PFI-RP: Advanced Nanopositioning Stages for High-Throughput Semiconductor Metrology

该创新研究伙伴关系（PFI-RP）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过前所未有的定位性能，以经济上可行的价格点实现半导体晶圆的高通量检测。过程控制，如对半导体晶圆缺陷的检查，目前是半导体制造良率的瓶颈。市场对电子芯片的更高性能、更多功能、更小尺寸和更低价格的需求继续推动行业走向更小的线宽（目前在7纳米节点）和更复杂的芯片设计。这导致了每片晶圆上越来越多的缺陷，从而影响了芯片的功能，从而影响了整体的制造良率。虽然在制造过程中需要更频繁地检查和评估更多的缺陷以获得高成品率，但目前缓慢的检查速度导致了吞吐量瓶颈。通过该项目开发的技术旨在克服检测吞吐量和产量之间的权衡。这个项目的社会影响最终将以更便宜的电子产品（处理器、内存、传感器等）的形式出现，这将扩大计算机、移动设备、汽车、机器人、自动化和物联网（IoT）设备等的使用范围。该项目旨在开发纳米定位技术，以实现几毫米的运动范围，高速，更短的沉降时间，纳米精度和低热量产生-以前认为在紧凑和成本效益的封装中不切实际的规格。该项目将通过在平行运动学设计、非线性柔性力学和结构动力学方面的创新，开发满足半导体行业需求的严格运动规范的纳米定位平台，并采用新型电磁执行器架构。这些先进的纳米定位阶段将集成在半导体工艺控制设备中，以快速将晶圆从一个缺陷移动到另一个缺陷。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is to enable high-throughput inspection of semiconductor wafers via unprecedented positioning performance at an economically viable price-point. Process control, such as inspection of defects on semiconductor wafers, is currently a bottleneck for semiconductor manufacturing yield. Market demand for higher performance, increased functionality, smaller size, and lower prices in electronic chips has continued the push the industry towards smaller linewidths (currently at the 7 nm node) and more complex chip designs. This has resulted in an increasingly large number of defects per wafer, which impacts the chip functionality and therefore overall manufacturing yield. While it is desirable to inspect and evaluate more defects more frequently during the fabrication process to achieve high yield, the current slow rates of inspection lead to a throughput bottleneck. The technology developed via this project aims to overcome this tradeoff between inspection throughput and yield. The societal impact of this project will ultimately be in the form of cheaper electronics (processors, memory, sensors, etc.) that will broaden access to computers, mobile devices, automobiles, robotics, automation, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, among others. The proposed project aims to develop nano-positioning technology that achieves a range of several millimeters of motion, high speed, smaller settling time, nanometric accuracy, and low heat generation – specifications previously considered impractical in a compact and cost-effective package. This project will develop nano-positioning stages that meet stringent motion specifications motivated by the needs of the semiconductor industry through innovations in parallel kinematic design, non-linear flexure mechanics, and structural dynamics with novel electromagnetic actuator architectures. These advanced nano-positioning stages will be incorporated within semiconductor process control equipment to rapidly move wafers from one defect to another.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.