Intel leads funding round for tech to cut wafer spoilage • The Register

A Swiss-based startup targeted on chopping particle contamination in semiconductor manufacturing has raised $14 million in seed funding with Intel’s enterprise capital arm main the spherical.

Unisers develops tech that is ready to determine sources of contamination that trigger defects in semiconductor supplies throughout manufacturing, which might result in chips or complete wafers being ruined. The funding is anticipated to allow the corporate to ship the primary methods to semiconductor trade clients.

In response to the Unisers, it’s growing on-wafer evaluation strategies able to figuring out the supply of any defect-causing pollutant, serving to fabrication plant operators to take steps to remove it within the shortest potential time.

Particle contamination throughout semiconductor manufacturing can result in losses price billions of {dollars}, in response to Intel Capital, and so any dependable methodology for combating this is able to rapidly pay for itself. Present strategies for locating the supply of such contaminants are expensive and time-consuming.

The particle monitoring know-how developed by Unisers makes use of surface-enhanced Raman scattering to determine the supply of contamination, which allows it to detect the dimensions, focus and composition of particles with better sensitivity than was beforehand potential, we’re advised.

“Unisers is drastically decreasing the time it takes to seek out the supply of contamination by detecting particles that have been beforehand undetectable, unlocking new alternatives to preserve our chip provide by means of higher contamination identification capabilities,” mentioned Intel Capital’s director and head of Funding Operations Jennifer Ard.

In addition to Intel, which understandably has an curiosity within the success of the know-how, the seed funding spherical noticed participation from M Ventures, RSBG Ventures and Swisscom Ventures.

“The most recent [process] nodes would require instruments to characterize more and more smaller particles, not simply within the semiconductor fab, however throughout the complete provide chain, together with all course of chemical compounds that feed into chip manufacturing,” mentioned M Ventures boss Owen Lozman.

For that reason, Unisers claimed its know-how will be capable of find the supply of the issue, whether or not that’s within the fab or from materials provider by one of many fab’s distributors.

Kioxia and WD famously had manufacturing at their joint 3D NAND fabrication amenities in Japan disrupted by chemical contamination, with not less than 6.5 exabytes of capability misplaced, in February last year.

The contaminated chemical substance and its provider have been by no means publicly recognized.

CEO and founder Ali Altun mentioned Unisers was happy to have closed this funding spherical, they usually naturally imagine the know-how will grow to be vital answer for contamination management alongside the semiconductor manufacturing provide chain.

Supply of business merchandise to semiconductor clients is anticipated someday throughout 2023. ®