On August 7, 2025, Quartz Imaging Corporation released PCI-AM Version 9, the latest version of its automated measurement software for semiconductor metrology. The update introduces AI-driven template matching, a capability designed to enhance automation in microscope-based analysis of semiconductor features. The software, built on the PCI platform, supports image capture, annotation, processing, and reporting, now integrated with advanced automation features.
The new template matching engine allows users to create templates using a graphical editor and specify desired measurements. The software then uses machine learning to automatically identify, align, and measure these templates in individual or batched microscope images from SEMs (X-SEM) and TEMs, eliminating the need for manual input. This applies to cross-section and top-view images, accommodating complex geometries and evolving device architectures.
PCI-AM Version 9 targets semiconductor labs, process development, and engineering environments, where nanometer-scale accuracy is essential for process control and device validation. The software requires minimal setup and offers three automation levels: measuring a single feature with a click, characterizing an entire image, or processing a folder of images based on a template. It improves measurement consistency by automating edge detection and reduces time compared to manual methods.
Additional features include the ability to lock existing measurements for parameter adjustments, display feature labels, highlight out-of-tolerance measurements, and customize colors and fonts. Users can add vertical reference lines for horizontal measurements, with improved point-and-shoot tools that recalculate measurements when moved and allow equidistant or segmented measurements with Ctrl or Shift keys. New measurement options cover depth and height at feature centers, maximum and minimum caliper, width and height through geometric centers, multipoint widths, radius of curvature, pitch, and signed collinearity values.
The software includes a bilateral filter for edge-preserving smoothing and faster filtering, with preprocessing options like autorotation, arbitrary angle rotation, tilt correction, and auto histogram. Batch mode now sorts images into Pass, Fail, and Reject folders without requiring exact image size matches, and PCI-AM functions are moved to a separate Feature menu for simplicity.
Quartz Imaging, with over 30 years in the semiconductor industry, positions PCI-AM Version 9 as a tool to save time, increase accuracy, and export data into CSV files, supporting measurements like trenches, pillars, shapes, and macro cells.
