Ushio signs a sole agency agreement for the world’s only technology “Semiconductor Photocathode E-Beams”

Ushio Inc. (Head office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Koji Naito, hereinafter “Ushio”) hereby announces that we have invested in Photo electron Soul Inc. (CEO: Takayuki Suzuki, hereinafter “PeS”) that owns the next-generation e-beam generation technology, and have signed a sole agency agreement for the semiconductor photocathode single e-beam generation system (this system) that is installed in e-beam semiconductor wafer pattern inspection equipment.

PeS is a startup from Nagoya University established in 2015, the world’s only company that has successfully developed an innovative industrial semiconductor photocathode e-beam system. The e-beam using the semiconductor photocathode technology^*1 owned by PeS is attracting attention for use as a bright light source or a processing tool, and is expected to be used for applications such as semiconductor inspection, electron microscopy, and 3D printing. 

Low throughput due to long inspection time and low yield due to low inspection accuracy are challenges in particular in the inspection of semiconductor manufacturing processes where advances in miniaturization and multilayering have been remarkable in recent years. As a solution to these challenges, Ushio has focused on this system owned by PeS, and this time around, we have invested and obtained exclusive sales rights. This allows us to start sales activities targeting manufacturers of inspection equipment for semiconductor manufacturing and semiconductor device manufacturers from November this year by taking advantage of Ushio’s global sales channels for semiconductor inspection equipment light sources and our global maintenance system for various semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Ushio will continue to contribute to the creation of a convenient and comfortable society with our light technology by offering light solutions that overcome the bottlenecks of technological innovation in industrial processes, including advancing semiconductor miniaturization.

*1 One of the e-beam generation technologies, which extracts an e-beam using light energy by irradiating the light on a material.


■Semiconductor Photocathode E-beam (Illustration)
 
An e-beam is generated by irradiating the laser on the semiconductor photocathode

■Main Features of PeS E-beam
・More than ten times brighter than conventional thermal field emission e-beams
・The world’s first Digital Selective e-Beaming^TM (DSeB) function^*2
・Multi and deformable e-beam
・High uptime and outstanding output stability maintained even during long hours of operation

*2: A fast laser on/off function that enables switching between e-beam irradiation and non-irradiation in a specific area.
 

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Photo electron Soul Inc.
PeS is a startup from the Nagoya University based on technology developed over more than 30 years and the world’s only company that owns the “semiconductor photocathode technology” to generate e-beams. PeS will drive great innovation in a wide range of industries covering electronic devices, manufacturing processes, and life sciences, by creating products and services combining a variety of technologies with the e-beam technology developed in academia over many years at its core. https://photoelectronsoul.com/en/