WorldWide E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market, Industry / Sector Analysis Report, Regional Outlook & Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019 - 2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market size is expected to witness high growth over the coming years owing to increasing application of thin wafers for manufacturing compact devices. Wafers are integrated in small devices and require accurate inspection for smooth and error free operations. These systems help in ensuring long term usage of electrical wafers across various industries by detecting faults with reduced cost and time in re-inspection process. With the increase in demand for wafers in electronics devices, the industry is anticipated to witness high growth.
 

Rise in growth in consumer electronics industry including devices such as smartphones, gadgets, wearables, LCDS, LEDs have led to increased demand for high quality semiconductors. These devices use the inspection system for detection of errors or flaws in compact devices. Moreover, the growing investments for innovations by manufactures to offer high-precision semiconductor tools with reduced cost will accelerate the industry demand. For instance, in February 2019, KLA Corporation developed in-line automatic defect classification (iADC) technology for its e beam wafer inspection system. The technology enables the ability to detect electrical failures within the device in the manufacturing process.
 

High costs associated with the technology and slow throughput rate is impacting the growth of the e-beam wafer inspection system market. The technology consumes more time to eliminate defects compared to conventional systems due to various projection and analysis process. Moreover, these systems require highly skilled technicians to operate the equipment, resulting in increasing labor and production costs, hampering the industry growth. However, the adoption of multiple e-beams to accelerate the entire process is encouraging the companies to invest in the equipment.
 

Rising trend of miniaturized electronic products that consume less power is increasing the demand for more accurate inspection methods, thereby positively impacting the e-beam wafer inspection system market. These systems help in identifying tiny errors in compact devices and minimizes the charging of wafer surface by providing clear and sharp image of defects, which has led to its increased adoption in number of miniaturized wafers. With the increasing demand for developing miniature products in electronics industries, the usage of these wafer inspection systems is expected to rise over the coming years. Moreover, these systems can operate in range of 10nm and above to address the defect issues making them highly suitable for inspecting smaller electronics devices.
 

In the e-beam wafer inspection system market, demand for 1 nm resolution system is anticipated to grow in the coming years. The increasing demand for detecting smallest defects in Integrated Circuits (ICs) is accelerating the enhancements in these systems. Manufacturers are using 1 nm resolution for effectively monitoring processes and rapidly resolving issues to achieve higher yields. Several companies are offering e-beam inspection tool with smaller resolution to deliver faster throughput and increase efficiency, performance and productivity in complex manufacturing process. For instance, Applied Materials, Inc., is offering PROVision systems, which is an e-beam inspection tool with 1nm resolution. The technology allows manufacturers to detect the most challenging defects in production environments.
 

The ongoing technological advancements are encouraging the semiconductor manufacturers to adopt EUV lithography in fabrication processes, providing an impetus to the e-beam wafer inspection system market. Lithography equipment is highly used in wafer fabrication processes in semiconductor manufacturing and IC production technology, which requires to detect faults on wafer and mask, thereby increasing the adoption of e-beam inspection for wafer fabrication. The manufacturers are focusing on developing multiple e-beam inspection systems for providing high sensitivity and throughput by implementing advanced technology such as computation to meet demanding need for EUV lithography.
 

Asia Pacific will dominate the e-beam wafer inspection system market over the coming years owing to the growth in semiconductor industry coupled with presence of large semiconductor companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). There has been an increasing adoption of these systems by semiconductor manufacturers for high-quality inspection. Rise in semiconductor industry and extending production capacity is resulting in high demand for effective wafer inspection systems. Moreover, the increasing financial support from government to invest in the construction of large number of semiconductor fabrication plants in the region, will drive the industry.
 

The major players operating in the e-beam wafer inspection system market include ASML Holding N.V., Hitachi Ltd., NXP Semiconductor N.V., K.L.A Corporation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), Applied Materials Inc., Renesas Electronics Corporation, Integrated Device Technology Inc., Synopsys Inc., Lam Research Corporation, NXP Semiconductors N.V. among others. The players are focusing on collaborations, strategic partnerships, mergers & acquisitions to sustain in highly competitive market. For instance, in June 2016, ASML Holding N.V acquired Hermes Microvision, supplier of wafer inspection tools at USD 3.1 billion. The collaboration will help the company to integrate its computational lithographic engine with e-beam tool, enabling them to detect defect areas on wafers at a faster rate.