Sonix Next Generation Application

Since 1986, Sonix has pioneered many of the breakthroughs in image accuracy and process productivity that have helped wafer and chip manufacturers literally transform the world. Where others have failed, they have consistently found the right answers to very difficult problems associated with wafer and chip manufacturing.

Today, Sonix acoustic scanning microscopes are used by leading manufacturers worldwide to perform nondestructive inspection of bonded wafers and packaged semiconductors, from the development lab to the production floor. These industry-leading systems deliver the high-resolution images and advanced diagnostic tools that semiconductor designers and fabricators need to verify reliability, qualify new designs, monitor production, pinpoint device failures, and improve process control.

Solution

Sonix utilizes some highly complex software to integrate all of its hardware components and acquire images of the wafers and semiconductors being inspected. In late 2010, Sonix’s aging software infrastructure needed a refresh and a reinvestment in software development. Marathon was brought on to provide technical expertise for this next generation application development. We also provided support for ongoing development and feature expansion of the current software. Marathon became integrated in the software team and has functioned as a member of that team for almost 3 years.

Features

• Moved application from a single-threaded architecture to a multi-threaded application.
• Improved efficiency of inspection times by 20% with software changes alone, which grew to 80% when combined with hardware changes.
• Migrated and redeveloped many software components using the latest .NET framework and software development best practices.
• Provided ongoing support of feature developments integral to delivery of customer shipments.