Particles Fluid control Monitoring

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Abstract

The semiconductor industry is forecasted to grow at 5.1% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in millions of square inches (MSI) of silicon (1) because of a growing middle class in developing countries (2). The main semiconductor market drivers (3, 4) in smart phones, tablets, IPTV set-tops, mobile PCs, and autos will continue to increase, forcing the industry to amplify capacity through advanced technologies. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) forecasts DRAM (dynamic random access memory) ﾽ-pitch size reductions from 36 nanometers (nm) in 2012 to 28 nm in 2014, with corresponding critical particle size reduction to 18 nm, and critical metal ions from 1,000 parts per trillion (ppt) to 100 ppt by 2014. At the same time, the cost per gate, while constantly decreasing from 2002 (at 90 nm) to 36 nm in 2012, will start to increase to 0.0275 $/million gates at the 20-nm level, and > 0.278 $/million gates at the future 14 nm (5). This massive technology shift will have profound impact on wafer cost and yield optimization.

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