Qcept Technologies Presents the Benefits of NVD Inspection on Semiconductor Device Yields and Fab Profitability Worldwide

ATLANTA, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Qcept Technologies Inc. today announced that it is participating at several key nanotechnology conferences this calendar quarter to educate the semiconductor industry on the growing impact of non-visual defects (NVDs) on device yields and overall profitability.  Semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers are increasingly turning to Qcept and its ChemetriQ® NVD inspection solutions to help solve their NVD yield challenges, as evidenced by the rising number of repeat orders and use cases that Qcept is experiencing in logic, memory and analog production applications.

"NVD detection is increasingly critical in semiconductor manufacturing—not only to eliminate a growing source of yield loss for leading-edge IC manufacturers but also to help mainstream fabs improve and optimize their processes to reduce chemical usage, shorten cycle times and increase process equipment throughput and efficiency," stated Robert Newcomb, executive vice president of Qcept Technologies.  "We look forward to demonstrating the latest results of our customer and partner collaborations with the semiconductor community to help them to better understand the benefits of incorporating NVD inspection into their yield management strategies."

Qcept will be presenting at the following conferences during Q1 2012:

SEMICON Korea Metrology Inspection Forum (February 7, 2012, Seoul, Korea) 
At the SEMICON Korea Metrology Inspection Forum, Dr. Sungjin (Jason) Cho, senior process and yield technologist for Qcept Technologies, will present on inspection solutions for yield-limiting NVDs such as sub-monolayer organic and metallic residues, as well as process-induced charging, for advanced process control and yield engineering.  His presentation will be given on February 7 during Session 2 at 4:00 p.m.

19th Korean Conference on Semiconductors (February 15-17, 2012, Seoul, Korea) 
At the 19th Korean Conference on Semiconductors (KCS), Dr. Cho will provide an overview on emerging NVDs as well as case studies on how semiconductor fabs are leveraging NVD inspection to drive yield improvements.  His presentation will be given on February 17 at 3:30 p.m.

SEMATECH Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference (March 19-21, 2012, Austin, Texas) 
At the SEMATECH SPCC conference, Qcept and Samsung Electronics will co-present a paper on the impact of charge NVDs occurring at after develop inspection (ADI), which resulted in physical pitting defects at after clean inspection (ACI).  The charge NVD acted as a precursor to the physical defect and ultimately impacted device yields in an advanced-node gate oxide module. 

About Qcept Technologies Inc.:
Qcept Technologies delivers wafer inspection solutions for non-visual defect (NVD) detection in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.  Qcept's ChemetriQ® platform is being adopted in critical processes for inline, non-contact, full-wafer detection of such NVDs as sub-monolayer organic and metallic residues, process-induced charging, and other undesired surface non-uniformities that cannot be detected by conventional optical inspection equipment.  More information can be found at www.qceptech.com.

ChemetriQ is a registered trademark of Qcept Technologies Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Qcept Technologies Inc.