Onto Innovation Announces Multiple Orders for JetStep® Panel Lithography System

Three customers select JetStep lithography to interconnect high-performance computing chips within system-in-package products

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE: ONTO) today announced it has received multiple purchase orders for its JetStep^® projection lithography stepper from three leading manufacturers. The systems will be utilized for advanced packages using a large panel format to support growth driven by the need to combine various heterogeneous chips into a single package, known in the industry as either chiplets, heterogeneous chip packaging, or system-in-package.

The JetStep lithography solution serves the growing demand for heterogeneous chip packaging coming from the anticipated 5G market that includes smartphones, data centers, AI and IoT applications. The packaging market growth for these applications based on forecasts by TechSearch, Prismark, and internal estimates is currently at 14% CAGR for large format heterogeneous integration from 2019 to 2024.

Including these orders, the lithography backlog is now approximately $15 million. All systems from this current backlog are expected to be delivered in the first half of 2021.

“Next-generation packaging technologies require tighter overlay to accommodate a larger package size with finer pitch chip interconnects on large format flexible panels,” said Alex Chow, vice president of advanced packaging solutions at Onto Innovation. “Heterogeneous integration enables next-generation device performance gains by combining multiple silicon nodes and designs inside one package. The package size is expected to grow significantly, increasing to 75x75mm and 150x150mm, within the next few years. The JetStep lithography system offers a large exposure field size that enables packages well over 250mm² without the need for image stitching while exceeding aggressive overlay and critical uniformity requirements for these packages.”

Chow added, “The JetStep lithography system is designed to offer production flexibility to meet these new technical challenges and address customers’ technology roadmaps. We believe these system orders from leading-edge manufacturers are a validation of our development efforts. We look forward to working with these valued customers to support their exciting production and technology roadmaps for high-performance computing.”

Kevin Heidrich, senior vice president of marketing concluded, “Onto Innovation is delivering a complete solution to meet the challenges of panel level packaging. A combination of metrology and inspection on our Firefly^® panel system, with feedforward and feedback control using our Discover^® software, enables users of the JetStep lithography system to achieve higher productivity and better process control. Our combination of technology is a unique solution that can provide faster production ramps at higher yields for our customers. We continue to collaborate closely with our customers to ensure their success as they migrate to the next generation of advanced packaging technology.”

About Onto Innovation Inc.

Onto Innovation is a leader in process control, combining global scale with an expanded portfolio of leading-edge technologies that include: Unpatterned wafer quality; 3D metrology spanning chip features from nanometer scale transistors to large die interconnects; macro defect inspection of wafers and packages; metal interconnect composition; factory analytics; and lithography for advanced semiconductor packaging. Our breadth of offerings across the entire semiconductor value chain helps our customers solve their most difficult yield, device performance, quality, and reliability issues. Onto Innovation strives to optimize customers’ critical path of progress by making them smarter, faster and more efficient. Headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Onto Innovation supports customers with a worldwide sales and service organization. Additional information can be found at www.ontoinnovation.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) which include Onto Innovation’s business momentum and future growth; the benefit to customers of Onto Innovation’s products and customer service; Onto Innovation’s ability to both deliver products and services consistent with our customers’ demands and expectations and strengthen its market position as well as other matters that are not purely historical data. Onto Innovation wishes to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions that actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Onto Innovation’s control. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the length, severity and potential business impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company’s ability to leverage its resources to gain acceptance and ultimately secure purchase orders for new products; its ability to weather difficult economic environments and/or political protests; its ability to open new market opportunities and target high-margin markets; the strength/weakness of the back-end and/or front-end semiconductor market segments and fluctuations in customer capital spending. Additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Onto Innovation are available in Onto Innovation’s Form 10-K report for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As the forward-looking statements are based on Onto Innovation’s current expectations, the Company cannot guarantee any related future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Onto Innovation does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Source: Onto Innovation Inc.