Semiconductor Wafer Processing, IC Packaging, IC Assembly and Testing

Leica Microsystems’ customized, modular imaging solutions help suppliers and device manufacturers achieve fast and precise inspection and analysis for wafer processing, IC packaging, IC assembly, and testing. Proof of conformity to the defined specifications during semiconductor device manufacturing is critical for reliability. To demonstrate the expected levels for cleanliness and minimal presence of defects have been met to produce excellent quality semiconductor devices, accurate documentation is indispensable. However, the demand for development of cutting-edge, higher performance technology is unrelenting, thus, it is expected that these imaging systems contribute to R&D as well.

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Please contact us for expert advice on our microscopy solutions for semiconductor wafer processing and IC packaging.

See details down to the nanoscale rapidly, high resolution imaging

Our imaging systems can deliver an accurate and rapid surface inspection and analysis of wafers to help ensure an optimal performance for your fabricated semiconductor devices.

However, there can be critical challenges when performing surface metrology: Wafer surfaces can have intricate structures with high slopes demanding an excellent lateral resolution or microscale peaks and valleys requiring sub-nanometer vertical resolution.

Leica imaging systems exploiting confocal microscopy and interferometric mode imaging offer you high lateral (down to 140 nm) as well as vertical resolution (down to 0.1 nm) with rapid image acquisition (seconds).

Tall and narrow Gaussian-shaped bump present on wafer surface imaged in 3D with confocal microscopy. Surface features with complex shapes or steep inclinations, like this bump, are imaged rapidly with high resolution. 1: wafer with bump on surface 2: steps confocal microscope scan of bumps (sec) 3: final image

For very smooth wafer surfaces, interferometric imaging can acquire surface textures with a resolution down to 0.1 nm. The entire scan took less than 3 seconds.

Contrast methods: Images of part of a wafer: a) quick surface overview followed by detection of b) particles with brightfield, c) micro-scratches with darkfield, and d) defects on transparent films with differential interference contrast (DIC). Imaging with each illumination mode is completed in seconds.

View more with less effort, diverse contrast methods and top-notch optics

Our imaging systems allow you to visualize difficult-to-image wafer features more easily to achieve more efficient and accurate wafer inspection and quality control. The image quality in terms of contrast and level of detail easily seen depends strongly on the lighting and optics used.

So choosing the appropriate lighting contrast method and using maximally corrected, high performance optics is imperative. Different wafer and device features, e.g., coatings, contamination, scratches, and defects, are more enhanced with one lighting contrast method compared to another.

High Performance Optics

High quality optics can make your wafer and semiconductor device inspection work more efficient, because you will see the fine details clearly with less effort. Leica Microsystems’ imaging systems use top-performing, award-winning optics which produce distortion free images. Optics can suffer from 2 types of aberration which require correction:

monochromatic (independent of the light’s wavelength [color]), such as astigmatism, coma, and field curvature
chromatic (dependent on the light’s wavelength).

Our optical designers and engineers provide optics which enable you to inspect wafers and devices with optimal contrast and resolution.