Semiconductor Digest interviews Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, President and CEO, CyberOptics at Semicon West

PS: I’m Peter Singer, Editor-in-Chief of Semiconductor Digest and I’m here with Dr. Subodh Kulkarni at the Moscone Center at Semicon West 2019.

SK: We are very excited to be here at the show. We have a couple new things – we are showcasing our WaferSense and ReticleSense products that we have historically demonstrated at the show and we have a new product in WaferSense, AVLS3 , but really we are excited more about our new NanoResolution MRS Sensor, that’s the brand new sensor we are launching for the first time at Semicon West.

PS: And that’s designed specifically for packaging applications?

SK: Correct. Advanced packaging is growing very rapidly right now, so even though the semiconductor industry is overall in a soft spot, one area that is growing quickly at this time, is advanced packaging and it’s primarily because things like stacking of chips, embedded die, and so on. There are many reasons why advanced packaging is growing and right now there is a dire need in the industry. There are just not good enough inspection technologies out there that can do 100% inspection at a fast enough speed and that’s really what we have designed our NanoResolution MRS sensor for – very rapid, 100% inspection of advanced packages.

PS: Okay, and that’s for things like flip chip?

SK: Flip chip, embedded die, primarily stacking, 2D, 2.5, 3D as they call it, ICs. So many applications, but essentially if you take the latest smart phones or high-end electronics, and if you look at what packages they have, many of them have what’s considered advanced packages and as you build them, you are putting multiple layers on top of each other and every time you are doing that, you do need to inspect each layer before you bring on the next layer together.

PS: Okay, and you mentioned WaferSense. Could you tell us what’s new in that area?

SK: Sure. In WaferSense we do six measurement applications right now including leveling, vibration, particles, teaching, gapping and relative humidity, but at this show what we are showing is a combination leveling and vibration sensor, AVLS3, but on a glass substrate. Historically we have always done it on a carbide substrate and it’s also thinner at the same time, so we have been able to combine leveling and vibration on a very smooth glass and make it thinner. The thickness is important because that opens up the number of load locks we can go through and it opens up the market opportunity for us. The smoothness of the glass is also important because many vacuum chucks cannot handle the roughness of carbide wafers so we believe the combination of the thin form factor and the smoothness of the glass allows us to go after more opportunities.

PS: Okay, anything else that you’d like to cover?

SK: I think we touched on a very important area, advanced packaging and how exciting the opportunity is for us and going after a new market which is growing, with a much faster sensor than anything else out there. We believe we are a solid factor of 2, or maybe even a factor of 3 faster than the best technologies out there so we’re really excited about showcasing our NanoResolution MRS sensor. The initial reaction has been phenomenal.

PS: Congratulations on being a Best of the West Finalist this year. That’s very exciting!

SK: Thank you.