Business News
Atomic miscalculation
Metryx
receives
INTEL’S misjudgment of the low
margins of the Atom in its netbook order
processor has hurt the company for the
second successive quarter, according to METRYX has announced that it has
the report “Netbook-Mobile Internet shipped its second Mentor OC23
Device Convergence: Strategic Issues mass metrology system to a key
and Markets,” recently published by U.S.-based GaAs manufacturer.
The Information Network. The company will implement the
The Atom used in a Netbook is system in volume bulk acoustic wave
processed with 45nm feature sizes on (BAW) device production, to
300mm wafers and measures 25 square measure both deposition and etch
mm. It is priced at about $29. Intel’s on production quality wafers.
Penryn Core 2 processor is used in The mass metrology system has
Issue IV 2009
Notebooks. It is also processed with been an enabling technology for
square4
45nm feature sizes on 300mm wafers BAW production, providing insight
.com
and measures 107 square mm. It is into process conditions that is
priced at about $279. There is a price unavailable using other metrology
difference of $200 per processor techniques.
between the Penryn and Atom, but Atom CPU cores. That situation will “In addition to being highly
more importantly a difference of improve Intel’s margins for Q2 2009. effective, mass metrology delivers
$115,000 per processed 300mm wafer. “While the announcement was considerable time and cost benefits.
“Intel rethought its production slated toward TSMC’s capability to That is the basis for initial purchase
oasiasemiconductor
schedule in Q1 by allocating capacity produce Atom cores for Intel’s march orders,” stated Dr. Adrian Kiermasz,
.eur
for the Atom and for the Penryn, unlike into the Mobile Internet Device (MID) President and CEO of Metryx. “Once
www
Q4 where the cut back production on market, it was an opportunity for Intel the machine is in the production line,
the more profitable Penryn,” noted Dr. to wipe production off its books. I’d like manufacturers can truly evaluate the
9
Robert N. Castellano, president of The to think of it as ‘Intel’s Atom Bomb’,” effectiveness of the technology. To
Information Network. added Castellano. “It indicates tech is
Intel and TSMC announced they not as bad as suggested, but just a
had reached an agreement to miscalculation on Intel’s part. Indeed,
collaborate on technology platform, IP Intel did say that the bottom had been
infrastructure, and SoC Solutions for the reached in the PC sector.”
High speed coating
SOKUDO, the joint venture company SOKUDO DUO platform’s dual date, 95 percent of our customers
between Dainippon Screen and Applied track design enables higher system have placed follow-on orders. We
Materials, has launched a photoresist reliability. Since the load is distributed see that as an indication of mass
coat/develop track system. With an dual between two lines, wafer transfer speed metrology’s increasing value in the
track design, the SOKUDO DUO can be reduced, even at high output volume production environment.”
simultaneously processes wafers in two rates. Another advantage of the Capable of measuring in the
lines, boosting throughput to 250-300 system’s dual track design is its non- microgram range (approximately one
wafers per hour (wph). stop operational capability. If one line is Angstrom, or the size of a single
“The SOKUDO DUO is the first unavailable due to maintenance, there atom, of material thickness), the in-
major track platform created by our is no disruption to the second line. line Mentor OC23 tool monitors the
joint venture company, bringing The SOKUDO DUO design mass change of any pre-determined
together the significant strengths of improves wafer output per unit area by wafer following a process step, to
both Applied Materials and Dainippon up to 40% compared to previous track quickly determine whether device
Screen in its design,” said Tadahiro systems. The company’s expertise in manufacture process steps are
Suhara, CEO of Sokudo Co., Ltd. coat, develop, and bake technology operating consistently and in the
”Results from several semiconductor were incorporated to support a wide expected manner. The mass change
manufacturer installations in Japan and variety of complex lithography response for the process step is
Asia have already confirmed the processes, including immersion ArF managed like other SPC parameters
system’s productivity performance.” double patterning. in the process flow.
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