ZEISS, a technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries, is expanding into a new market in the semiconductor industry.

Through its new Process Control Solutions (PCS) business unit, the company will leverage its core technology solutions and partnerships to address a range of special needs for its semiconductor customers. The company said that the new business unit would be part of the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) business group.

The newly opened ZEISS Customer Center located near the heart of Silicon Valley in Pleasanton, Calif., will offer demonstrations, applications development and training on the company's portfolio of optical, ion, electron and X-ray microscopy offerings, including process control solutions.

"We see a strong trend in semiconductors toward complex 3D chip structures and new materials," explained Dr. Karl Lamprecht, head of SMT business group. "As development cycles lengthen and R&D costs climb, the role of metrology changes. Our customers need effective process control solutions delivering integrated, actionable information that speeds time to problem resolution and time to production. ZEISS has the technology and expertise to fulfill these requirements."

With shrinking structure sizes, ever more sophisticated designs and hundreds of individual working steps, the semiconductor manufacturing workflow has become increasingly challenging. ZEISS is already a solutions provider in the semiconductor industry with its portfolio of lithography optics and mask metrology and repair solutions, and is now bringing its decades of semiconductor equipment experience into the market for semiconductor process control solutions.

The PCS business unit will utilize and expand upon ZEISS's existing portfolio of products, including its core proprietary microscopy technologies, to penetrate the semiconductor lab and fab space. Key products to be deployed include ZEISS's electron microscope products ZEISS Crossbeam and ZEISS MultiSEM (the latter of which incorporates the company's unique multi-electron-beam technology), ion-beam microscope ZEISS ORION NanoFab, as well as the ZEISS Xradia Versa and ZEISS Xradia Ultra non-destructive 3D X-ray microscope systems. Process control solutions will be offered across the spectrum of semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including front end of line (FEOL), back end of line (BEOL), packaging and assembly.

ZEISS will showcase its latest microscopy products and solutions for semiconductor manufacturing at SEMICON West, to be held July 11-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.