Overview

With throughput up to 1,800 defects per hour and sensitivity down to 30nm, Applied SEMVision G3 HP STAR high productivity system sets industry benchmark for productivity and cost of ownership. Alongside SEMVision G3 STAR and G3 FIB STAR, the addition of SEMVision G3 HP STAR completes the SEMVision family, providing advanced fabs a comprehensive suite of defect review and analysis solutions at optimized productivity. In addition to its extreme sensitivity and high throughput, the Applied SEMVision G3 HP STAR system features breakthrough Quantified Process Monitoring (QPM) solution that combines high resolution SEM imaging and tailored algorithms to automatically detect and monitor systematic defects. QPM allows monitoring of all wafers with a much larger amount of statistical data, leading to more reliable process information to guide process development and production operation. Over the last several years, the rapid expansion of in-line SEM review in fabs worldwide created the need for new review strategies. The SEMVision G3 STAR family is a direct response to customer needs for a set of leading-edge tools optimized for different applications, enabling flexible system utilization during all stages of production ramp at the lowest overall cost. All three systems in the Applied SEMVision family – G3 STAR, G3 HP STAR and G3 FIB STAR – share a single platform, a common user interface and shared recipes. This unique commonality shortens set-up time through extensive recipe sharing, and provides higher availability and WIP control. Using a common platform also lowers operating expenses by sharing spares, service contracts and operating knowledge. The SEMVision G3 family is part of Applied Materials' Resolution strategy to lead the metrology and inspection market with continuous advances in absolute resolution, root cause, process response and cost per resolution.