Onto Announces New EB40 All-Surface Inspection Module for Wafer Fabs and Advanced Packaging
June 09 2022 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
Eleven customers pre-ordered 75 Dragonfly G3
systems with new EB40 modules for high-speed, all-surface wafer
inspection
New EB40 tool expands the Company’s process
control market for advanced logic and memory wafers
Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE: ONTO) (“Onto Innovation,” “Onto,” or
the “Company”) today announced its first shipment of the Company’s
Dragonfly® G3 system with the new EB40™ module to a top three
semiconductor manufacturer. Together, the system and module offer
all-surface wafer inspection to address the yield loss caused by
defects on the wafer edge and backside across front-end and
back-end processes.
All-surface inspection is becoming critical for quality
assurance at foundries and IDMs producing advanced packages. The
prevalence of edge-handling equipment needed to accommodate thinner
wafers can produce chips and cracks that potentially propagate into
the die near the wafer’s edge, which becomes a costly loss on a
finished wafer. That’s where the 30% greater sensitivity and twice
the throughput of the integrated Dragonfly G3 system and EB40
module come in.
Onto Innovation’s new EB40 solution provides not only the
required sensitivity to identify these defects at high speed but
also offers the analytics software, such as Onto’s ADC (automatic
defect classification), to determine the defect type, impact and,
in some cases, origin. Yole Group estimates AI and HPC
architectures will grow by greater than 30% over the next three
years. Based on these estimates and the strong positive customer
reception we have seen in the initial release of the Dragonfly G3
system with the EB40 module, we expect this new capability to
result in a process control SAM expansion for advanced logic and
memory.
Wafer fab in-line process control requirements and BEOL final
outgoing quality inspection are needed for the development of
advanced node architectures in logic as well as emerging memory
segments. This new market opportunity is in addition to the
advanced packaging market where the combination of the Dragonfly G3
system and EB40 module is adding all-surface inspection to the
Dragonfly G3 system’s tool-of-record status at the top
manufacturers.
“A top-tier memory customer commented that front-end wafer
processing cycle times are extending to several months, and they
are trying to ensure that yield issues are not going undetected at
their fabs. As a result, a lot of focus is now being placed on
early detection of potential yield issues and inspection, including
edge and backside,” commented Damon Tsai, director of product
management within Onto Innovation’s inspection business.
He continued, “Early inspection of the wafer edge is especially
critical since small edge cracks can potentially propagate into the
die near the wafer perimeter. This is particularly important since
the large size of these new devices means there are fewer chips per
wafer, so any yield loss resulting from rejected die can be
significant. Of course, the Dragonfly G3 system is also ideal for
final outgoing quality assurance since the tool offers the final
product inspection point for wafers moving to the packaging
facility.”
The integration of the Dragonfly G3 system with the EB40 module
not only introduces backside edge bead-removal metrology, but also
offers a significant shift in sensitivity enabled by a new
algorithm for defect detection, allowing this powerful duo of tools
to exceed on-wafer needs and find backside scratches, color
variations and large particles that can cause advanced packaging
defects. The Dragonfly G3 system with the EB40 module is capable of
doubling the number of wafers per hour offered by previous tools,
while allowing manufacturers to detect residue and particles on the
wafer surface with superior precision.
Volume purchase agreements and orders for the Dragonfly G3
system and EB40 module are part of the Company’s previously stated
outlook for 2022.
About Onto Innovation Inc.
Onto Innovation is a leader in process control, combining global
scale with an expanded portfolio of leading-edge technologies that
includes un-patterned wafer quality, 3D metrology spanning chip
features from nanometer scale transistors to large die
interconnects, macro defect inspection of wafers and packages,
metal interconnect composition, factory analytics, and lithography
for advanced semiconductor packaging.
Our breadth of offerings across the entire semiconductor value
chain helps our customers solve their most difficult yield, device
performance, quality, and reliability issues. Onto Innovation
strives to optimize customers’ critical path of progress by making
them smarter, faster and more efficient.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Onto Innovation
supports customers with a worldwide sales and service
organization.
Additional information can be found at
www.ontoinnovation.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
(the “Act”) which include statements relating to Onto Innovation’s
business momentum and future growth; the benefit to customers and
the capabilities of Onto Innovation’s products and customer
service; Onto Innovation’s ability to both deliver products and
services consistent with our customers’ demands and expectations
and strengthen its market position, Onto Innovation’s beliefs about
market opportunities as well as other matters that are not purely
historical data. Onto Innovation wishes to take advantage of the
“safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions that actual
results may differ materially from those projected as a result of
various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond Onto Innovation’s control. Such factors include, but are
not limited to, length, severity and potential business impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company’s ability to leverage its
resources to improve its position in its core markets; its ability
to weather difficult economic environments; its ability to open new
market opportunities and target high-margin markets; the
strength/weakness of the back-end and/or front-end semiconductor
market segments; fluctuations in customer capital spending and any
potential impact as a result of the novel coronavirus situation;
the Company’s ability to effectively manage its supply chain and
adequately source components from suppliers to meet customer
demand; its ability to adequately protect its intellectual property
rights and maintain data security; its ability to effectively
maneuver global trade issues and changes in trade and export
license policies; the Company’s ability to maintain relationships
with its customers and manage appropriate levels of inventory to
meet customer demands; and the Company’s ability to successfully
integrate acquired businesses and technologies. Additional
information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Onto
Innovation are available in Onto Innovation’s Form 10-K report for
the year ended January 1, 2022 and other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. As the forward-looking
statements are based on Onto Innovation’s current expectations, the
Company cannot guarantee any related future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements. Onto Innovation does not
assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.
Source: Onto Innovation Inc.
ONTO-I
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220609005377/en/
Investor Relations: Michael Sheaffer, +1 978.253.6273
mike.sheaffer@ontoInnovation.com
Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024