Bumped-wafer inspection systems ordered
APRIL 25--Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI; Nashua, NH;www.rvsi.com) has received an order for four of its WS-2500 bumped-wafer inspection systems. These systems will be installed at one of Asia's largest semiconductor companies and will be used in high-volume manufacturing. Depending upon wafer size and other features, the WS-series is priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million per system. "After bringing up their production using our WS-Series tools on pilot lines, the customer is now committed to using our system in a production-speed environment for both 2-D defect inspection and 3-D bump height metrology," said Frank Jacovino, general manager of wafer system products at RVSI's Semiconductor Equipment Group (Hauppauge, NY).
Rather than traditional wire bonds, the new generation of integrated circuits utilizes microscopic-sized solder or gold "bumps" that are directly deposited on the wafer for electrical connections. RVSI's WS-series improves yield management of bumped wafers and flip chip die and provides a method to maximize yields and profitability by inspecting bump parameters at high production rates. The system's capabilities include inspection of prereflow and postreflow solder bumps and multiprocess gold bumps.