NAGOYA, JAPAN-- September 27, 2023 -- Photo electron Soul Inc. (Takayuki Suzuki CEO, hereafter “PeS”), a startup company launched by Nagoya University, announced today that it has raised 730 million yen from a group of general partners led by USHIO INC. (Koji Naito President & CEO, hereafter “USHIO”) and concluded a sole-distributor agreement with USHIO for the semiconductor photocathode e-beam generation systems incorporated into e-beam semiconductor wafer pattern inspection tools.

PeS is the only company in the world that has successfully developed the semiconductor photocathode e-beam system. PeS is currently dedicated to promoting business for semiconductor inspection systems, with the mission to “Create the future of the semiconductor industry with the semiconductor photocathode e-beam”. Incorporation of the PeS e-beam system into semiconductor inspection tools allows 1) enhancement of throughput by 10 times or more compared with existing e-beam systems; 2) conducting non-contact testing of transistors by selective radiation of an e-beam; and 3) detection of particles hidden at the bottom of a deep hole with the aspect ratio of 30 or more by instant control of the beam dose.

Takayuki Suzuki, CEO of PeS, commented: “The latest technology we offer with our semiconductor photocathode e-beam makes a great contribution to enhancing productivity in the development and manufacturing of semiconductor devices. Our business for semiconductor inspection systems has just entered the first sales phase, and we already have started technological collaborations with some device manufacturers and inspection tool suppliers. I’m pleased to get funding from USHIO as well as conclusion of a sole-distributor agreement with USHIO, because we can fully use USHIO’s global sales and service network of its light sources for semiconductor inspection tools. USHIO plans to start its sales activities for our semiconductor photocathode e-beam systems to both semiconductor inspection tool suppliers and device manufacturers.”