X-ray-based in-line metrology and defect detection tool maker Jordan Valley Semiconductors Ltd (JVS) of Migdal Haemek, Israel has received a strategic order for its QC3 high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) system for strain and thin-film metrology from the US R&D Center in Sunnyvale, CA, of deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Herzogenrath, near Aachen, Germany, following an extensive 6-month-long evaluation.
QC3 and QC-Velox systems are metrology and characterization tools for metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) chamber qualification, used for epitaxial growth of gallium nitide (GaN) and III-V semiconductors structures. Since the QC3 system's introduction in 2010, it has become the tool of record for both production monitoring and R&D in the areas of GaN-based LEDs and other devices, it is claimed.
"This selection represents the customer's confidence in Jordan Valley's ability to provide valuable metrology solutions for their demanding applications, trusting the first-principle x-ray based metrology," says Jordan Valley's CEO Isaac Mazor.
The QC3 provides HR-XRD metrology with high throughput and precision in a very compact package, says the firm. The addition of its RADS analysis software enhances productivity and makes the characterization of complex epilayers routine and automatic, it adds. "By choosing the Jordan Valley QC3 platform, Aixtron Inc, the German group's US-based affiliate, acknowledged the product robustness, performance and extendibility to future technology challenges," says JVUK manager Dr Paul Ryan. "The Jordan Valley QC3 can be a strong contributor to the rapid and advanced deposition technology development," he believes.
