José Manuel Ramos, CEO, Wooptix

Many important developments and investments in chip manufacturing have come about over the past year, and the chase is on to increase chip performance by packing more layers inside. That places more attention on metrology for defect detection. Consequently, I'm very optimistic about the industry's outlook for 2026.

New advanced packaging architectures, such as the latest 3D NAND memories, add complexity to the wafer and thus increase the risk of deformation (induced warpage), significantly impacting yield. These architectures, and the processes required to create them, are increasingly expensive, so every lost chip comes at a steep price.

Our new Phemet® metrology system provides accurate wafer shape, geometry and roughness measurements with sub-nanometer resolution. It addresses the growing demand for improved process control and is especially useful for high-throughput in-line measurements of hybrid bonding for high-bandwidth memory, backside power delivery (BSPDN) logic architectures and next-generation 3D NAND. The compact footprint of the system makes it easy to integrate into existing metrology workflows, increasing performance with minimal installation time.

In 2026, we expect to see major research and development progress in advanced packaging, especially with the insatiable demand for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. Wooptix will be working with manufacturers to push the limits, ready to deliver highly accurate metrology tools for these next-generation architectures.