k-Space Associates Inc of Dexter, MI, USA (which supplies thin-film metrology tools for the semiconductor, compound semiconductor and solar markets) has reported revenue for its patented kSA BandiT wafer and film temperature monitoring system up 34% for first-quarter 2015 over first-quarter 2014.
The kSA BandiT technology utilizes the inherent temperature dependence of a semiconductor's bandgap to directly measure temperature. Because of its immunity to sources of measurement errors typical with pyrometers, and its ability to measure at temperatures below 200°C, the system is a preferred temperature monitoring tool for both research facilities and epiwafer manufacturers, claims the firm.
"Our customers place a high value on the information kSA BandiT can provide in real time during growth, especially in the low-temperature regime where other temperature measurement methods fail," says product development engineer Barry Wissman. "We are selling systems configured to measure a wide range of semiconductor bandgaps, from GaN [gallium nitride] at approximately 380nm to CdTe [cadmium telluride] at approximately 830nm, to our best-selling systems that operate in the near-infrared for materials like GaAs [gallium arsenide] and InP [indium phosphide]."
The kSA BandiT has recently been highlighted in several publications, including Journal of Electronic Materials, Journal of Crystal Growth, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B, and Optics Express. In these articles, researchers worked with materials such as GaAs, InGaAs, InAs, InAlAs, and HgCdTe, allowing real-time measurement of variables such as temperature, film thickness, surface roughness, and growth rate.
In 'Evaluation of HgCdTe on GaAs Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy for High-Operating-Temperature Infrared Detector Applications' in the March 2015 issue of Journal of Electronic Materials, Dr Jan Wenisch et al of AIM INFRAROT-MODULE GmbH noted that, for growth of HgCdTe on GaAs, "it was observed that an increase in growth temperature of only 2°C led to an increase in the cadmium fraction of almost 5% for Cd-rich compositions," and that "the strong influence of growth temperature [on Cd fraction] shows that it is especially important to have an accurate and reliable temperature-measurement system."This result demonstrates the power of the kSA BandiT for reliable, reproducible temperature measurements below 200°C, concludes k-Space.
