public nyse rtec industry semiconductor equipment & materials founded 1940 headquarters wilmington massachsetts united states products semiconductor wafer processing semiconductor final manufacturing data storage led manufacturing compound semiconductor manufacturing flat panel display photovoltaic device manufacturing micro electro mechanical systems mems manufacturing research and development . revenue 176.3 million usd 2013 number of employees 650 2013 website www.rudolphtech.com rudolph technologies inc. nyse rtec is a provider of process characterization equipment and software for semiconductor light emitting diode led data storage flat panel display and photovoltaic manufacturing industries . the company s product offering includes automated macro defect inspection systems probe card test and analysis systems and thin film metrology systems . in addition rudolph provides a broad range of software products designed to improve yield control processes and reduce manufacturing costs . contents 1 history 1.1 rudolph research 1940 1995 1.2 formation of rudolph technologies 1996 1999 1.3 rudolph technologies 2000 present 2 semiconductor fabrication packaging and test 3 products 3.1 inspection systems 3.2 metrology systems 3.3 process control software 3.4 lithography systems 4 references history edit rudolph research 1940 1995 edit rudolph technologies inc. rti traces its origins back to 1940 when otto curt rudolph initially formed the company and called it o.c. rudolph & sons inc. originally an importer of microscopes and scientific instruments this rti predecessor was renamed in october 1970 to rudolph research corporation . the company designed optical equipment for laboratories and universities . the company otto rudolph established continued to evolve making breakthroughs in ellipsometry including the first production oriented ellipsometer for thin transparent film measurements . the company continued development of its metrology products securing new patents along the way . formation of rudolph technologies 1996 1999 edit in june 1996 richard spanier ph.d. chief executive officer of rudolph research forged a partnership agreement with boston based riverside partners 1 and new york based liberty partners 2 who along with others invested in the company . at that time dr. spanier retired his active role in the company and semiconductor industry veteran paul f. mclaughlin was named as ceo . in august 1999 the name of the company was changed to rudolph technologies inc. in november 1999 rti made its initial public offering of common stock . revenues grew dramatically reaching a record 38.1 million . a new facility opened early in the year and the company launched a new product the metapulse line of copper film measurement tools . rudolph technologies 2000 present edit in july 2002 rti agreed to acquire the richardson texas based defect control company isoa inc. a spin off from texas tech university s international center for informatics research isoa had been licensing technology to the semiconductor industry for about 16 years offering defect detection software . the deal was completed in september with isoa becoming rti s yield metrology group . several months later rti expanded into china by establishing an office in shanghai s pudong industrial area . in subsequent years the company established additional offices in all semiconductor manufacturing regions of the world including japan europe south korea taiwan and singapore . in 2006 a merger was completed with minnesota based august technology corporation growing rudolph s workforce to 550 employees . this acquisition brought rudolph into the back end of the manufacturing process . in 2007 the company acquired the semiconductor business of washington based applied precision llc adding probe card test and analysis to the company s portfolio . the acquisition of rvsi inspection llc and its wafer scanner inspection system was announced in 2008 . adventa control technologies inc. a provider of process control software was acquired in 2009 and an acquisition of mks instruments inc. s yield dynamics business was completed in 2010 . rudolph announced two acquisitions in 2012 . nanophotonics gmbh mainz germany unpatterned wafer inspection ; and azores corp. wilmington ma rudolph s entry into the advanced packaging and fpd lithography markets . in 2013 rudolph announced the acquisition of selected assets of tamar technology newbury park ca a supplier of 3d metrology technologies . the company is now headquartered in wilmington massachusetts with additional u.s. operations in new jersey minnesota massachusetts texas new york washington and california . manufacturing operations for inspection and metrology products are consolidated in minnesota ; stepper manufacturing is located in wilmington massachusetts . semiconductor fabrication packaging and test edit semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create the integrated circuits that are found in commonly used electronic devices and electrical equipment . it is a multiple step process during which electronic circuits are gradually built by adding elements and layers of material on a substrate made of pure silicon or various compounds in the case of specialized applications hundreds of steps performed by specialized process tools are required before the wafer moves to a final packaging facility . the focus of packaging and assembly is to ensure an electrical connection from the die to the circuit board to encapsulate the package for mechanical integrity and to withstand thermal variations . the era of slim form factor devices such as smart phones implies high level of functionality in very dense footprint . due to these requirements the challenges in packaging assembly and test have significantly increased and advanced packaging techniques such as bumping or through silicon via are necessary . products edit inspection systems edit chip manufacturers deploy advanced macro defect inspection throughout the fab to monitor key process steps gather process enhancing information and ultimately lower manufacturing costs . rudolph tools such as the nsx and the f30 inspection systems are found in wafer processing front end and final manufacturing back end facilities around the world . these high speed tools incorporate features such as waferless recipe creation tool to tool correlation and multiple inspection resolutions . in addition to wafer frontside inspection rudolph s explorer inspection cluster incorporates wafer edge and backside inspection in one integrated platform to enhance productivity and continuously improve fab yield . new products added in 2012 include unpatterned wafer inspection and mask blank inspection . 3d metrology technologies were added to the nsx inspection platform in 2013 to combine 2d inspection with 3d metrology for a singular 2d 3d system for advanced packaging applications . using products such as discover and genesis yield management software the data gathered through automated inspection can be analyzed and classified to determine trends that ultimately affect yield . metrology systems edit rudolph s patented transparent film technology uses up to four lasers operating simultaneously at multiple angles and multiple wavelengths providing powerful analysis and measurement capabilities . laser light sources make metrology tools inherently stable increase measurement speed and accuracy and reduce maintenance costs by minimizing the time required to re qualify a light source when it is replaced . rudolph s s3000s system employs a proprietary reflectometer technology that allows the characterization of films and film stacks that can not be performed using conventional reflectometry or ellipsometry alone . for opaque film characterization the metapulse system can simultaneously measure the thickness and other properties of up to six metal or other opaque film layers in a non contact manner on product wafers . pulse technology uses an ultra fast laser to generate sound waves that pass down through a stack of opaque films such as those used in copper or aluminum interconnect processes sending back to the surface an echo that indicates film thickness density and other process critical parameters . this technology is ideal for characterizing copper interconnect structures . process control software edit rudolph offers a portfolio of process control software solutions for semiconductor led and photovoltaic manufacturing . the products are designed to integrate into existing factory systems to improve profitability and optimize manufacturing processes . rudolph s software products include yield analysis data mining processing modeling fault detection and classification run to run control automated defect classification and factory automation . lithography systems edit advanced packaging manufacturers have unique challenges required of the photolithography process . since most packaging is an additive process thick films are used to enable the creation of features . in order for equipment to effectively function in this environment it must effectively meet these challenges . the rudolph jetstep system has been specifically designed to include features that address these challenges . rudolph also manufactures high resolution photolithography equipment for the flat panel display industry . manufacturers seek to effectively present graphics such as detailed maps high resolution photos and streaming video in order to meet user expectations . rudolph s panelprinter 9200 uses high fidelity optics and the largest printable stepper field available . references edit riverside partners liberty partners retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title rudolph technologies inc. & oldid 742808558 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies formerly listed on nasdaqequipment semiconductor companiescompanies established in 1940 navigation menu personal tools 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