Advanced Energy launched the Centra Smart Hub on October 13 at SEMICON West in San Francisco. The hub is a centralized controller for non-contact wafer temperature measurement in semiconductor tools. Paired with the company's new Remote Smart Sensors (RSS), it targets lamp-heated silicon and silicon carbide processes, including rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and epitaxial (Epi) growth. Advanced Energy claims up to a 40 percent improvement in accuracy over "other standard solutions."
The accuracy figure applies when measuring at either 3.3 um or 5.2 um, at temperatures up to 1700°C. One hub supports up to eight sensors.
The layout is hub-and-spoke. The Centra Smart Hub mounts in an instrument rack, while the RSS units install directly on the chamber and provide multiple measurement points across the wafer. The sensors operate in ambient temperatures up to 60°C. Advanced Energy says the architecture is optimized for space-constrained semiconductor chambers.
The choice of wavelength is the technical point. Infrared lamps put out a strong thermal signal, and traditional pyrometers, many of which work in the short- and near-IR bands, can saturate under it. That makes them unsuitable for wafer measurement in these tools. Measuring at a different wavelength sidesteps the lamp signal and reduces its effect on the detected temperature, according to the company.
For process and equipment engineers chasing wafer-to-wafer repeatability, that is the relevant claim. Juergen Braun, Executive Vice President of Plasma Power at Advanced Energy, said the hub enables temperature measurement for Si and SiC processes "to help fabs improve wafer-to-wafer repeatability and thermal uniformity for higher yields." The company also credits the system with real-time temperature control.
The Centra Smart Hub includes embedded ECAT and Ethernet protocols, which Advanced Energy says lets it integrate into current system architectures.
