Wafer Charging Monitors, Inc.

Now Serving GMR Head Manufacturers!  

Wafer Charging Monitors, Inc. would like to help your company eliminate wafer charging problems that could be degrading your GMR head manufacturing yield. We have a long, successful track record of helping semiconductor IC and equipment makers avoid the pitfalls of wafer charging and we now support GMR head manufacturers, as well.

Wafer Charging in GMR Head Fabrication

Wafer charging problems that have long plagued the semiconductor IC and equipment industries may now be affecting magnetic head manufacturing for the disk drive industry. The thinner films and more advanced processes required to fabricate giant magnetoresistive heads exposes head makers to greater risk of low yield caused by wafer charging in the fabrication process.

Susceptible Processes and Fab Equipment

The materials, processes, and equipment used to make magnetic heads are similar to those used in the semiconductor industry. Examples include materials such as very thin conductor and dielectric films, and processes/equipment that rely on plasma-based or ion-based systems. Semiconductor industry experience shows that wafer charging is often present in such processes/equipment and that the degree to which it is present determines the extent of process-induced damage and low product yield. A similar situation may be facing GMR head manufacturers.

Improving GMR Head Manufacturing Yield

If your company is exeriencing low GMR head manufacturing yields, wafer charging could be the cause. This can be easily confirmed with CHARM®-2 monitor wafers, which contain a variety of sensors that thoroughly characterize wafer charging in your individual process steps and enable a detailed assessment of the probability of process-induced damage. If the process is likely to cause damage, then a series of process experiments monitored with CHARM®-2 can be run to eliminate wafer charging damage.

Additional Information and Support

To learn more about wafer charging problems and CHARM®-2 monitor wafers, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) pages on this web site. The web site also contains a downloadable Tutorial, and information about Latest Research, Technical Notes and Briefs, and other Publications, many of which can be downloaded in PDF format. If you have questions or need additional information, we welcome you to contact us by phone (650-851-9313) or email info@charm-2.com. Also, we would be happy to visit your company to give a vendor presentation.