3 February 2011

Avago orders Rudolph's automated inspection system for Singapore opto fab

Rudolph Technologies Inc of Flanders, NJ, USA, which provides process characterization equipment and software for wafer fabs and chip packaging facilities, has received orders for its NSX Series from Avago Technologies Manufacturing (Singapore) Pte Ltd for front-end inspection at its optoelectronic devices wafer fabrication plant, which manufactures high-speed vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), detectors and light-emitting diodes.

The NSX automated macro defect inspection system will provide both metrology and inspection data, and will play a central role in assisting the enhancement of Avago’s process yields, says Rudolph. Scheduled for shipment in first-quarter 2011, the system is the second purchased by Avago. The first was shipped in Q4/2010. Additional orders to extend automated inspection and metrology across their entire manufacturing enterprise, including back-end assembly & packaging processes, are anticipated in the coming year.

“As our production volumes scale up, we have turned increasing attention to improving process yields,” says Tom White, Avago’s worldwide director of Optoelectronics Devices Operation. “The NSX system will allow us to improve the reliability and repeatability of our inspection procedures and our operation efficiency. In addition, we are using the Rudolph tools to measure critical dimension and overlay metrics at a significant cost savings over standalone metrology tools,” he adds.

“We are particularly excited to win this business in the rapidly expanding market for advanced optoelectronic devices,” says KeeAnn Tan, Rudolph’s S.E. Asia general manager. “The pricing of these devices typically provides extremely high leverage and fast payback for investments in yield improvement.”

Rudolph says that its NSX Series is a fast, precise, production-proven solution for automated macro defect inspection throughout the device manufacturing process. Macro defects may be created during wafer manufacturing, probing, bumping, dicing, or by general handling, and can have a major impact on the quality of a microelectronic or optoelectronic device and the yield of the manufacturing process. The system detects yield-inhibiting defects, providing quality assurance as well as process information needed to reduce manufacturing costs and time-to-market for new products, the firm adds. Rudolph’s Discover Enterprise software integrates data from inspection, metrology and manufacturing tools throughout the fab to provide enterprise-wide visibility of process performance.

Tags: Rudolph Avago

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