Covalent and Rigaku extend partnership with advanced X-ray characterization at new facility

Rigaku Corporation, a leading supplier of X-ray metrology technology, is pleased to announce the installation of two of its newest analytical instruments in the recently-expanded Covalent Metrology service lab, Sunnyvale, California, USA. Covalent are a leading provider of analytical services to advanced materials innovation companies.

The delivery of the new systems furthers the collaboration agreement designed to support American high-tech industries with advanced metrology capabilities. The agreement provides Covalent with exceptional analytical service capabilities and provides Rigaku a North American demonstration facility located in Silicon Valley. The new systems will be available for demonstrations and for Covalent’s analytical service customers.

Among the newly installed instrumentation is the Rigaku AZX400 sequential wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer. The system, specifically designed to accommodate large or heavy samples, will be used for precise film and materials compositional analysis and uniformity assessment. The AZX400 system accepts samples up to 400mm in diameter and features an automatic loader to accommodate 200mm cassettes and 300mm front-opening unified pods (FOUPs).

As an R&D system, the AZX 400 spectrometer is a foundational instrument for companies developing next-generation semiconductors, sensors, batteries, solar cells and advanced materials. It is designed to maximize analytical flexibility, covering a broad range of elements, with spot sizes down to 0.5mm diameter for spatially resolved measurements.

Also now installed at Covalent is the Rigaku CT Lab HX benchtop X-ray Micro-CT system, for 3D and 4D imaging of micro-scale morphologies. Computed tomography (CT) reveals, at high-speed, the high-resolution, three-dimensional structure of an object by means of computer-processed combinations of numerous X-ray images taken from different angles.

The CT Lab HX system is a compact yet powerful micro-CT system that can provide three-dimensional X-ray images of a wide variety of samples. It features a large field of view (FOV) and a powerful X-ray source (130 kV, 39W), enabling high-speed image acquisition as fast as 18 seconds/scan. The system will be broadly employed for the development and non-destructive failure analysis of advanced materials, packaged and fabricated devices and complex components.

Craig Hunter, CEO of Covalent stated, “We are delighted to add two outstanding analytical instruments from Rigaku to our in-house service offering. The AZX-400 WDXRF system offers superb resolution and the auto-loader feature provides a cost-effective capability to process fab wafers for tool qualifications and yield optimization. The GT Lab HX is a relatively new entrant to the growing micro-CT market and we believe it offers highly competitive speed and resolution for a wide variety of sample types. We are excited to continue building the Rigkau partnership.”

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