Crossing Automation - Reticle Handling and Management
Crossing Automation's reticle handling and management products benefit fabs by improving the effectiveness of their reticle inventories. The company's reticle solutions also benefit mask shops that produce and ship reticles. With industry shifts to sub 32 nm linewidths and from 200 mm to 300 mm wafer diameters, reticles have become increasingly more expensive to produce, and the impact of not having the right reticle at the right place and time has become significant. These trends have made isolation and automation strategies essential to alleviate contamination and ESD damage. As a result, Crossing Automation's automated Narrow Reticle Indexers have become increasingly important to fab profitability.
As a platform for manipulating and protecting valuable reticles during production, Crossing Automation's reticle handling product suite is in wide use by semiconductor device manufacturers, photomask suppliers, and equipment manufacturers.
Maximum Productivity & Profitability
- The Narrow Reticle Indexer protects reticles from various sources of particulate contamination and airborne molecular contamination, while providing a standard interface to photolithography tools. Used in combination with SMIF-Pods™ and the SMIF-E™ inert gas purge system, a better than ISO Class 3 environment can be maintained, providing increased productivity and yields.
- The Narrow Reticle Indexer protects reticles from various sources of particulate contamination and airborne molecular contamination, while providing a standard interface to photolithography tools. Used in combination with SMIF-Pods™ and the SMIF-E™ inert gas purge system, a better than ISO Class 3 environment can be maintained, providing increased productivity and yields.
- The Narrow Reticle Indexer protects reticles from various sources of particulate contamination and airborne molecular contamination, while providing a standard interface to photolithography tools. Used in combination with SMIF-Pods™ and the SMIF-E™ inert gas purge system, a better than ISO Class 3 environment can be maintained, providing increased productivity and yields.
- SMIF-based reticle ports are available for most stepper and reticle manufacturing, from reticle inspection equipment suppliers or directly from Crossing Automation.
Narrow Reticle Indexer
SMIF-INX™ products are designed to supply reticle indexing for fixed Z-axis handlers or reticle cassette positioning to a fixed plane for Z-axis handlers. SMIF Reticle Indexers can accommodate 6 and 9-inch reticles.
The internal PTFE ULPA filtration system maintains a better than ISO Class 3 environment. The contamination control benefits of the SMIF and SMIF-E-Charger systems are well documented and can provide substantial productivity and yield increases resulting in cost savings for the end user.
Maximum Productivity & Profitability
- Operates with single or multi (6) reticle cassettes.
- SMIF-INX mounts directly into the process tool.
- DC Servo control with position feedback provides high-speed wafer indexing with minimal impact on tool cycle time ensuring positioning accuracy of ±0.005 inches (0.127mm).
- Patented laser-based sensing system provides precision reticle and slot location, reticle position mapping, and sensing of protruding reticles.
- Quick disconnect cabling and mounting for easy maintenance.
- Loadports meet SEMI E15 and E19 specifications; 150R NRI also meets SEMI S2 and S8.