Microwave Amorphous SemiConducting Oxides measurement Tool (MASCOT)

“PragmatIC是低成本柔性电子产品领域的全球领导者，其核心重点是RFID标签，以实现库存控制，防伪和直接数字参与目的的项目级标签，主要用于硅解决方案成本过高的快速消费品（FMCG）领域。务实的当前产品系列包括PR1100 ConnectIC系列，专为高频RFID接近识别应用而设计，其中一个或多个定制阅读器被纳入封闭的RFID系统。这些产品基于一种新颖的薄膜晶体管技术，利用只有几十纳米的超薄金属氧化膜作为关键功能层，采用专有的十亿单元和全自动生产系统（FlexLogIC）制造，用于位于塞奇菲尔德的柔性集成电路（flexic）。这项创新技术的主要挑战之一是在制造过程的各个阶段监测极薄半导体层的电性能。MASCOT开发了一种适合工业实施的计量能力，最终形成了一种用于薄膜测量的在线工具，具有合适的灵敏度，吞吐量，成本和易于集成到PragmatIC的FlexLogIC制造平台。有了这样的工具，半导体薄膜的过程监控指标可以进一步优化，能够及早发现薄膜内的变化，从而在制造过程的早期实施纠正措施，从而保持吞吐量并最大限度地减少废料。这直接关系到PragmatIC的制造成品率的提高和FlexIC整体成本的降低，这是在低成本快速消费品市场大规模实施技术的关键指标。”

"PragmatIC is a world leader in the field of low-cost flexible electronics, with a core focus on RFID tags to enable item level tagging for stock control, anti-counterfeiting and direct digital engagement purposes, primarily in the field of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) where silicon solutions are cost prohibitive. PragmatIC current product family includes the PR1100 ConnectIC series which are designed for HF RFID proximity identification applications in which one or more custom readers are incorporated into the closed RFID system.These products are based on a novel thin film transistor technology, utilising ultra-thin metal oxide films of only a few tens of nanometres as the key functional layers, manufactured with a proprietary billion unit and fully automated production system (FlexLogIC) for flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) based in Sedgefield.One of the main challenges with this innovative technology is monitoring the electrical properties of the extremely thin semiconducting layer in situ at the various stages of the manufacturing process. MASCOT develops a metrology capability suitable for industrial implementation, culminating in an in-line tool for thin film measurement with the right sensitivity, throughput, cost and ease of integration to PragmatIC's FlexLogIC manufacturing platform. With such a tool, process monitoring metrics for the semiconductor film can be further optimised, enabling early detection of variations within the films to allow corrective action to be implemented early in the manufacturing process, which maintains throughput and minimises scrap. This directly correlates to improvement in PragmatIC's manufacturing yield and associated reduction in the overall FlexIC cost point, a crucial metric for mass technology implementation in the low-cost FMCG markets."