New solution uses automated 3D metrology to increase productivity in fabrication environments

From smartphones to autonomous cars to AI supercomputers, nearly every electronic innovation we use today depends on complicated structures at the atomic scale within silicon chips. As these chips increase in processing power and decrease in size, even the smallest fault can cause massive delays.

To help chipmakers keep pace and minimize delays, Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, has introduced the Thermo Scientific™ Helios™ MX1 Plasma Focused Ion Beam (PFIB) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This system enables chip manufacturers to visualize and analyze buried semiconductor structures directly within fabrication (fab) environments.

Helios MX1 uses automated 3D reconstruction and metrology to significantly enhance the analysis of semiconductor logic, memory and advanced packaging devices. This fully automated wafer analysis system is uniquely designed to increase productivity in the fab by accelerating time-to-data — the speed at which engineers can see and understand what’s happening deep within a semiconductor.

Seeing the unseen
By integrating high-resolution laboratory instrumentation into the fab environment, Helios MX1 quickly reveals details that were previously only achievable in a lab. This accelerates time-to-yield by providing fast, accurate and valuable insights into semiconductor subsurface defects.

“With Helios MX1, semiconductor fab engineers can now see what was previously only visible in a laboratory,” said Mohan Iyer, semiconductor vice president and general manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The semiconductor industry is witnessing a dramatic increase in the amount of analysis needed within fabrication environments, and traditional methods are no longer sufficient. With Helios MX1, our customers can now have a detailed, three-dimensional look at structures that are beneath the wafer surface.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific proudly offers the Helios MX1 to unlock the potential of fab-ready 3D process control and optimize semiconductor production. This unique solution is designed to enable semiconductor customers to improve medical devices, advance automated vehicles, enhance AI computing and more.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue over $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD.

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