Extending the Vulcan™ Automated Lab with wafer capability, Optis FIB-SEM enables automated, precise sample preparation to increase yield 

Key takeaways:

• Automation: Optis FIB-SEM reduces operator-dependent sample preparation with automated, wafer-based workflows that give semiconductor manufacturers more consistent, traceable transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample data.
• Precision: Critical for advanced logic and memory devices, Optis FIB-SEM supports ultra-high-precision final lamella thinning with AI-driven endpointing for high-volume applications, helping automate one of the most demanding steps in TEM sample preparation.
• Integration: Within the Vulcan™ Automated Lab, Optis FIB-SEM enables automation from wafer to TEM results, expanding our laboratory-to-fabrication (lab-to-fab) solution.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced that it has completed multiple installations of the Thermo Scientific Optis™ focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM). As semiconductor manufacturers develop increasingly complex chips that power everything from smart devices to healthcare technologies, they need faster, more accurate and consistent data to drive innovation. The system combines automated sample preparation, robotics and AI-enabled tools to streamline laboratory workflows, helping chipmakers generate high-quality data sooner and make more informed development decisions.

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Optis FIB-SEM is part of an automated process for preparing samples imaged with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It prepares samples directly from a wafer, helping semiconductor manufacturers get useful data sooner with greater confidence. Customers tested the system in the field over several months, and their feedback led to system improvements. Optis has now earned significant industry adoption with leading chipmakers.

As chips become smaller and their designs more complex, manufacturers need precise measurements from wafers earlier in research and development (R&D). Optis FIB-SEM automates the handling of wafers and sample grids, the preparation steps and the flow of information between them. This helps laboratories and manufacturing facilities prepare TEM samples with fewer manual steps, clearer records of each sample and more predictable operation.

“Semiconductor manufacturers are producing extraordinarily complex devices to meet the demands of modern technology, which means they need faster process learning, higher throughput and more consistent, high-quality data,” said Mohan Iyer, vice president and general manager, semiconductor, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Optis FIB-SEM is built for the next era of device scaling, and it continues our commitment to bringing metrology and failure analysis innovation to our customers. Within the Vulcan Automated Lab, it extends automation across the production workflow, from wafer to answer.”

Existing lab methods require technicians to break a wafer into pieces, track samples by hand and perform the final preparation manually. These steps take time, can increase the risk of damaging or wasting material, make samples harder to trace and can lead to different results depending on the operator. Optis FIB-SEM keeps sample preparation within the wafer workflow and automates final thinning, one of the most challenging steps in preparing a thin sample for TEM. This helps teams working on advanced logic and memory chips prepare thin samples with the area of interest accurately centered, with less manual work.

Thermo Fisher has extensive experience developing wafer-based focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy systems, supporting them around the world and helping customers optimize them. This experience, along with its global installations and service support, gives customers added confidence as they adopt an automated wafer-based process. Optis FIB-SEM is designed to make wafer-based TEM sample preparation more consistent across operators with varying levels of experience.

To learn more about Optis FIB-SEM, please visit our Optis FIB-SEM site.

FAQs:

What is Optis FIB-SEM?
Optis FIB-SEM is Thermo Fisher’s automated, wafer-based Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) sample preparation system, keeping sample preparation connected across the workflow, from wafer handling through final lamella thinning and grid transfer to the TEM, so labs and fabrication environments can obtain TEM-ready samples faster with fewer manual touchpoints.

What problem does Optis FIB-SEM help solve?
Optis helps fab process engineers get TEM metrology data sooner by preparing samples directly from a full wafer, without first breaking it into pieces. Its versatile automated workflows make sample preparation more precise, consistent, and traceable. Optis also supports wafer return when particle performance requirements are met, allowing the wafer to continue with further analysis.

What level of precision has Optis FIB-SEM demonstrated?
Optis has demonstrated lamella thickness down to 20 nanometers (nm) for logic devices and 15 nm for memory devices with 2 nm (2σ) lamella placement using AI-enabled automation for high-volume, low-mix applications.

How does Optis FIB-SEM work with the Vulcan Automated Lab?
Optis is designed as part of the Vulcan Automated Lab, adding automated, full-wafer TEM sample preparation to that connected workflow, while data connectivity traces wafer IDs, sample coordinates, TEM grids, and results throughout the process.

How can Optis be used to change day-to-day work?
Optis is built for labs and fabs working on advanced logic, including Gate-All-Around (GAA) and Complementary Field-Effect transistors (CFET), as well as advanced memory, where smaller architectures demand earlier, more precise TEM data. It's designed to provide process engineers with sample data sooner while reducing reliance on individual operator experience for the most precision-sensitive preparation steps.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue over $45 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Gibco, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

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