Xitronix Unveils Latest Innovation in Semiconductor Process-Control Metrology

AUSTIN, Texas – Xitronix Corp. is introducing the XP450 active dose and strain measurement tool at SEMICON West 2007 in San Francisco. This breakthrough product allows semiconductor manufacturers to quantitatively and rapidly determine whether critical steps in the semiconductor manufacturing process have been successfully completed.

“The XP450 offers manufacturers like AMD and IBM the best of front-end process control capabilities,” says Judd Chism, CEO of Xitronix. “In today’s complex manufacturing environment, this metrology is absolutely critical. Xitronix’s photo-reflectance technology has been proven effective for precision characterization of activated dopant in ultra-shallow junctions and of strain in ultra-thin strained Si layers.

“For the industry, this means manufacturers will be able to precisely control strained silicon and dopant activation processes at the 45nm node and below. It substantially reduces the time required to receive accurate feedback and the costs associated with processing defective wafers to completion before the device performance can be tested. It also allows manufacturers to adjust recipe parameters from wafer to wafer during processing.”

One of the main advantages of photo-reflectance is that it is rapid and nondestructive, making it useful in a fully automated manufacturing environment. Photo-reflectance techniques have been historically accepted by the industry in process control for ion implant. With Xitronix’s proprietary approach, photo-reflectance now can be used for measurement of strain and active dose.

As described in a paper presented at the NIST International Conference on Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics in March 2007, the technology can be used for ultra-thin strained silicon layers and ultra-shallow junction active dopant profiling.

Xitronix is on the cutting edge of innovation in the semiconductor equipment market. Last year, worldwide spending on semiconductor capital equipment totaled $41.95 billion, a 22.9 percent increase from 2005, according to a report from information technology research company Gartner Inc.

About Xitronix
Xitronix Corp. is an Austin-based privately held startup that provides breakthrough process control metrology equipment to semiconductor manufacturers to enable the volume manufacture of semiconductor nanoelectronics.

Xitronix’s technology and products provide manufacturers of advanced semiconductors with the capabilities to directly, rapidly and non-destructively characterize the electronic and optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures during the manufacturing process, thus accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies into full-volume production.

Xitronix provides sales and support to customers worldwide. Xitronix is an Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) member company.

If you are attending SEMICON West 2007, being held July 17-19, stop by the Xitronix booth, #6474, in Moscone Center North Hall.

For more information, please visit www.xitronixcorp.com.

Contact information:
Judd Chism, CEO
(512) 476-1553
jchism@xitronixcorp.com

John Egan
UpWord Communications
(512) 799-1022
john@upwordcommunications.com