New Wafer-like and Reticle-like Sensors Deliver Fast, Easy Measurements Inside the Process Chamber

Setup and maintenance operations for semiconductor manufacturing tools can be tedious, time-consuming, and expensive, incurring both direct costs for personnel and resources and indirect costs for lost tool time during extended commissioning of new tools and requalification of repaired or serviced tools. Wafer-like (and reticle-like) sensors (WaferSense® from CyberOptics) provide fast, easy access for measurements inside the process chamber. Over the years, sensors have been developed for many routine measurement tasks, including leveling, vibration, humidity, particles, gapping, teaching, and resistance. Two new teaching sensors provide enhanced capabilities for fine-tuning the movement of position-critical internal components like robot end-effectors and wafer carriers. In some applications, these sensors can reduce the time required to perform setup and maintenance operations by a factor of ten or more.