ViSCO Technologies’ inspection of MEMS devices is at the heart of machine vision in semiconductor applications

According to the Status of the MEMS Industry 2018 report from Yole Développement the MEMS sensor and actuator market reached $54B in 2018, enjoying a 15% revenue compound annual growth rate. Similarly, according to the Wafer Starts for More Than Moore Applications 2018 report, also from Yole Développement, this industry represents the equivalent of 48 million 8-inch wafers, which all need to be inspected and packaged. This is where machine vision inspection systems are greatly needed. i-Micronews Team therefore had the chance to interview Mister Hideyuki Adachi, President & CEO from ViSCO Technologies about this industry.

I-Micronews Team (i-MN): Can you briefly introduce ViSCO Technologies and its position within the machine vision ecosystem?

Hideyuki Adachi (HA): ViSCO Technologies Corporation is a machine vision system maker headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is engaged in product development by considering “which technology can replace human eyes”. By utilizing high-accuracy image processing technology, ViSCO has reproduced “perceptual judgment”, “judgment based on experience”, and “recognition”, making them closer to the way humans think and contributing to automated inspection in manufacturing processes. ViSCO does not just provide a machine vision inspection system; ViSCO offers total solutions instead, including selection of optical items, advice on handler settings, and follow-up after implementation. In particular, ViSCO provides cosmetic inspection solutions that perform well in production lines.

ViSCO’s current offering consists of an optical setup with multiple cameras, lenses, and lighting options for various high-speed MEMS inspection approaches. The ViSCO solution can be conducted on a single stage by utilizing multiple lighting/image capture patterns, which contributes to space reduction and throughput improvement.

i-MN: What are the main drivers of MEMS cosmetic inspection systems?

HA: MEMS has various components and requires various inspection processes. Multiple stages would usually be required for different inspection steps, and there has been a demand for downsizing inspection processes in a production line. ViSCO Technologies has made this possible, offering a solution with its vision controller for cosmetic inspection, VTV-9000, and optical recognition techniques. Multiple inspections can be conducted on one stage, enabling space conservation and faster inspection throughput using highly efficient image acquisition.

ViSCO Technologies’ cosmetic inspection solution has been widely implemented in production lines for MEMS microphones, pressure sensors, gyroscope sensors, Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) filters, magnet field sensors, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and so on. Inspections for the said products include cracks on dies, bonding positions, broken or bent wires, excess glue or overmold.

i-MN: Can you give us a sense of the architecture and performance needed for a MEMS cosmetic inspection system?

HA: ViSCO’s inspection module specializing in MEMS cosmetic inspection, for instance, is a module with two cameras which conducts cosmetic inspection of die as well as wires on one stage, achieving high-performance inspection in about 0.1 second. With ViSCO’s lighting technique, focused images can be captured even if shutter speed is high. Inspection of moving parts is also feasible. Optical items in the module are selected specifically for MEMS inspection, offering unimpeded implementation to production lines.

The VTV-9000 series, a vision controller for cosmetic inspection, has an inspection algorithm that “thinks like a human”, offering high-accuracy inspection that is closer to inspection by human eyes. Over 60 inspection tools are mounted in all models, offering versatility for inspection of various industrial products as well as high expertise levels to cater for specific applications. In addition to MEMS inspection, the VTV-9000 series is also widely used for inspection of electronic components, pharmaceutical items, and commodities.

i-MN: Do you have specifics on frame rates and resolution needed?

HA: VTV-9000 series offers six models ranging from entry model to higher-end ones. End-users can choose a relevant controller based on inspection requirements, such as minimum defect detection size or cycle time. An extensive lineup of cameras is also available for connection with VTV-9000 series, ranging from high-speed cameras with 3.6ms/frame transfer rate and 2M pixels or 7.6ms/frame transfer rate and 5M pixels to super high resolution cameras such as 25M or 29M pixel cameras.

i-MN: Aside the camera and lighting hardware, do you provide machine vision system software?

HA: ViSCO offers supporting features for the VTV-9000 series in streamlining and improving visibility of production lines. It does provide VTV-QCS software to remotely check the VTV-9000’s operation status and centralize inspection result management and ViSCO Data Analyzer (VDA) software to generate a real-time graph of inspection results for monitoring.?

Hideyuki Adachi, President & CEO

Status of the MEMS Industry 2018
Megatrends are invigorating the MEMS industry.

Wafer Starts for More Than Moore Applications
Driven by megatrend markets, More than Moore devices’ overall wafer demand is expected to grow at an almost 10% CAGR from 2017 to 2023.