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Business News
Focus on Yield New bitmap analysis and image management solutions offer accelerated yield learning
KLA-Tencor recently acquired two privately held companies to complement and expand its Intelligent Line Monitor (ILM) solution, which integrates automated inspection, classification and analysis capabilities for real-time excursion monitoring and accelerated yield learning. DeviceWare, a provider of leading bitmap analysis software, and VARS, Inc., a leading supplier of image archival and retrieval systems for semiconductor equipment, were acquired in June, 1998. Bitmap line monitor speeds failure analysis The DeviceWare acquisition will allow KLA-Tencor customers to systematically collect and analyze electrical bitmap data, and then automatically merge that data with inline defect data using the Klarity Defect Data Analysis System. By being able to automatically correlate bitmap failures to physical defects, fabs can more quickly identify true yield-killing defects for accelerated yield learning. “With this capability,” said Glyn Davies, senior director of marketing, Yield Management Software Group, “we are essentially integrating automated test equipment into our overall ILM solution, enabling rapid and ongoing feedback on the failure mechanisms of a device for faster resolution of yield problems.” The bitmap analysis system collects bitmap data from a range of automated test equipment — including memory testers, logic testers and
mixed signal testers — and then automatically translates the electrical addresses of the failed bits into the correct physical locations on the die. In addition to sending the translated bitmap data to Klarity for automatic correlation with inline defect data, the converted bitmap data can also be automatically analyzed for failed bit patterns using powerful yet intuitive visualization tools, including full wafer bitmap viewing, wafer stacking, bin data overlay, die stacking and more. KLA-Tencor’s new bitmap solution is designed for all manner of memory, including SRAM, DRAM and EEPROM. It can also be used in the growing embedded memory caches of DSP, MPU, MCU and ASIC devices. Image management adds synergy to inspection, metrology and analysis products Image management has become an increasingly important part of the diagnostic process, providing critical information about the nature and source of yield-limiting process problems. The acquisition of VARS, Inc. gives KLA-Tencor a comprehensive image management solution, adding synergy to the company’s portfolio of industry-leading inspection, metrology and analysis capabilities. KLA-Tencor has worked closely with VARS for several years, developing data retrieval and archival capabilities for products such as the CRS Review Station and AIT Inspection System.
Autumn 1998
The VARS Image Management System.
The VARS Image Management System stores and retrieves images generated from a broad variety of on-line and off-line equipment, including defect review stations, scanning electron microscopes, metrology systems and focused ion beam systems. Images and data are stored automatically in a single database and made quickly available through powerful database search engines. More than 60 systems are installed in semiconductor facilities worldwide. Previously, fabrication plants used Polaroid, video prints and other slow means of photography to document chip defects and other anomalies. VARS revolutionized the imaging industry by providing semiconductor manufacturers with a high-speed, high-capacity tool to display defect problems on computer monitors instantly as they occur.
Yield Management Solutions
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