The Role Of DUV Coatings In Enabling The Next Generation Of Semiconductor Devices

Between the global shortage of microchips, the ravenous demands for ever greater computing power and the mind-blowing complexity of the modern-day integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing process, the semiconductor industry is on a constant look out for creative solutions.

Where precision counts, as it most certainly does in the world’s multi-billion-dollar semiconductor fabrication facilities, each and every part of the system must perform – there can be no weak links. This is true down to the choice of optical coatings utilized by semiconductor equipment manufacturers. In fact, leveraging the latest innovation in optical coatings technology is helping to meet the evolving requirements of today’s semiconductor industry.

Shorter wavelengths for higher quality inspection

Defect detection is one area, in particular, where optical coatings are an important enabler. Effective inspection not only improves yields and throughputs, it ensures chip reliability. For safety-critical applications, such as defence technology or autonomous vehicles, avoiding in-field failures is paramount. But finding defects is becoming increasingly challenging due to the smaller and smaller feature sizes of modern-day semiconductor devices.