Lasertec Corporation occupies a specialized niche in the semiconductor industry: detecting defects that could compromise the manufacturing of integrated circuits. Based in Yokohama, Japan, the company develops optical inspection and measurement systems used notably to inspect lithography masks. These masks carry the patterns that are transferred onto silicon wafers during chip manufacturing.
Roots in optics and electronics
Lasertec’s origins date back to 1960. The company gradually built its expertise at the intersection of optics, electronics and image processing, before adopting the Lasertec name in 1986. Photomask inspection became one of its main areas of specialization, alongside the development of laser microscopy instruments.
Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company keeps pace with the evolution of semiconductor manufacturing processes. As patterns become smaller, detection requirements increase: a defect that is difficult to observe can be replicated across many circuits. This constraint gives inspection equipment an essential role in managing manufacturing yields.
Inspecting masks before defects spread
Lasertec supplies, among other products, inspection systems for mask substrates, known as “mask blanks,” and masks that already carry circuit patterns. Its customers include mask manufacturers and semiconductor companies. The aim is to identify anomalies early enough to prevent them from affecting subsequent production stages.
Extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, is a major focus of its business. Unlike conventional masks that work by transmission, EUV masks rely on a multilayer reflective structure. Inspecting them requires suitable methods. Lasertec develops so-called actinic inspection equipment, which uses light at the same wavelength as that used for lithography. This approach enables better assessment of certain defects under conditions relevant to their industrial use.
Its portfolio also includes solutions for inspecting materials and wafers intended for power semiconductors, particularly silicon carbide, as well as laser microscopes. The common thread across these activities remains the precise characterization of surfaces and defects through a combination of optical instruments and analytical software.
What next?
Continued miniaturization and the deployment of high-numerical-aperture EUV are increasing the need for mask inspection. For Lasertec, the challenge is to improve detection sensitivity, inspection speed and equipment reliability in production simultaneously.
This trajectory remains tied to semiconductor manufacturers’ investment cycles and the timeline for adopting new processes. Trade restrictions affecting manufacturing equipment are also an issue to monitor. The ability to turn its research into tools qualified for use by customers will remain decisive for its development.