Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) today announced that it has received multiple orders from leading customers for process control solutions for Gate-All-Around (GAA) device manufacturing. The orders are for dimensional, materials, and chemical metrology solutions. The Company expects to deliver them in the next 12 months, with additional orders expected to follow as GAA progresses into high-volume production.
Nova's extensive portfolio enables customers to get deeper insights into complex semiconductor structures, offering a broader perspective on geometrical dimensions, materials properties, and chemical analytics. The Company is engaged with or has received orders from leading manufacturers transitioning into GAA, affirming the portfolio's unique value.
"Nova offers a distinctive and comprehensive array of metrology solutions tailored for Gate-All-Around manufacturing. We are encouraged by the increasing number of selections and qualifications by key manufacturers. We expect these engagements to convert into substantial business volumes as these customers ramp up GAA-based node production." said Gaby Waisman, President and CEO. "On top of complex architectures, materials and chemicals are becoming increasingly crucial to device evolution. Nova's portfolio addresses the specific challenges of next-generation device fabrication and provides our customers with essential value across multiple application domains."
As the semiconductors industry shifts into long-awaited advanced technology nodes, new process challenges arise. Time to yield becomes critical, conflicting with an increasing number of process steps, higher sampling, and lower error tolerance. This clash is further complicated by the need to measure on-device and in-die, as the test structures are no longer representative of the actual process. Moreover, an abundance of new materials introduced into the process necessitates inline control of parameters. Process control solutions must address complex 3D structures, new materials, more layers, and more physical and chemical inline parameters to address these needs.