Orangeburg, NY Olympus Micro-Imaging's new laser confocal technology has been honored as top Quality Assurance/Management Tool during the Sixth Annual Advanced Packaging Awards ceremony July 12th in San Francisco. The award, given to Olympus's LEXT OLS3000-IR laser scanning microscope, was made during a presentation in San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art as part of the SEMICON West 2006, the country's largest semiconductor industry trade show. Present to accept the award for Olympus Micro-Imaging were Mr. Akimasa Wakabayashi, Division Manager, Olympus Tokyo; Joel Young, VP Sales/Marketing; and David Rideout, LEXT Product Manager.

Called the LEXT-IR, this new near-infrared laser scanning confocal technology is designed for nondestructive interior observation of silicon wafers, IC chips, MEMS and various other semiconductor devices.

The new technology, introduced in the OLS3000 LEXT-IR micro-imaging system, features sub-micron imaging with outstanding 0.55 µm resolution and accurate three-dimensional measurement capability. Magnification power from 120x to 12,960x is ideal for nondestructive observation through the silicon package.

Because the LEXT microscope uses a laser for pinpoint surface profile measurements, it offers resolution much higher than conventional near-IR imaging systems.

For more information on Olympus Micro-Imaging's new LEXT confocal microscopy technology, visit www.olympusmicroimaging.com.