Spectroscopy Europe | Mass spectrometer for the semiconductor industry

Atonarp has announced the launch of Aston, an in situ mass spectrometer with an integrated plasma ionisation source for semiconductor metrology. Aston has been built for semiconductor production, and can replace multiple legacy tools and provide control across a number of applications, including lithography, dielectric and conductive etch and deposition, chamber clean, chamber matching, and abatement. Endpoint detection (EPD) is the most efficient way to run a semiconductor tool and FAB. EPD has not been able to be deployed in many process steps because the required in situ sensor would not survive the harsh process or chamber cleaning chemicals, or would alternatively suffer clogging from condensate deposits. FABs have had to use a fixed time to ensure that a process was complete. Aston optimises production by detecting exactly when a process has finished, including chamber cleaning, which can reduce the required clean-time by up to 80 %.