Product: Optical Systems for Metrology of Semiconductors' Manufacturing Company: KLA-Tencor Start of Development: 1986
In 1986, KLA-Tencor established an advanced equipment development center in Migdal HaEmek for the semiconductor industry. The center’s objective was to enhance the measurement of critical dimensions on silicon wafers in order to increase the speed and efficiency of manufacturing processes of semiconductor chips. The team built a prototype and developed a technological patent that was a trailblazer in the field of fast, precise metrology, revolutionizing the international industry of semiconductors.
The team then developed an overlay product, measuring the overlap between the multiple layers in the chip manufacturing process. Without the ability to measure the overlay of layers with an accuracy of only a few nanometers, none of the electronics and consumer product industry was able to supply the necessary quantity of personal and portable computers, cellular devices, and other products. Over the course of the following decades, the company continued to develop and manufacture its next-generation overlay products, which have received global recognition.
The year 2012 saw the completion of the development of KLA-Tencor Israel’s flagship product, the Archer 500: a leading metrology product that semiconductor manufacturers consider a ruler, enabling the metrology of the quality of the overlay
between layers with sub nanometer accuracy. This precision enables the manufacturing of the most advanced electronic products in all fields such as communications, medicine, aviation, transportation, etc.
The Archer 500 is more accurate and faster than the previous generations, primarily due to its advanced optical and lighting systems and its particularly fast motion systems. Since its launch, KLA-Tencor has sold hundreds of Archer 500 products to all of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers.
KLA-Tencor is currently marketing its new system, the Archer 600, which is designed to operate in manufacturing processes in the range of 10 nanometers and to perform analyses of a thousand points per wafer.
