Semiconductor Metrology & Inspection

Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation (formerly Nanometrics after its merger with Rudolph Technologies) is a Wilmington, Massachusetts-based semiconductor equipment company that develops process control equipment for semiconductor and advanced packaging manufacturing research and production. The company's flagship Atlas family of optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology systems use spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectometry to measure thin film thickness, optical constants, and patterned structure dimensions with sub-nanometer precision without contacting or damaging the wafer surface. These non-destructive measurements are essential at each lithography-etch-deposition cycle in device fabrication to verify that process parameters remain in specification and to enable real-time process adjustment. Onto's Dragonfly G3 inspection platform detects defects and contaminants on wafer and advanced packaging substrates using multi-mode optical imaging. For university cleanrooms and research institutes developing advanced process flows, Onto provides the process characterization tools that enable researchers to close the loop between deposition or patterning experiments and film property targets. Their Firefly macro-defect inspection system scans for edge exclusion problems, coat and develop defects, and patterned wafer anomalies visible at lower magnification. Advanced packaging metrology tools from Onto address the growing research interest in heterogeneous integration, chiplet-based architectures, and through-silicon via processes. Their analysis software integrates with device simulation and design-for-manufacturability platforms, making them relevant to computational materials and device research.