composition and position), substrate (roughness and composition), and intervening medium (composition) on the resulting adhesion force. Participants will also learn which forces dominate the adhesion interaction at different conditions. Discussions of particle deformation at equilibrium as well as interactions between nondeformable particles and substrates will be featured.

• In Singapore and Seoul taught by Dr. Srini Raghavan, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona.
• In Shanghai and Hsinchu by Dr. Stephen Beaudion, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University.
• The morning session is NOT offered in Tainan

Afternoon Session: The afternoon will kick off with engaging keynote speeches from IC makers looking at technology drivers, followed by a series of presentations on surface preparation and yield enhancement.

• Customer presentations from Magnachip, SMIC, UMC, Samsung, Hynix, Chartered.
• Surface preparation topics include: Ni and NiPt stripping, ash-free, all wet resist stripping, damage-free particle removal, ultra-low defectivity, defect removal and improved yield and selective nitride etch.

“These seminars signal a new era in collaborative communication and raise the bar for leading suppliers to provide ‘knowledge’ services,” said Don Mitchell, FSI chairman and CEO. “As a leading supplier with over 30 years of semiconductor industry experience, we want to offer our customers around the world an opportunity to exchange information on a variety of levels. Since 2003 FSI has had direct sales and marketing operations in all its global markets and we view these seminars as a natural extension of the type of technology sharing and frequent interaction that will increase our understanding of regional expectations and result in our better addressing customer’s needs.”

To view the seminar topics and request a copy of the presentation CD, Click here.