Applied Materials recently announced the launch of a new defect review system that accelerates chip defect detection using next-generation electron beam (eBeam) system technology. This is crucial for the complex 3D structural changes required for manufacturing 2-nanometer nodes and more advanced logic chips, helping leading semiconductor manufacturers continue to push the limits of chip miniaturization. This technology has already been adopted by logic and memory chip manufacturers.

Applied Materials emphasizes that the SEMVision H20 system combines the industry's most sensitive eBeam technology with advanced AI image recognition, enabling more precise and rapid analysis of nanoscale defects buried within the world's most advanced chips.

Keith Wells, Vice President of the Imaging and Process Control Business Group at Applied Materials, stated: "Our new SEMVision H20 system allows the world's leading chip manufacturers to separate useful signals from noise in the vast data provided by inspection tools. Our system combines advanced AI algorithms with the exceptional speed and resolution of innovative eBeam technology to quickly identify the smallest defects hidden within 3D device structures, providing faster and more accurate inspection results, thereby improving wafer fab production cycles and yield."

Applied Materials pointed out that the new eBeam technology is critical for the complex 3D structural changes required for manufacturing 2nm nodes and more advanced logic chips, including the formation of new surrounding gate transistors and high-density DRAM and 3D NAND memory. The SEMVision H20 defect review system has been adopted by leading logic and memory chip manufacturers and is applied to emerging technology nodes.

The new SEMVision H20 system employs two significant innovations that can classify defects with extremely high precision and provide results three times faster than today's most advanced technologies.

Electron beam imaging has long been an important inspection tool capable of detecting tiny defects that optical technologies cannot see. Its ultra-high resolution can analyze the smallest defects among billions of nanoscale circuit patterns. Traditionally, optical technology is used to scan wafers for potential defects, followed by eBeam for further characterization of these defects. With the arrival of the "angstrom era," the thickness of the smallest chips may be only a few atoms thick, making it increasingly difficult to identify true defects and false positives