Rudolph Receives Lithography Orders

Rudolph Technologies Inc. has received two orders for lithography systems: one from a repeat customer in the semiconductor industry, the other from a flat panel display manufacturer in China.

Rudolph said a major outsourced assembly and test facility, with which it has done business before, ordered a JetStep W system. The series is used for both fan-out and fan-in packaging approaches, and will be shipped in the fourth quarter.

A JetStep lithography system. Courtesy of Rudolph Technologies Inc.

Meanwhile, the display manufacturer ordered JetStep G system. The device will be used for the development of next-generation processes for high-resolution mobile displays and will ship in the second quarter of 2016.

"The JetStep W series is a flexible reduction step-and-repeat tool that is specifically designed to meet the technical requirements of advanced packaging applications, which are often quite different from front-end lithography," said Rich Rogof, vice president and general manager of Rudolph's lithography systems group. "The JetStep system can accommodate complex applications such as thick resist layers, varying substrate thickness, wafer scaling variation and warped wafers associated with fan-out wafer-level packaging through silicon vias and copper pillar bumps," said Rogof. "In addition, the systems can process either traditional round wafer substrates or larger rectangular panel substrates, which can provide significant increases in productivity."

The JetStep W series features a large field of view to improve exposure efficiency and throughput. These and other purpose-designed features, such as on-the-fly autofocus and a large automatic magnification compensation range, provide ways to increase throughput and maximize yield in advanced packaging applications that are unavailable from lithography tools designed for front-end processes or conventional packaging applications, according to Rudolph.

The JetStep G series addresses the demanding lithography requirements of the display industry. The system uses high-fidelity optics with resolution capability down to 1.5 μm, and offers on-the-fly autofocus and magnification compensation.

Rudolph will also fulfill an order for multiple NSX 330 systems for the inspection of next-generation fan-out wafer-level packaging products, including whole-wafer inspection and post-saw inspection. The client is a foundry in Asia.

A NSX 330 inspection system. Courtesy of Rudolph Technologies Inc.

"Key factors of this win were the systems’ superior inspection sensitivity, capture rate, and throughput for 2D inspection, while meeting the automation challenges inherent with fan-out wafers and film frames," said Mike Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Rudolph's inspection business unit. "Additionally, all systems will be equipped with Rudolph’s Discover Yield Management Software that enhances the user’s process analysis capability in real-time, enabling fast yield improvement and increasing the productivity of each tool and the overall fab yield. This level of process visibility is quickly becoming essential to factory efficiency.”