Applications
Manufacturing

Semiconductor Manufacturing

Overview

Semiconductors are utilized in a variety of electronic products, from household appliances to social infrastructure, and their performance is constantly evolving. Semiconductor manufacturing processes are built on a foundation of stringent quality control. Quality inspections for each of these processes not only guarantee product quality but also greatly impact the productivity of each piece of manufacturing equipment. There is a growing need to speed up image inspections to improve the productivity of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. In turn, this raises expectations of improved image sensor performance, as these sensor devices are key to machine vision, and as process rule miniaturization accelerates year by year.

Applications

Flaw inspections

Semiconductor manufacturing involves precision inspections to detect minute contaminants and pattern defects occurring in wafer and photomask production processes. Ultraviolet light has a short wavelength and is easily scattered by even the slightest unevenness on the surface of an object. UV image sensors leverage this property to detect microscopic defects on the wafer surface. Sony’s high-definition UV image sensor IMX487 is capable of high-precision inspections thanks to its high sensitivity and low noise performance.

However, any contaminants or defects inside the wafer can be checked by penetrating the wafer using using SWIR image sensors. The IMX992 and IMX993 specifically offer the industry’s highest level of resolution for SWIR image sensors,*1 so they can be utilized to detect even subtler defects and to effectively inspect wide areas in one imaging session.

*1) Among industrial SWIR image sensors based on a compound semiconductor using InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide). According to research by Sony (as of November 2023).

Flaw inspections

Positioning

The field of high-performance semiconductor manufacturing includes a process of joining wafers to wafers. As device miniaturization accelerates, the demand for alignment accuracy between wafers is increasing. Short Wavelength Infra-Red (SWIR) image sensors make it possible to observe through the silicon (Si) part of wafers, allowing positioning marks to be checked with clarity. Moreover, the high-definition image quality of these sensors allows edges to be detected with high precision, enabling accurate positioning.

Sony’s SWIR image sensors provide high-definition images, contributing to the achievement of accurate positioning. Use the 5.32-megapixel IMX992 for applications that demand particularly high precision. It can detect the edge of alignment marks with high precision, greatly improving positioning accuracy.

Global shutter image sensors are also used for positioning due to their high-definition performance. These sensors have a very good reputation for shortening process turnaround time (TAT) as well as for improved accuracy, due to high resolution, and high reliability.

Positioning

Wire bonding

Wire bonding is one of the main processes in the production of semiconductor devices and it involves electrically wiring semiconductor elements to substrates. Silicon chips, the core of semiconductor products, are wired to the substrate using metal wire (bonding wire) of several tens of micrometer in diameter. High-speed, high-resolution global shutter image sensors are used to accurately and quickly carry out miniscule bonding inspections.

Wire bonding

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