The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute (SEMI) presented the Semicon West 2016 trade show at Moscone Center in San Francisco from July 12 to July 14. For several years, the show has been colocated with two other related meetings focusing on solar energy and photovoltaics: Solar 2016 and Intersolar North America. Organizers estimated that 30,000 attendees would participate in the show.

In concert with the trade show, SEMI presented its midyear consensus forecast for semiconductor-related capital equipment expenditures. After falling 3% in 2015, a modest expansion of 1.1% to reach $36.9 billion is expected in 2016. However, the forecast for 2017 is considerably rosier, with expenditures estimated to grow by 11.2%. The wafer processing product segment, which includes a number of relevant analytical techniques, is slated to grow 12.8% in 2017. While Taiwan remains the largest individual geographic market, with demand poised to top $10 billion by 2017, significant growth will come from mainland China, where numerous new facilities are scheduled for construction, boosting 2016 growth to more than 30%. Korean demand is expected to decline in double-digits this year, but rebound with growth of nearly 30% for 2017.

Although not a major focus of the show, lab and process instrumentation could be found at a number of booths on the floor. Various forms of microscopy are the most prominent techniques, along with related tools for metrology and inspection. Spectroscopic techniques for monitoring semiconductor processes are probably the next most common type of analytical instrumentation displayed at the show.

Among these were HORIBA’s CS-700 chemical concentration monitor, first introduced at Semicon Japan in December of last year. Compared to its predecessor, the new system doubles the number of components that can be monitored to eight, using absorption spectroscopy. Verity Instruments displayed a range of updated models of its NIR and Vis light spectrometers for end-point measurement, film thickness and plasma monitoring applications.  The new products were the SD1024X “Smart” spectrometer, which does not require a standalone computer, the SD512GR NIR spectrometer, and the SD2048GH, a high -resolution spectrometer with wavelength resolution of 0.24 nm. Verity sells primarily on an OEM basis to semiconductor equipment manufacturers. The company’s products range in price from about $5,000 to $30,000.

In April, Nordson DAGE introduced the Quadra 7 off-line x-ray inspection tool, which represents the company’s fourth generation x-ray microscope. The Quadra 7 can resolve features as small as 100 nm with a maximum magnification of 68,500X. There is also a CT option for full 3-D imaging of samples. The system price starts at about $300,000.

A few digital microscopy products introduced in the last year were also at the show. Meiji Techno’s HD1500TM 6 MP camera accessory comes bundled with a digital flatscreen display that mounts on the top of the microscope, and is priced at under $2,000. Leica Microsystem’s DVM6 digital microscope is designed for QA, inspection and forensics applications. Priced starting at about $55,000, the system has high-quality Leica optics and a 16:1 zoom function.