Smaller integrated circuit dimensions, new materials and larger wafers all contribute to the challenges faced by semiconductor manufacturers in the design, production and testing of today’s highly integrated chips. To address those challenges, Cascade Microtech has unwrapped eVue, the digital imaging system to enable dramatic productivity gains in semiconductor wafer navigation and testing. Designed primarily for engineers doing process development or device characterization and modeling, the eVue digital imaging system can easily save two to three hours a day that is currently wasted on inefficient semiconductor navigation and test data collection issues.

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Optimized for on-wafer test with Cascade Microtech’s wafer probing stations, eVue allows users to navigate, observe, and measure leading-edge devices much quicker and more effectively than with a conventional microscope. It combines new wafer probe navigation tools and advanced video processing with next-generation digital microscope technology developed by Umech Technologies, a partner of Cascade Microtech.

The eVue digital imaging system integrates many advanced optical, electronic and software technologies that are far more advanced than those of a traditional microscope or video camera. At the core of the system is a multi-CCD microscope with high definition digital video and wide field/high magnification capabilities. Three discrete optical paths, each with individual high-resolution CCD cameras, can be used to provide a state-of-the-art “multi-perspective” view of the device under test, radically improving navigation speed and accuracy. eVue’s wide “field of view” optics, in conjunction with its high definition video, allow engineers to see an extended view of the wafer when navigating and to see both ends of a probe card needle array when aligning small probe tips to test pads.

The Pro Package version of eVue includes comprehensive software that adds powerful automation and productivity capabilities to a Cascade probe station. The toolkit has three software operation modes: Multi-Cam, Multi-View, and Multi-Z. Multi-Cam mode offers one, two, or three simultaneous live video views, and each at a different perspective of the same device under test, so probe navigation and tracking is easier. Viewing can be optimized with picture-in-picture or side-by-side display layouts. Multi-View mode enables fast probe-card alignment and multiple test device viewing by using the capability to see multiple digital views, each at different wafer locations and magnifications. Finally, Multi-Z mode provides microscope auto-focus, optical height sensing and wafer profiling. Engineers can easily create wafer profile maps for multiple test temperatures, and recall them at each temperature to ensure precise probe touchdown and accurate data collection. Wafer Z-height can also be measured in real-time during “thermal soak time,” eliminating wasted time.