Quartz and UV make it all possible

摘要

Semiconductor components such as microprocessors and storage elements have to meet increasingly critical demands. For example, chip performance has doubled every two years during the past twenty years. This enhanced performance is mainly attributable to the marked increase in the packing density of chip structures. This means that the geometric structures have become—and are continuing to become—increasingly small. This trend is compelling semiconductor companies to constantly increase their investment in wafer fabs. Profitability requires greater yield and better chip quality The expectations being made on inspection, metrology and quality control—for which optical microscopes are used in many cases—are correspondingly high.