Quantify Wafer Defect Reduction and Yield Improvement

# Quantify Wafer Defect Reduction and Yield Improvement

Removing the contact-driven scratch-and-transfer defect mechanism directly reduced the number of pattern defects printed onto each wafer compared to contact-printed production.

Fewer printed defects meant a higher proportion of working die per wafer, since fewer individual chips were spoiled by a flaw that had originated on the mask or been introduced during contact.

This yield improvement, measured directly against contact-printed production lines making comparable devices, is the concrete production benefit that justified adopting the new, more expensive projection equipment.

Diagram above: defects, contact vs projection.

Diagram above: from fewer defects to higher yield.