INDUSTRY NEWS

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Axcelis touts implant advance

Working with chipmaker Agere Systems, Axcelis Technologies says it has achieved an industry first by successfully implanting device wafers after integrating its decaborane source in a conventional ion implanter. The reputed breakthrough can extend the capabilities of conventional ion implantation to the 70-nm technology node, Axcelis claims. Decaborane is a molecule with 10 boron atoms and as such offers the equivalent of a tenfold increase in beam current while using one-tenth the energy, according to the equipment supplier. Merging the decaborane source with a high-current ion implanter keeps the benefits of mass resolution for beam purity and accurate dose control, which are required process characteristics for advanced IC manufacturing, the supplier asserts. Agere says the results mean decaborane technology is viable for manufacturing ultrashallow p-type junctions in silicon.

NIST develops optics device

Researchers at NIST have developed a device that precisely measures the acuity of photolithography optics. The instrument is an x-ray optics calibration interferometer. Called XCALIBR, the instrument measures the curvature of lithographic lenses and mirrors to within 0.25 nm, or the equivalent of one or two atoms, NIST says. In order to ensure precise measurements, XCALIBR is housed in an enclosure that controls temperature to within 0.05°C and rests on a 16-tn granite vibration-dampening table. Information: http://www.nist.gov.

School gets WWK software

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, has received a donation of advanced manufacturing software from Wright Williams & Kelly. The Pleasanton, CA­based supplier licensed its Factory Explorer program for use in the university's department of industrial engineering. The program provides integrated capacity planning, cost analysis, and simulation of discrete events. The department will use it for ongoing research in modeling and analysis of semiconductor manufacturing systems. Information: http://www.ineg.uark.edu.

Partners target SiGe wafers

Claiming an industry first, Atomika Instruments has installed a secondary ion mass spectrometry system at a silicon germanium foundry. Under the terms of a partnership agreement, Lawrence Semiconductor Research Laboratory, which conducts research in epitaxial and related materials, will use the SIMS 4500 metrology tool to maintain production quality in SiGe wafer manufacturing. Atomika says the system is ideal for developing the wafers because its ion-beam capabilities, automation, and stability produce highly sensitive SIMS profiles with high depth resolution. Lawrence Semiconductor claims the tool will lower the cost of SIMS analysis and reduce turnaround time. The agreement gives Atomika access to the system.

Service tracks chip trends

A newly formatted monthly information service from Integrated Circuit Engineering (ICE) gives subscribers current information on semiconductor industry markets. The Status Semiconductor Industry Continuous Information Service reports revenue, unit and pricing trends, historical data, and forecasts. Macroeconomic factors that affect the electronics industry as well as forecasts on the semiconductor, total IC, and discrete markets are featured in special state-of-the-industry reports. Other reports focus on fab capacity utilization, memory devices, micro logic, MOS logic, and analog and bipolar technologies as well as general economic factors affecting the semiconductor industry. An additional subscriber newsletter, Icebreaker, features graphs of the year-to-date market activity and compares the data with the previous year's numbers from SIA/WSTS. Information: http://www.ice-corp.com.

CFM book published

Marcel Dekker has recently published Contamination-Free Manufacturing for Semiconductors and Other Precision Products. The 464-page book features 11 chapters, 426 references, and 392 tables, equations, pictures, or drawings. Fourteen authors contributed articles to the publication, which was edited by Robert Donovan of L & M Technologies and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque. The price is $165. Information: http://www.dekker.com.

ESD book revised

The ESD Association has issued a completely revised version of its ESD Handbook. The reorganized version supports the ANSI/ESD S20.20 ESD Control Program standard. The 132-page handbook focuses on information that can be used to develop, implement, and monitor an ESD control program in accordance with the standard. Closely following the standard's format, the publication's opening section covers the basics of static electricity. The remaining three sections cover personnel safety, administrative requirements, and technical requirements. These sections match the three major sections of the standard in order to make the handbook a guide to establishing an ESD program conforming to S20.20, the association says. The publication concentrates on preventing damage from ESD >=100 V human-body model. The guide's editors have updated all content and references to encompass new technologies and new standards. The price is $150 for members of the association and $200 for nonmembers. Information: http://www.esda.org.

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