Through-Lens Fiducial Marking System

Awarded Phase I and having completed the Phase I concept and feasibility study of the innovative development of a tool, Thru-Lens Fiducial Marking, that can be integrated into an IR microscope that is able to create fiducial marks on the surface of the backside of silicon, we now propose to embark on Phase II, or implementation of said technology. The current state-of-art in semiconductor device analysis involves procedures that begin with the identification of areas of interest under an IR microscope and then those areas are milled with a focused ion beam and imaged using a scanning electron microscope. There is no system in place within these IR microscopes to generate fiducial marks for reference during later processing and imaging steps. Checkpoint Technologies has a long history of providing IR micrscopes that use NIR CCD cameras and NIR laser probes. The addition of this marking system will provide a key capability to link multiple processes that connect an array of equipment from various sources.