SBIR Phase I: Full surface angstrom-level contamination and defect detection on thin glass samples

Award ID: 2126628

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve yield and reduce the costs of glass-based semiconductor processing and packaging. The project develops a novel optical scanning technology for high throughput, full surface inspection of glass panels. Glass is increasingly finding application in semiconductor processing, packaging, and AR/VR (augmented/virtual reality) applications, with the global glass wafer market expected to increase significantly in the next few years. However, nearly all process control tools are designed to inspect silicon rather than glass. Current pain points in glass inspection include detecting atomic-sized organic contamination on transparent surfaces, distinguishing contamination on the top or bottom surface of very thin glass, detecting microscopic particles on glass, and detecting internal defects within a glass block. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops an innovative scanning polarization imaging technology to enable rapid, full surface scanning and imaging of sub-nanometer film coatings and defects. The full-surface inspection capability with a 100-mm field of view in this Phase I project will allow manufacturers and producers of augmented/virtual reality, high frequency, and biomedical devices to perform incoming inspections of the substrates and perform process monitoring through the sampling of their substrates throughout the fabrication processes. Compared to other thin-film defect measurement systems, this technology offers shape-independent full surface scanning (as opposed to spot checks provided by current technologies such as ellipsometry, optical or Fourier-transform infrared microscopy), detection of film defects as small as 5 angstroms on glass, and top/bottom surface distinction capabilities on thin glass substrates. These combined capabilities are critical in industries where small particulate or film contamination on glass can lead to failure of downstream steps and a faulty final product. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ela Mirowski