Philips AMS Discusses Need For Tailored, Strategic Metrology To Support Agile Manufacturing

Natick, MA and San Francisco -- Royal Philips Electronics announced that that its metrology business unit, Philips Advanced Metrology Systems (Philips AMS), has released a new white paper entitled "Today's Semiconductor Market Demands a Strategic Metrology Partner for Agile Manufacturing." The paper highlights the shift in the metrology marketplace from the traditional ‘grand metrology problem' shared by many companies to a host of individual metrology problems localized to one or two semiconductor manufacturers. As part of this shift, Philips AMS partners with its customers to provide a metrology platform that can be tailored to support its customers' needs for current multiple measurement applications and strategic growth.

The semiconductor industry has matured and market drivers are shifting to focus on productivity and profitability. With the introduction of new materials, structures and smaller node sizes, metrology problems have become more complex. Metrology challenges now require more research and investigation and have forced manufactures to adopt more strategic and long-term solutions. Metrology vendors that adopt this new agile response process have more flexibility to address metrology problems with adaptable software and hardware. The new white paper outlines this metrology market shift and how this new approach increases application reach and broadens the knowledge base to a wider set of problems that can be tailored to individual companies.

"The big metrology problems of the past have been replaced with a set of smaller metrology problems that are often unique to an individual customer," said Chris Moore, general manager of Philips AMS. "This has fragmented the traditional metrology market. At Philips AMS, we understand that there is a difference between doing the measurement and offering a true solution that addresses the specific metrology problem. We have succeeded in evolving our business model to be focused on our customer's individual problems and by partnering with them to develop the appropriate solutions for their needs."

Philips AMS offers an extendable, scalable metrology platform that maximizes return on investment (ROI) by supporting multiple applications and processes. The platform offers fast and detailed results to characterize wafers, unique and comprehensive information on DT structures and thorough data analysis options. Philips AMS works with a customer as their metrology process engineers developing a tailored solution for their requirements.

By following the agile manufacturing and partnering strategy, Philips AMS has become the metrology solution of choice for DRAM etched structure metrology using the IR 3000. In addition with the AMS 3300, Philips AMS is a preferred supplier of copper metrology solutions to measure patterned ECD copper.

SOURCE: Royal Philips Electronics