infinitesima.com

What It Is

Infinitesima is a privately held UK semiconductor metrology company founded in 2001 as a spin-out from the University of Bristol. Its core offering is not developer tools in the traditional software sense, but nanoscale 3D metrology platforms for advanced chip manufacturing. Its website emphasizes that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it,” with a focus on Rapid Probe Microscope (RPM) and Metron 3D, which are used to obtain real 3D nanoscale information in advanced processes such as logic, DRAM, 3D NAND, EUV, and High-NA EUV.

Core Capabilities

RPM measures through atomic-force interactions as the probe approaches the sample surface, combined with photothermal drive, interferometry, piezo scanners, and FPGA control systems. According to the website, it can achieve picometer-level/deep sub-nanometer precision and is 10 to 100 times faster than conventional AFM. Metron 3D is an inline wafer metrology system designed for high-volume manufacturing, supporting up to 170 WPH, scan areas of up to 100 micrometers square, 3-axis interferometry, an automated probe library, automatic probe exchange, probe health monitoring, and lifetime prediction.

Pricing and Commercialization

The website does not disclose pricing, following the typical custom sales model of semiconductor equipment companies. For sales and service, RPM in the Zeiss MeRiT mask repair system requires contacting Zeiss; standalone systems in Korea are handled by WooWon Technology; and other regions should contact Infinitesima. News updates indicate that Metron 3D has completed its first customer shipment, with announcements also mentioning inline control for advanced DRAM manufacturing.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are a clear technical positioning and the ability to fill gaps left by optical and e-beam methods in scenarios such as high-aspect-ratio structures, thin EUV photoresist, etch depth, and CMP planarity. It also supports both equipment integration and standalone platform deployment. The drawbacks are that public materials lean more toward marketing and technical overviews, while manuals and application notes require lead-capture downloads; API/SDK details, software interfaces, maintenance costs, delivery timelines, and pricing are not disclosed.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is suited to advanced wafer fabs, mask repair teams, process integration, yield engineering, and semiconductor R&D labs, but not to general software development teams. The extracted text does not specify access conditions from mainland China, so the status is considered unknown; procurement and service may also be affected by semiconductor equipment trade rules, regional distributors, and compliance factors.