Why Large Wafers Are Important to Microelectronic Devices

Wafers are a key component for microelectronic devices. Over the past few decades, their diameter has steadily increased, allowing manufacturers to produce more chips with the same size equipment.

Wafer fabs use precision dicing tools to separate the individual silicon wafers into individual die, known as "dies". Dicing can be performed on single-project wafers (MPW) or pizza wafers with reticle.

High Yield

Wafer Dicing Services get larger, more microchips fit on each one. But it takes a huge amount of raw material to produce those large wafers. According to Rose Associates, the actual silicon going into use in a 150mm wafer is only about 30 percent, and that percentage gets lower with each enlargement of the wafer size.

KLA’s defect inspection and review systems ensure quality throughout the wafer fabrication process. Metrology and data management systems provide a comprehensive view of the entire manufacturing process, preventing production defects from impacting yield.

Characterize critical aspects of novel thin films such as stress, uniformity and thickness with advanced microscopy systems that measure metals, hazes, organic contamination and other surface discoloration. Focused ion beam (FIB) circuit edit services quickly cut traces or add metal connections, eliminating the need for costly new fab lots. Our ATE test equipment supports first silicon debug thru release to high volume production for Digital, RF and other applications.

High Precision

In the semiconductor industry, precision is a measure of reproducibility. If multiple trials of the same experiment show minimal deviations, then it has high precision. An archer hitting a bulls-eye on a target five times in a row would be an example of high precision.

The same is true for manufacturing processes. The more exacting a process is, the higher the precision. This is especially important for tools that use a non-standard substrate, such as silicon on glass or GaN (gallium nitride) on SiC.

The high precision offered by Brooks’ material handling systems ensures that your wafers are transferred from one tool to the next precisely and accurately. For example, the end effectors (the robot handling units that grab the wafers) are configured to match the shape and size of the particular type of wafer being handled. This is done to avoid any damage to the delicate surface of the substrate. These systems also allow for a buffering strategy that minimizes first wafer delays.

Low Cost

Larger wafers allow for more microchips to be produced with one fabrication run, increasing yield and efficiency. This increased yield has also increased the amount of actual silicon that goes into a product from a given silicon ingot, reducing overall costs.

With demand for electronics and portable devices constantly growing, companies are under pressure to shrink size while maintaining quality and lowering cost. These goals have led to the industry trend towards larger wafer sizes, pushing target manufacturers to improve their production capabilities.

Our team has the expertise and experience to design durable, cost-efficient manual stations for any clean room process. We utilize industrial-strength polypropylene to ensure these stations meet or exceed all safety requirements, while offering the flexibility needed for a wide range of applications. We offer specialized services for thin film characterization, defect inspection and metrology, including particle, haze and organic contamination analysis. We also provide ATE testing, system-level testing, reliability and IC-level failure analysis.

Fast Turnaround

Whether it’s getting your images back into your client’s hands or driving repeat business, a fast turnaround is a huge benefit for your company. But that doesn’t mean it has to be done at the expense of quality.

We offer an array of equipment that’s designed to support your semiconductor manufacturing process. From inspection and review systems to metrology and data management, we can help you achieve faster turnarounds without sacrificing quality. We can also provide focused ion beam (FIB) circuit edit services to quickly cut traces or add metal connections on an individual wafer or small area of the device.

Backgrinding & Polishing Services with our comprehensive reliability qualification service, we can identify the wear-out mechanisms in your devices, detect design marginality combined with parameter drift and determine failure rates due to latent manufacturing defects. This allows you to improve your yield over time.