Nanotronics Leads Inspection Convergence: Photoluminescence Imaging and AI

Nanotronics, an innovator in AI-enhanced industrial inspection and
automation, is adding Photoluminescence Imaging to its advanced
industrial inspection tool, nSpec^®.

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nSpec® (Photo: Business Wire)

The last several years have seen the rapid adoption of new technologies
that converge super-resolution optical microscopy and AI analysis.
Nanotronics is at the forefront of bringing these technologies from the
lab table to the factory floor, with leading semiconductor, advanced
materials, rubber, automotive, and consumer electronics partners.

“Kyma’s nSpec^® was purchased in 2013 and
quickly became a workhorse for us, providing invaluable characterization
of the properties of every wafer that goes through our facility,
including wide-bandgap and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor materials,
crystalline metal films, and large-area graphene templates,” says Keith
Evans, President and CEO of Kyma Technolgies. “The complex-yet-rapid
AI-enabled analysis helps us learn faster and will become even more
important with the addition of Photoluminescence capability.”

Detection and classification of defects and devices on semiconductors
has commonly been used for process control and quality control. Now,
utilizing advances in Artificial intelligence, an inspection framework
can be expanded beyond a reliable tool for identifying problems, and to
begin assigning casualty.

“The integration of Photoluminescence and novel AI methods into the
standard nSpec^® inspection system allows for
rapid, adaptable detection, classification, and analysis of stacking
faults in silicon carbide and other responsive materials,” explains
Vadim Pinskiy, Nanotronics VP of R&D.

Combined with AI, Photoluminescence Imaging enables quantification and
categorization of defects that conventional Brightfield microscopy
overlooks. Photoluminescence enables the characterization of stacks and
folds in SiC that cannot be seen by other methods as quickly. Using
diffused light at the wavelength of the material bandgap, it not only
provides a precise measurement, but one that scales faster than any
laser-based method.

“Nanotronics’ nSpec® systems are a smart addition to an arsenal
of oxide epi-wafer quality control instruments,” says David Rogers,
Director of Nanovation. “They are economical, non-destructive tools that
provide rapid quantitative full-wafer mapping of topological, defect,
and optical properties...with the option of extending down to
sub-optical wavelengths.”

The addition of PL imaging will provide a way to test functionality on
the same wafer or product, and potentially at the same time as routine
classification, giving a robust single station for solving production
problems and leading to faster design iteration.

Nanotronics is presenting a paper, “Inspection and Functionality
Convergence,” at SPIE Photonics West on Thursday, February 7 in room 302
at 8:30 am.

About Nanotronics

Nanotronics is an industrial platform that enables the factory of the
future, where products are invented, engineered, and produced under one
roof. Using AI and other advanced technologies for optical inspection,
Nanotronics accelerates R&D into production, while reducing waste and
creating smaller factories. Building on its legacy of revolutionizing
industrial inspection for the most advanced manufacturers in
nanotechnology, semiconductors, aerospace, and health, Nanotronics is at
the forefront of redefining the manufacturing process. To learn more
visit https://nanotronics.co.

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