SENSARRAY INTRODUCES ACCURA°C ROBOT LOADABLE TEMPERATURE METROLOGY SYSTEM FOR ADVANCED LITHOGRAPHY TRACKS

First Process Optimization Tool for Real-Time Temperature Measurements
During Dynamic and Steady States

FREMONT, Calif., December 3, 2003
SensArray® Corporation, an innovative provider of process optimization tools for semiconductor fabrication, today announced availability of the Accura°C™ robot loadable metrology system for advanced lithography tracks with two or more robot arms. By collecting precise thermal data from real-time measurements of transient and steady state temperature, Accura°C improves system performance, translating to significant savings in time and operating costs.

Advanced lithography tracks require precise temperature control during bake cycles, and accurate temperature mapping of this sequence can greatly improve the stability, reliability, and output of the tool. Moving through process equipment like a process wafer, the Accura°C metrology system delivers highly accurate, real-time data to optimize equipment and system-to-system performance

“Accura°C is the first process optimization tool on the market that allows customers to monitor and adjust the temperature of the wafer during a thermal cycle in real time,” said Mei Sun, vice president, sensor engineering, SensArray. “This product furthers our goal of providing tools that enable our customers to extract the highest level of intelligence from their processes to produce high performance products in the most economic manner.”

Uniquely designed with Bluetooth™ RF technology for wireless communication, Accura°C instantaneously transmits thermal data to SensArray Thermal MAP® Analysis software where it is processed, analyzed, and displayed. Users can statistically and graphically view the acquired data for a more comprehensive understanding of the wafer processing environment during placement, ramp up, steady state, ramp down, and transport.

Due to the lack of wires on the wafer surface, the Accura°C system is more robust, and can be easily loaded into process equipment. The system consists of an RTD instrumented wafer with thin film interconnects and an advanced, battery-powered, disk-shaped Intelligent Sensor Interface System (ISIS) for data acquisition and conversion. Accura°C allows customers to perform many equipment and process optimization functions, including: equipment qualification and installation, system-to-system and chamber-to-chamber matching, calibration, and tuning of single zone and multi-zone hot plates.

Based on proven SensArray Process Probe® technology, Accura°C provides reliable performance with NIST-traceable accuracy of better than 0.1°C, and a system-to-system, wafer-to-wafer calibration precision of + 0.05°C. All specifications are maintained over a wide operating temperature range of 0° to 250°C. There are 17 sensor locations on the 200 mm Accura°C wafer and 29 sensors the 300 mm product. Within wafer sensor-to-sensor precision is + 0.03°C. The useable life cycle of the wafer between calibrations is 3000 thermal cycles to 150°C and 1500 thermal cycles to 250°C for 90 second long cycles.

The Accura°C metrology system is currently available in the United States, Europe, and Asia. To request additional information or to order Accura°C, please contact SensArray Corporation at 510-360-5600 or visit www.AccuraC.com.