Jordan Valley to Introduce a Fast Wide Angle Micro-XRD Metrology Tool in SEA-NET's MUXT Consortium; Project to Develop 300mm X-Ray Metrology Platform for Back End of Line (BEOL) Copper/Low K Process.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The word micron was changed to micro in three instances: Headline, First graph, first sentence of release, and fifth graph, first sentence of release.

The corrected release reads:

JORDAN VALLEY TO INTRODUCE A FAST WIDE ANGLE MICRO-XRD METROLOGY TOOL IN SEA-NET'S MUXT CONSORTIUM

Project to Develop 300mm X-Ray Metrology Platform for Back End of Line (BEOL) Copper/Low K Process

Jordan Valley has taken a key position in the "Metrology Using X-Ray Technology" (MUXT) consortium where they will introduce a new, fast Wide Angle micro-XRD tool for monitoring Cu/low k processes. Also participating in the consortium are ST Microelectronics, Philips Semiconductors and CEA-LETI.

The MUXT project is part of the "Semiconductor Equipment Assessment for NanoElectronic Technologies" (SEA-NET) program. This is an R&D venture funded by the European Commission (IST-027982). SEA-NET programs evaluate and assess prototype equipment and novel enhancements to existing equipment and their application to next generation semiconductor technologies.

The main objective of the MUXT consortium is the development, assessment and improvement of a 300mm fully automated x-ray metrology platform.

The specific objective for Phase I is to evaluate second generation X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR) and Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) technology for 65 nm and 45 nm challenges. SAXS is a technique for measuring pore size and distribution, capable of pore size determination with pore diameters below ten angstroms. It's the only non-destructive technique for providing information about pore size and distribution in the marketplace. The project will concentrate on SAXS performance improvements on high scatter samples and XRR improvements on ultra thin films (below 30 angstroms).

Phase II will evaluate fast Wide Angle micro-XRD (WAXRD) as a stand alone metrology tool or as integrated channel with Jordan Valley's XRR and SAXS channels, making it an integrated total solution tool for Cu process ramp up and control. The fast WAXRD channel will be used to monitor the phase growth of Ta, TaN and Cu grains to confirm that deposition processes meet the requirements of 65nm technology nodes and beyond. For the XRD part of the project, the MUXT team will be looking for accurate information about the crystallographic properties of crystalline layers including allotropic form, texture and grain size. The requirements of the project will include developing fast measurement, micro-spot, and automated data processing.

The consortium was first introduced at SEMATECH in Austin in December of last year. The project evaluation site will be Crolles2/ST Microelectronics (NYSE:STM) in Crolles, France.

"Our first partnership with the SEA, to bring our XRR/XRF technology to market, was extremely valuable," commented Sean Jameson, Jordan Valley vice president. "They really helped to validate our current technologies on a broad range of applications. Similarly, we look to the MUXT project to qualify our recent developments in SAXS and our future developments in Low Res XRD. Jordan Valley remains committed to being the leader in bringing X-ray technologies into high volume manufacturing for 90nm nodes and beyond."

Background Information:

Jordan Valley previously participated in a SEA project, entitled COMBIMEXX, for the evaluation of a combined X-Ray analysis tool. X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR) is a relevant metrology technique to precisely determine the thickness of both transparent and metallic thin films. XRR is also very sensitive to surface and interface roughness and provides information about the film density. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is currently used as a metrology technique to control the thickness and the elemental composition of films. Performance of a new in-line metrology tool, which gathers XRR and XRF to monitor films thickness, was assessed in this project.

About Jordan Valley: Jordan Valley Semiconductors, Inc. provides semiconductor metrology solutions for thin films based on novel, rapid, non-contacting, and non-destructive x-ray technology. They offer a comprehensive family of solutions based on advanced X-Ray Reflectivity (XRR), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) technologies. These tools are fully automated, production ready, and ideal for both blanket and patterned wafers. Jordan Valley's x-ray technology enables accurate and precise characterization of all film types -- including single layers and multilayer stacks, high k and low k materials, metals and dielectrics, amorphous, poly-crystal and single-crystal films. Jordan Valley's primary shareholders are Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELRN) and Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. (TASE:CII). Research, development, and manufacturing are based in Migdal Ha'Emek, Israel. Applications engineering, customer support services and marketing are located in Austin, Texas. www.jordanvalleysemi.com.

About SEA: Semiconductor Equipment Assessment provides equipment companies with a path to develop their product innovations into productive solutions with the active involvement of IC manufacturers worldwide. The focus is on proving that equipment is productive, cost-effective and compatible with state-of-the-art applications as feature sizes shrink to satisfy the industry's roadmap. There have been over 60 SEA projects with all major equipment themes covered, including Layer Deposition/Growth, Lithography, Etch, Cleaning, Interconnect Processes, Analysis/Metrology, Assembly and Test. SEA is an initiative of the European Commission. www.sea.rl.ac.uk.