nSpec v0.21.0.0 External Release Notes

nSpec Version 0.21.0.0

Overview

Upgrading to v0.21.0.0

Required Library Update

To get the latest installer to upgrade to v0.21.0.0, please contact Nanotronics Technical Support at support@nanotronics.co.

During the upgrade process, please review the following adjustments that may need to be changed to perform a smooth upgrade:

Autoloader Laser Amplifier Sensor

Important for all nSpec PS systems

nSpec v0.21.0.0 treats the autoloader laser amplifier settings differently than before if an IG-010 Keyence sensor is present in the autoloader. It is very important for safe wafer alignment to update the following settings on the alignment laser module if an IG-010 Keyence sensor is present. Additionally, the sensor will have to be flashed using the TStoolkit (WhatScopeDoIHave).
On the laser amplifier sensor hardware (located inside the autoloader near the aligner), set the following:

1. AnH = 0

2. AnL = 10

Note: The AnH and AnL settings are reversed compared to previous versions of nSpec.

Then, within nSpec, update the following:

Program Options > Autoloader > Invert Aligner Sensor Readings set to "0"

For additional instruction on how to safely update these settings, please reach out to Nanotronics technical service at support@nanotronics.co

Live View Frame Rate

Within nSpec Program Options, under Camera settings, set GenICam Acquisition Frame Rate Limit to 30 fps. By default, this new parameter is set to 60 fps, however this value needs to be lowered, especially for newer Bonita cameras that capture very large images. Additionally, in Live View settings, set Frame Refresh Limit (FPS) to -1. This will instruct the live view to capture images as fast as the camera allows.

Precision Scan Automatic Lighting

To run precision scans with any form of auto-light adjustment (masked or unmasked), as of v0.21.0.0 you must now verify that the Auto checkbox in the job’s image group settings is checked for the light you want to adjust.

Major Enhancements

Bare Wafer Alignment

Overview

nSpec supports alignment of bare wafers. The Bare Wafer Alignment uses an automatic fiducial detection algorithm to find the angle of any wafer, bare or patterned, relative to the stage. The alignment file generated using the Bare Wafer Alignment Wizard is an optional, but highly recommend input to the Scan Settings dialog.

Enabling Bare Wafer Alignment in Scan Settings

The Alignments field for Wafer patterns in the Scan Settings dialog can accept both Device Inspection Alignment files (.csv) and Bare Wafer Alignment files (.json).

1. Alignment will be enabled if this field has a valid alignment file.

2. Alignment will be disabled if this field is left blank.

Prerequisites for Creating a Bare Wafer Alignment File

Prior to creating a Bare Wafer Alignment file, do the following:

1. Place a representative wafer on the stage.

2. Create an image settings group with low magnification (i.e., 1x, 2.5x, or 5x should all work).

3. Create an autofocus group with Use F-stop set to 0.

4. Navigate to the wafer’s fiducial (i.e., flat’s corner or notch) so that it is centered in the live view.

Creating a Bare Wafer Alignment File

To create a Bare Wafer Alignment file, navigate to the Bare Wafer Alignment Wizard through Stage View > Scan > Bare Wafer Alignment > Wizard.

The Bare Wafer Alignment Wizard will appear, and the live view will automatically have Edge Detection enabled. When enabled, Edge Detection will display the following highlights in the live view:

The goal of this alignment setup is to optimize the settings in the Bare Wafer Alignment Wizard so that only the corners of the target fiducial have yellow crosses on them. You can then click Run Test Alignment to test the assigned settings. Once satisfied, you can click Save Alignment… to save the alignment.

Bare Wafer Alignment Wizard Settings

Edge Detection Settings

Wafer Trace Settings

Measurements Taken During Bare Wafer Alignment

Certain wafer properties measured and calculated during Bare Wafer Alignment will be automatically written to the database. These property values can also be manually input as job properties, and manual inputs will overwrite the values obtained from running Bare Wafer Alignment in the database.

Running Bare Wafer Alignment will calculate and write the following values to the database.

GDS Layout Creation

Overview

nSpec supports nSpec device layout creation using Graphic Data System (GDS) files.

Steps to Import

To convert a GDSII file into an nSpec Layout file:

1. Create a Device Inspection Alignment where the origin is the location of the GDSII file’s origin

2. Go to Stage View → Create Device Layout

3. Click Alignment… and load your created alignment

4. Click Device Layout… (which will open a new Choose Layout File Type dialog)

5. Click GDS
   

   

6. Chose the desired layer and click Import
   

   

7. The device structure corresponding to the selected layer will be populated in the stage view and the device list, as if the devices where specified through extrapolation. At this point, the device layout the same as a traditional nSpec device layout.
   

   

New Features

Highlights

Manual Color Balancing:

Only relevant for nSpec systems with a color camera

nSpec now supports manual flat-field color balancing. To enable this option, set the Flat Field Correction Manual Color Balance program option under the Camera category to 1. When enabled, whenever calibrating objectives through Stage View → Calibrate → Calibrate Objectives, the following dialog will open:

Within this dialog, the user can change the sliders for each color channel (Red, Green, and Blue for color cameras or Luminance for non-color cameras). Clicking Apply will cause flat field correction to happen, with the current slider values being applied to each channel. When correction has completed, the dialog will reopen. This allows the user to keep changing the balance until the desired effect is achieved. Once the desired balance has been found and applied, the user can select Accept to keep these changes. Otherwise, the user can click Cancel or end the dialog via the X button at the top and the system will run flat field calibration again with the color balance settings from when the first dialog was originally opened.

Air Knife Integration:

Hardware upgrade required, If you are interested in an Air Knife upgrade, please contact us at sales@nanotronics.co

nSpec can now clean Olympus turret objectives through the integration of the Air Knife hardware. To clean objectives using the Air Knife hardware:

1. Connect the Air Knife to an open USB port on the tool’s computer

2. Set Number of Objective Slots under Hardware: Turret Control to the number of physical objective slots available on the turret

3. Set Turret Switching Delay (ms) under Hardware: Turret Control equal to or more than the time it takes for one objective slot position to change

4. Start nSpec

5. Select Stage View → Utility → Clean Objectives
   

The Clean Objectives routine will do the following:

1. Move stage out of the way (so samples do not get shot with air/nitrogen)

2. Turn on air & nitrogen

3. Rotate nosepiece (turret) 1 full revolution (360 deg)

4. Turn off air & nitrogen

5. Return stage and objective to position before air knife job was started

Reporting Class View Settings:

Two new program options under the Reporting Class View category have been added to set the starting underlay and bin colors for class view reports: Default Underlay and Defect Bin Colors respectively. Furthermore, the first bin’s color is no longer a monochromatic gray.

Manual Set Z Focus Type:

A new autofocus type has been introduced: Manual Set. When selected, autofocus routines will simply set the stage’s Z position to the value specified in Initial Z Position in Autofocus Settings.

OCR Disable Scribe Reading Job Property:

Users can now enable/disable OCR scribe reads without changing the Autoloader program option via the job property: DisableOCR.

ManualLoadWafer Job Property:

The ManualLoadWafer job property now accepts two additional arguments: Z and Objective Slot. ManualLoadWafer can be used to set the state of the stage and turret after a job is finished.

The syntax for ManualLoadWafer is the following:

[X],[Y],[Z],[Slot #]

The following are possible arguments for the ManualLoadWafer job property:

The possible ManualLoadWafer job property combinations are as follows:

Analysis JSON Export Parameter:

Analyses that export JSON files now have a parameter to enable/disable JSON exports: Export JSON.

SECS/GEM Upgrades:

General Improvements

Scanning Improvements

Analysis Improvements

Autoloader Improvements

New Features Changelog

Bug Fixes

Changelog