Brooks Instrument’s CTO to present at SEMICON West 2014

HATFIELD, USA: Bill Valentine, Brooks Instrument's CTO, will join a panel of expert presenters at SEMICON West 2014.

Valentine's paper, "Reduce Process Variability with Multi Sensor In-Situ Diagnostics," will discuss the results of a one-year tool study that examined how new developments in mass flow controller (MFC) diagnostics technology can help improve process yields, chamber to chamber matching and reduce operational costs.

Valentine will present his paper as part of the SEMATECH Semiconductor Technology Symposium session that will be held at TechXPOT South on Tuesday, July 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. The session will feature multiple presentations examining the topic "Variability Control - A Key Challenge and Opportunity for Driving Towards Manufacturing Excellence."

Brooks Instrument is a world-leading provider of advanced flow, pressure, vacuum and vapor delivery solutions used for Front End Of Line (FEOL) and Back End Of Line (BEOL) semiconductor fabrication applications. As a pioneer in the development of MFC technologies for the semiconductor industry, Brooks Instrument has made substantial investments to drive improvements in how MFC technology can help solve fundamental process issues.

Valentine will discuss how the MFC has become a critical component in semiconductor tools, enabling equipment and process automation as well as more precise gas control for shrinking geometries. And while the MFC is the most complex component in a gas delivery system, until recently there wasn't an effective method to directly monitor performance while running processes.

Typical performance verification tests require the user to take the tool off line to perform diagnostic tests such as calibration verification, valve leak and zero drift. Valentine's presentation will describe how a new generation of MFCs utilizing in-situ multi-sensor diagnostics provides extremely precise real-time process data that enables the user to track and trend gas delivery performance.

The paper will discuss how the results of the use of MFCs embedded with this technology have been evaluated on tools at several Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs). It will include data on improvements in zero drift, changes in flow accuracy and valve leak, as well as the impact this real-time data has on improving process yields.