Nova Chemical Metrology: Precise Process Control for Modern Electroplating Chemicals

Wet chemical metrology plays a central role in semiconductor manufacturing, especially in complex metal deposition processes such as TSV fills, copper damascene structures, and advanced packaging applications. Nova demonstrates how plating chemistries can be monitored in a structured manner throughout the entire bath lifetime and how metrology contributes to process stability in front-end and back-end processes. The systems cover a wide range of applications—from copper and cobalt to nickel and tin-silver—and help manufacturers detect deviations early on and keep process windows stable over the long term.

Electroplating metrology for front-end processes

With AncoScene, Nova addresses front-end applications, in particular TSV processes and copper damascene chemistries. These processes are among the most demanding steps in wafer manufacturing, as fine structures, void-free fillings, and reproducible metal deposition require a stably controlled bath. The system is designed to precisely analyze copper and cobalt chemistries and prepare parameters so that process engineers can identify drift, additive consumption, or bath aging at an early stage.

Nova back-end metrology for demanding advanced packaging applications

The Ancolyzer was developed for packaging applications—a system designed for a wide variety of plating chemistries. These include tin-silver alloys, nickel, copper, and cobalt, which are becoming increasingly important in advanced packaging. The solution supports manufacturing operations that run multiple metal processes in parallel and, thanks to its open data platform, offers the ability to synchronize metrology values across different plating tools.

Process stability throughout the entire bath life

A key feature of the systems is the continuous monitoring of chemistry throughout the entire bath life. The aim is to detect changes not only on the wafer, but precisely before that. This enables manufacturers to keep process windows stable for longer, delay bath changes, reduce scrap, and lower operating costs. In addition, Nova offers a cleanroom-compatible powder refill solution for copper and tin baths, which is an economical alternative, especially when chemical consumption is high.

Nova AI-supported analysis for diversified plating chemistries

The increasing diversity of metal processes—such as differences between TSV fills and hybrid copper bonding—requires data-driven approaches. Nova therefore integrates AI models to automatically evaluate parameters and map “bath health” in greater detail. With the growth of AI and its increasing relevance in advanced packaging, there is also a growing need for precise metrology that reliably covers new chemistries and process variants.