At a glance
| Booth | Q6158 |
| Country | CA |
| Website | www.icspicorp.com |
Company profile
Founded in 2007, ICSPI Corp develops desktop atomic force microscopes (AFMs) with a mission to expand access to nanoscale measurement tools, emphasizing fast time-to-results, ease of use, and simplified operation for scientists, engineers, and educators. ICSPI Corp is headquartered in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, and all of its instruments are designed, assembled, and shipped from that headquarters. The company's AFM approach uses integrated sensor technology developed over ten years at the University of Waterloo to simplify and speed up AFM operation compared with traditional instruments based on technology developed in the 1980s. Its systems are designed so users can collect nanoscale data on the desktop while reducing the cumbersome aspects associated with traditional AFM operation. ICSPI Corp states that its systems help scientists and engineers shorten development cycles and make discoveries faster, linking simplified AFM operation with research and product-development workflows. ICSPI Corp's first product, the nGauge, is a desktop AFM that can collect sub-nanometer-precision scans in 90 seconds from sample loading, and the company reports use by scientists, engineers, and educators in over 40 countries for research, product development, and teaching. Its second product, the Redux, is a motorized and automated AFM that can navigate to regions of interest on a sample, extending the company's desktop AFM platform toward automated nanoscale imaging. The company describes its systems as offering faster results, user-friendly operation, low operating and maintenance cost, and low drift relative to traditional AFM systems. The name icspi stands for Integrated Circuit Scanning Probe Instruments, reflecting the use of integrated-circuit-based sensors in atomic force microscopy, a form of scanning probe instrumentation.
Exhibits
The nGauge and Redux are desktop AFM platforms, while the Redux AFM collects high-resolution quantitative 3D topography data in minutes with sub-nanometer precision, built-in scanners and sensors, motorized X, Y, and Z stages, and measurements of topography, roughness, thickness, and particle size. For semiconductor metrology, ICSPI Corp develops AFM array metrology because conventional atomic force microscopy is a reference method for Z-axis measurement but is too slow for high-volume manufacturing. The AFM array technology uses miniaturized 1 mm2 AFM scan heads in parallel, with each scan head functioning as an entire MEMS-based AFM. Each scan head has three-axis control for fine positioning and scanning, while on-chip sensing eliminates the need for laser alignment. The parallel array approach is designed to provide extreme throughput and broad wafer coverage, and it can increase the number of AFM measurement points per wafer without increasing scan time. The semiconductor-metrology benefits listed for the array include faster time-to-yield, faster time-to-market, one-shot full-wafer AFM metrology, die-to-die hotspot comparison, and potential for AFM-based inspection. Together, the desktop AFM systems and parallel AFM array technology cover nanoscale surface imaging, quantitative 3D topography, roughness, thickness, particle-size measurement, and higher-throughput wafer metrology for semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing applications.
Capabilities and products
- desktop atomic force microscopes (AFMs)
- motorized automated AFM
- sub-nanometer-precision 3D topography measurement
- surface roughness measurement
- thickness measurement
- particle-size measurement
- AFM array wafer metrology
- one-shot full-wafer AFM metrology
- die-to-die hotspot comparison