PRESS RELEASES

Tomerdingen (Germany) - For immediate release - December 23, 2008

2008 marks the 10th anniversary of the startup of Boin GmbH, a semiconductor software supplier. The company was founded 1998 and introduced the WAFERMAP metrology software. WAFERMAP is an award winning software package used to collect, edit, analyze and visualize measured physical parameters on semiconductor wafers. WAFERMAP can import data files from various metrology tools such as ellipsometers, thickness gauges and four point probes. The imported data can then be visualized or printed as line scans, contour plots, 2D or 3D plots or as a histogram.

Later, a software development kit for both the semiconductor and disk drive industry called WAFERView.OCX, was introduced. It offers the 9 different types of graphics of WAFERMAP as an ActiveX control. WAFERView.OCX employs an innovative object oriented visual programming interface to create and modify wafer plots. It was developed to satisfy the analysis and visualization needs of metrology equipment manufacturers.

Then, in mid of 2007, a completely new product for flat panel and related industries was released. It is called PANELMAP and enables the user to perform similar functions available in WAFERMAP but on rectangular panels. The software is used to analyze measurements of thin and thick films e.g. passivation layers or antireflective layers, transmission characteristics of color filters or complex films such as polymers. PANELMAP can also import data files from various metrology tools.

WAFERMAP and PANELMAP broke new ground in major areas.

• They enable process engineers to analyze and visualize metrology data from different automatic metrology equipment off-line, outside the clean room improving the productivity of the metrology equipment.
• They allow for standardized visualization and analysis of metrology data files from different metrology equipment making such metrology data files easy comparable.
• They provide the possibility of in-depth comparison of different metrology data files by applying mathematical operations to them.

A module for Statistical Process Control (SPC) is implemented offering trend charts, trend lists and an advanced file browser. WAFERMAP and PANELMAP allow for a number of mathematical operations applied to metrology data files such as rotation, shifting of the grid in the X or Y direction, or mirroring the data along the X or Y axis. It is also possible to compare different sets of data by adding, subtracting or dividing entire wafer maps. Global operations such as adding or subtracting a constant or taking the 1st or 2nd derivative can be carried out. A Sigma Filter allows for the elimination of sites that exceed a user-defined range (e.g. measurement errors). In case of missing or invalid sites, a transformation to a standard circular or Cartesian grid can be performed. Different grids can be merged into a single new one.

WAFERMAP software is in use at a large number of IC and equipment manufacturers such as AMD, ASM, Infineon, KLA-Tencor, LSI Logic, Mattson, MEMC, Varian or Wacker Siltronic. Software products from Boin GmbH have been integrated with a number of metrology tools in the semiconductor market and OEM agreements have been signed with manufacturers of metrology equipment. OEM customers such as Eichhorn & Hausmann, Foothill Instruments, Hypernex, Jordan Valley, Nicolet, Sigmatech, Sopra, Technos, Thermo, Timbre or Zeiss benefit from WAFERMAP, PANELMAP and WAFERView.OCX by quick and easy integration into metrology applications and therefore save development time and costs.

Up to now more than 1000 licences of Boin's products have been sold to more than 150 direct customers and about 300 users of OEM tools.

To visit the company's website go to www.boin-gmbh.com.

Contact:

Boin GmbH, Dr. Manuela Boin
E-Mail: info@boin-gmbh.com
Web: www.boin-gmbh.com
Tel: +49 (0) 7348-928233