KLA Publishes 2021 Global Impact Report And Shares New Climate Goals


KLA is publishing its latest Global Impact Report, detailing progress of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs, results and commitments from the past year. Managing our ESG impact is an important part of our mission to advance humanity through devices and ideas that transform our world and help shape a better future for generations to come. “Our accomplishments in 2021 w... » read more

The Drive Toward More Predictive Maintenance


Maintenance is a critical behind-the-scenes activity that keeps manufacturing facilities running and data centers humming. But when not performed in a timely manner, it can result in damaged products or equipment, or significant system/equipment downtime. By shifting from scheduled maintenance to predictive maintenance, factories and electronic system owners can reap substantial benefits, in... » read more

Testing The Stack: DFT Is Ready For 3D Devices


When existing advanced 2D designs already push the limits of design-for-test (DFT) tools, what hope do developers have of managing DFT for 3D devices? Can anyone afford the tool run time, on-chip area demand, pattern count, and test time? The answer, from an array of experts, is yes, there is a path to a scalable, affordable, and comprehensive DFT solution for 3D ICs. Well-covered strategies... » read more

Affordable And Comprehensive Testing Of 3D Stacked Die Devices


Developers of high-end semiconductor products who face manufacturing limitations with respect to die sizes are investing in 3D stacked die technology. These advanced designs already push current design-for-test (DFT) solutions to the limits: tool run time, on-chip area demand, test pattern count, and test time. How then, can designers manage DFT for these new 3D devices? In this paper, we outli... » read more

Deep Learning To Classify And Establish Structure Property Predictions With PeakForce QNM Atomic Force Microscopy


Machine learning and specifically, deep learning, is a powerful tool to establish the presence (or absence) of microstructure correlations to bulk properties with its ability to flesh out relationships and trends that are difficult to establish otherwise. This application note discusses the use of deep learning tools, to explore AFM phase and PeakForce Quantitative Nanomechanics (QNM) im... » read more

Open-Short Normalization Method For A Quick Defect Identification In Branched Traces With High-Resolution Time-Domain Reflectometry


Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) that employs electro-optical sampling affords excellent resolution at the femtosecond level and exhibits a comprehensible impulse waveform, thereby allowing quick defect identification in a single trace. However, it remains challenging to identify a defect in a trace of multiple branches; the TDR waveform is complex. Generally, the TDR waveform of a defective uni... » read more

Methods To Overcome Limited Labeled Data Sets In Machine Learning-Based Optical Critical Dimension Metrology


With the aggressive scaling of semiconductor devices, the increasing complexity of device structure coupled with tighter metrology error budget has driven up Optical Critical Dimension (OCD) time to solution to a critical point. Machine Learning (ML), thanks to its extremely fast turnaround, has been successfully applied in OCD metrology as an alternative solution to the conventional physical... » read more

Better, Faster, And More Efficient Verification With The Power Of AI


Verification is often the most challenging part of the chip development process. Verification engineers have to balance quality of results (QOR) with time to results (TTR) and cost of results (COR). AI and ML technologies can play a significant part in increasing QOR, speeding up TTR, and reducing COR. This white paper outlines some of the major challenges for verification, describes how AI pro... » read more

Surfscan SP3/Ax Unpatterned Wafer Inspection Systems


Unpatterned wafer inspection systems are used for process qualification, tool qualification, tool monitoring, outgoing wafer quality control, incoming wafer quality control, and process debug. Learn more about a system from KLA that identify defects and wafer surface quality issues that affect the performance and reliability of chips manufactured for the automotive, IoT, 5G, consumer electronic... » read more

Plasma Dicing 101: The Basics


Taking place at the end of the semiconductor process flow, dicing is the process where the silicon wafer is finally turned into individual chips, or die, traditionally by means of a saw or laser. A saw blade, or laser, is used to cut the wafer along the areas between the chips called dicing lanes. This step separates the chips from the wafer making them ready to be packaged and fitted to whiche... » read more

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