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We’re excited to share that Onto Innovation has announced a strategic partnership with Rigaku, a global leader in X-ray technology, to advance next-generation process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. As device architectures become more complex and incorporate new and exotic materials across advanced logic, memory, and packaging, customers are increasingly looking for deeper, more precise insight into their processes. By integrating Onto Innovation’s Ai Diffract™ analysis software with Rigaku’s critical-dimension small-angle X-ray scattering (CD‑SAXS) platforms, this collaboration brings together the speed and location intelligence of optical metrology with the structural precision of X-ray techniques—especially for deeper and more complex features. The joint solution has already been selected by key customers and addresses a market opportunity estimated by external analysts to exceed $1B over the next five years. Building on this technical collaboration, Onto Innovation has also entered into an agreement to acquire a 27% equity stake in Rigaku, further strengthening strategic alignment, accelerating joint IP development, and supporting a coordinated go-to-market strategy. This milestone reflects the impact of our teams’ innovation and collaboration, and reinforces our shared commitment to helping customers solve their toughest yield, performance, and reliability challenges as the industry moves into the most advanced technology nodes.
Onto Innovation announced advances in its product suite for 3D interconnect process control, featuring the new 3Di™ technology on the Dragonfly® G3 system for bump process control in high bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced logic applications. Additionally, the EchoScan™ system is introduced for detecting voids as small as 1µm in wafer bonding applications, such as advanced hybrid bonding for Cu-Cu interconnects. “High-performance HBM and GPU devices powering AI packages demand smaller line/space and bump pitch requirements,” says Mike Rosa, Onto’s CMO and SVP of strategy. “Onto designed the 3Di technology to meet customers’ needs for more stable technologies accommodating smaller bump sizes—even below 5µm in HVM and 2µm in R&D—in next generation logic and memory devices.” Interconnect density intensifies with the adoption of hybrid bonding for bond pad interconnects, with planar bump heights and the challenge of inline micro void detection at the Cu-Cu bond pad interface. Undetected voids can lead to wafer cracking and open electrical connections, resulting in yield loss. “Onto’s EchoScan system offers die and wafer level, immersion free, non-contact technology for voids down to 1µm in HVM. This solution is being released to select customers to detect 1µm voids in atmosphere at the same speed as incumbent technologies limited to ~10µm,” Rosa added. “Whether using micro bump or hybrid bonding technologies, Onto Innovation provides the critical process control solution."
Onto Innovation celebrated the grand opening of the Packaging Applications Center of Excellence, or PACE, at Onto Headquarters in Wilmington, Mass. on Sept. 30, 2024. Alongside industry collaborators, customers, local government representatives, academia and more, we introduced and celebrated this new advanced manufacturing space with our Onto community. PACE will allow manufacturers to co-develop advanced chiplet integration architectures and high-performance packages with Onto and its collaboration partners, such as ASMPT Ltd, Corning Incorporated, Evatec AG, Lam Research, LPKF Laser & Electronics SE, MKS Instruments, Resonac, Taiyo America, Inc., and more. To kick off the event, CEO Mike Plisinski emphasized the global economic impact of artificial intelligence (AI). On the horizon, semiconductor industry revenue through AI is predicted to reach $1 trillion by 2030. However, new compute designs will drive larger package sizes and require denser interconnects. That’s where panels come in. With industry collaboration for panel development, especially in support of glass core substrates, we will be able to accelerate this new era of AI technology. After opening remarks, attendees were guided through the different features of PACE. This set the scene to officially mark the opening of PACE with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The event concluded with a tour inside the cleanroom where attendees gowned up to experience live tool demonstrations. Learn more:pace@ontoinnovation.com
Congratulations to the Onto Innovation team for receiving the Gold Safety Award from Highwire, the Contractor Success platform for builders and owners of capital projects. The Gold Safety award is presented to companies who score between 85-94 on the Safety Assessment administered by Highwire. "Management systems are critical to any company's ability to deliver successful outcomes and, most importantly, to keep their employees safe. Onto Innovation has done a remarkable job implementing a strong safety management system resulting in exceptional safety performance and results," says David Tibbetts, CSP, Highwire’s Chief Safety Officer. Highwire’s Safety Assessment reviews a company’s historic and current safety performance. The program provides a thorough, objective, and consistent evaluation of company performance so clients and contractors can identify, monitor, and mitigate risks more effectively. The results provide a strong indicator of how a contractor values safety and serve as a reliable predictor of future performance.
Happy National Intern Day! Our Onto Innovation interns have been hard at work all summer long working on a variety of projects within operations, quality, engineering, marketing, and more. They have joined us from universities across the country eager to learn about Onto Innovation’s leading products with the help of our Onto mentors. As our program grows, we continue to see the impact the intern season has on our industry youth and the company itself. “Here at Onto, every day I get to learn something new, something I wouldn't ever learn in a classroom,” said electrical automation engineering intern, Anastasia Lindquist. “I'm really lucky to be able to have a chance to gain those types of experiences.” Anastasia joins Onto as rising junior from Northeastern University where she is majoring in Computer Engineering and Computer Science. When asked about her favorite part of the internship, she highlighted the applicable nature of her position. The very components used here at Onto Innovation within our tools, she had seen in her major classes, bringing her studies full circle. As our other interns reflected on their time here, the common theme amongst them all was gratitude. They have experienced a magnitude of generosity from their coworkers and have felt appreciated for their work. We thank them for joining Onto Innovation and wish them well as they enter the final month of their internships and beyond.
Onto Innovation is proud to release our 2023 Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Report. Here we detail our progress in maintaining a well-rounded company through our sustainable environment initiatives, social programs and commitment to product responsibility. In 2020, our company pledged to reduce its overall environmental impact by 30% in the next five years. Detailed in this report, our commitment to the standards of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) and focus on carbon emissions, renewable energy, waste management and more has led us to exceed this goal early and achieve some incredible milestones. In addition, we key in on countless areas to achieve a healthy work environment for our employees. This is represented through our prioritization of employee safety, diversified and equitable hiring, and career growth. Onto Innovation’s ecosphere does, however, stretch beyond our immediate company. We broaden our impact through charitable giving and employee volunteer opportunities and by ensuring high standards for our suppliers and raw material sourcing. Within this year’s report, hear from CEO Mike Plisinski as he recounts our achievements as a company and the contributions of our global team over the past year. Access the complete 2023 ESG Report below.
Congratulations to Onto Innovation Tucson subsidiary 4D Technology for receiving the 2024 Innovative System of the Year award from FANUC America for the 4Di InSpec automated metrology system (AMS). The automated surface defect and feature metrology system enables new levels of quality and reduced rework for aerospace components further enabling aviation safety standards. The patented, vibration-immune technology enables the unique capability of using non-contact, three-dimensional optical metrology on the production floor, providing new levels of defect inspection with micrometer-level resolution. “We are honored to be recognized as an innovator by a robotic industry leader like FANUC America,” said Erik Novak, VP and GM of Onto subsidiary 4D Technology. “The combination of FANUC robotics with 4Di non-contact sensor technologies provides a unique platform for improving throughput, quality and delivery times in industrial manufacturing. We look forward to the continued expansion of our automation metrology portfolio to help our customers solve some of the more complex industrial manufacturing challenges in the industry.” The aviation industry is focused on safety amid the ongoing labor shortage post-pandemic, driving a renewed emphasis for an increase in quality control and improved labor utilization. The industry can utilize the 4Di InSpec AMS to achieve significantly higher sampling rates and improved quality control while providing fast, accurate and reproducible results.
Last week, Onto Innovation was honored to host the Boston Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers at our headquarters in Wilmington, Massachusetts. This group of successful women joined us for an informative evening on career exploration where we provided insight into life at Onto and the semiconductor industry. They also enjoyed a walk-through experience of our clean room. During dinner, Danielle Baptiste, vice president and general manager of the enterprise business unit, took the floor as the keynote speaker for the evening. With more than 25 years of experience and cross-industry expertise in software and digital transformation, Danielle’s presentation led guests through her career timeline that ultimately brought her to Onto Innovation. She emphasized the value of onboarding diverse talent and the importance of welcoming women into the technology and engineering space. After dinner, the SWE chapter toured Onto’s on-site cleanroom, led by applications engineer, Reyhane Oztekin with support by Jason Robinson, vice president and general manager of the lithography business unit. With the group in bunny suits, Reyhane showed them around the manufacturing floor, pointing out lithography tools like the JetStep® X500 system. As a company focused on ethical hiring and diverse talent, Onto Innovation is proud to partner with SWE, a group that shares those same values. We thank the 13 members of the Boston Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers for coming to Onto!
An AI graphics processing unit (GPU) is the foundation for most AI applications, and the AI GPU market is estimated to grow at an annual average rate of 40% over the next four years, according to International Data Corporation and JP Morgan. Leading logic and memory manufacturers for heterogeneous integrated (HI) packages combine a GPU and numerous high bandwidth memory (HBM) devices to create an AI GPU in a single package. Due to this market growth, Onto Innovation recently announced over $100 million in orders for the Dragonfly® G3 inspection system supporting advanced packaging for AI. These deliveries are scheduled through the first quarter of 2024, plus new orders now extending into the second half of 2024. Clearly, the Dragonfly G3 system plays an important role in support of advanced packaging for the expanding AI device market. “The Dragonfly G3 system is a versatile integrated inspection and metrology solution that supports manufacturers with their goal of using only known good die to create both HBM and chip-on-wafer GPU packages,” says Mayson Brooks, VP and GM of the inspection business. “The system’s range of high-performance optical capabilities enables it to monitor multiple parameters at high throughput. Specifically, our unique Clearfind® technology is in demand by several customers to detect non-visual organic residue on chip-to-chip connections to ensure long-term package reliability and to maintain integrity of the power and data lines.”
Happy National Intern Day! Onto Innovation sends a hearty thank you to all of the interns who joined us for a summer of learning, new experiences and personal enrichment. Across the company’s U.S. offices, these 15 remarkable interns filled roles in engineering, software, manufacturing, operations, human resources and finance. At yesterday’s intern meeting, the Onto Innovation Human Resources team celebrated the accomplishments of the summer 2023 interns. Onto CEO Mike Plisinski and other executives joined the call to thank the group for their dedication to the company and to hear feedback about their experiences. Sporting red Onto T-shirts, the interns were each given the opportunity to discuss their backgrounds and the projects they were working on. Brian Cuellar, data analytics intern, captured the essence of the Onto intern experience: “Advice is so accessible here. Everyone is willing to sit down and explain things to you. People make the time to answer.” The root of an internship is to learn and share new experiences, so we are certainly glad to hear that our Onto Innovators have created a welcoming environment for Brian and so many others. Onto Innovation wants to thank all our interns for joining us this summer. You have accomplished great things that will make a lasting impact on our company, and we hope to see you in the future. To the mentors, managers and leaders who have shaped the intern experience, your dedication does not go unnoticed.
