Application Case | Seeing the ‘Invisible’ — Application of MV-SUC800GU Ultraviolet Industrial Camera in Wafer Defect Detection

During complex processes such as wafer production, lithography, and etching, wafers are highly susceptible to defects caused by various factors. Even minor particle contamination in the environment, slight deviations in process equipment, or material inhomogeneity can lead to serious problems such as signal transmission abnormalities, circuit short circuits, or open circuits during chip manufacturing and subsequent use, resulting in chip failure.

Contact-based inspection can easily damage wafers, and traditional visible light inspection (wavelength range of approximately 400 nm to 700 nm) is limited by wavelength characteristics, making it increasingly difficult to meet ‘zero defect’ inspection requirements.

In this context, ultraviolet light (as the core wavelength band for semiconductor lithography and defect detection) has the advantage of a shorter wavelength, enabling it to resolve details that are much smaller than those visible to the naked eye. It can efficiently capture microscopic particles, scratches, and other hidden or ultra-small defects on the surface of wafers, making it the ideal choice for wafer surface defect detection.

MindVision independently developed MV-SUC800GU, which supports ultraviolet (UV) wavelength shooting, low CPU usage, and high-speed transmission:

The transparent thin film layer on the wafer surface (such as silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, etc.) allows visible light to pass through directly, making it relatively ‘transparent’ and difficult to detect defects. However, this camera supports ultraviolet imaging, and these materials become ‘visible’ under ultraviolet light due to their properties, revealing defects that cannot be detected by visible light cameras. Combined with an 8-megapixel resolution (2840x2840), it provides high-resolution imaging, addressing the limitations of traditional visible light imaging.

In modern production line cycles, global shutter provides the basis for ‘detection while moving’ without causing ‘edge distortion’ due to wafer movement. With a frame rate of up to 44.75 fps, it avoids issues such as ‘image frame skipping’ and ‘missed shooting areas,’ thereby improving productivity.

Using DMA transmission, the 5Gbps data transmission component consumes almost no CPU resources. Raw data is quickly transferred to the processing unit, avoiding missed inspections caused by data congestion. At the same time, multiple cameras can work stably on a single computer, without disconnecting or losing frames even after prolonged use, meeting the requirements of 24/7 continuous production.

The camera's built-in programmable IO and external trigger flash synchronization photography function are suitable for automated detection scenarios, improving defect detection consistency. It is compatible with the Vision protocol and seamlessly compatible with Halcon, VisionPro, LabVIEW and other vision software, shortening the project development cycle.

The MV-SUC800GU industrial camera precisely meets the core requirements of wafer inspection for ‘micro-defect identification, high-speed and efficient detection, and system stability and reliability’ through its ultraviolet imaging adaptation, high resolution and frame rate, global shutter, low-latency transmission, and strong compatibility.

Under ultraviolet light, microscopic defects on the surface of the wafer will form visible light and dark contrasts due to differences in the degree of reflection and absorption of ultraviolet light.

▲MV-SUC800GU Spectrogram