Intelligence Value
The RAVEN program seeks to develop technology that will ensure the manufacturing quality of integrated circuits used in advanced computing and communications technologies. The RAVEN program aims to develop a prototype analysis tool for acquiring images from all layers in a 1 cm2 area of a 14 nm integrated circuit, within 25 days.
Summary
The semiconductor industry continues to advance both the scaling of integrated circuits and the integration of multiple die into a single package. The sheer magnitude of these technology nodes requires high-speed and high-resolution image acquisition for process verification and failure analysis – a process that provides information necessary for technology advancement and for corrective action to improve quality and reliability.and failure analysis – a process that provides information necessary for technology advancement and for corrective action to improve quality and reliability.
The RAVEN program launched in 2016 and its objective is to develop prototype tools for acquiring images from all layers in a 1 cm2 area of a 10 nm integrated circuit within 25 days. RAVEN encompasses four major areas for the tool development that will define success: (1) rapid acquisition of images from a bare die; (2) real-time image analysis with in-situ feedback to minimize or eliminate reworks due to image anomalies; (3) innovative algorithms for reconstructing the images of individual device layers and the overall device; and (4) computational resources for acquiring, moving, storing and analyzing petabyte size data files.
