Carl Zeiss gains ground in China  

SMIC, the largest and most advanced foundry in Mainland China, has placed an order with Carl Zeiss for a tool bundle for qualification, repair and metrology of photomasks.

The Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), headquartered in Shanghai, China, have purchased multiple systems for photomask verification, repair and metrology from Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Metrology Systems (SMS) Division, a leading supplier of both photomask metrology and manufacturing equipment.

This step is strategically very important for Carl Zeiss SMS as the semiconductor market in China is still on an emerging path." states Dr. Oliver Kienzle, CEO of Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH.

SMIC purchased an AIMS™ system for qualifying their photomasks for the advanced node and beyond. To repair the detected defects SMIC will use the ZEISS MeRiT® MG system, which allows high end mask repair based on the state-of-the-art e-beam mask repair platform. New to the SMIC production line will be the metrology tool PROVE®, which will be applied for high performance image placement measurements.

SMIC is one of the leading semiconductor foundries worldwide, providing integrated circuit (IC) foundry and technology services at 0.35-micron to 40-nanometer.