Feb. 2, 2007 — Oxford Instruments, a UK supplier of MBE, plasma and ion beam processing equipment, announced the delivery of a twin V100 molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system to a customer in Asia.

With an installed base of over 60 systems, the V100 is ideally suited to high-volume production, being fully automated for handling multi-wafer platens with 4 x 4″, 5 x 3″ or 12 x 2″ capacity. It is widely used in the manufacture of pHEMT, MESFET and HBT structures as well as the fabrication of high quality laser diodes.

“The successful delivery of such a complex system further demonstrates the in-depth capability of Oxford Instruments since acquiring the VG Semicon MBE business in October 2003”, states Tony Cornish, Business Manager for MBE and Ion Beam products.

Molecular beam epitaxy enables the growth of semiconductor materials such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) for chips in applications such as mobile phones and other communications devices, Indium Arsenide (InAs) for infrared detectors and optoelectronics, and a wide range of other and more complex compound materials which enable modern electronic devices.