​CEA-Leti continues to round out its 300 mm pilot line with the acquisition of defect inspection and review equipment. In 2019 the institute's investments included a new immersion scanner. The wafer defect inspection and review machines acquired in 2020 will be used to check electronic systems at key steps in the manufacturing sequence to detect, locate, and analyze defects.

The new UVision® 8 optical inspection system performs a chip-to-chip comparison to identify differences in pattern shape or appearance and detect the presence of particles or other debris. It offers resolution of around 20 nanometers and generates a map of the defects present on the wafer.

The defect map is then analyzed by the SEMVision™ G7E review system, which uses high-definition imaging to produce an even more detailed analysis of any anomalies to identify the nature of the defects and their consequences. Advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence automatically classify defects and thus separate "real" defects from false ones.

Once the origin of the defects has been determined (local variations in a fabrication process, design issues, or the presence of debris, for example), corrective measures can be taken, ultimately improving both performance and yields. Today, large-scale industrial R&D projects simply cannot happen without these kinds of defect analysis capabilities.