Veeco Instruments Inc. announced it shipped its first NSA500 Nanosecond Annealing (NSA) System to a Tier 1 logic customer. With this product launch, Veeco solidifies its leadership in advanced laser annealing technology. The NSA500 is targeted at low thermal budget and material modification applications which are of increasing importance for advanced node and 3D applications. Compared to traditional annealing solutions, the NSA500 System is able to precisely anneal relevant surface layers without damaging the underlying device due to its nanosecond scale dwell time and high temperatures. Veeco is planning shipment of its second evaluation system to another Tier 1 customer within the next few months and sees potential for initial high-volume manufacturing orders in late 2024 or 2025.
The broad applicability of Veeco’s NSA500 system provides a significant opportunity to expand the company’s served available market to new applications. These include low thermal budget applications like Backside Power Delivery and Contact Annealing for advanced nodes and material modification applications such as void-removal, recrystallization and grain growth.
“We are excited to announce this next generation annealing platform designed to meet high-volume semiconductor manufacturing requirements with great emphasis on superior performance, scalability, and productivity,” commented Adrian Devasahayam, Ph.D., Veeco’s Senior Vice President Product Line Management. “Based on customer feedback, our NSA system improves device performance and enables their product roadmaps. This new system complements our LSA laser annealing systems, and we are confident that our NSA system is uniquely positioned to address the toughest materials challenges in chip manufacturing.”
