(December 2, 2010 – BUSINESS WIRE) — This week at SEMICON Japan, Tegal Corporation (Nasdaq: TGAL), maker of specialized production solutions for the fabrication of advanced MEMS, power ICs and 3D ICs, will launch a new member of its ProNova family of high-density inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactors for the company’s deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) series wafer processing products. The ProNova2 is targeted for fast-growing 200mm MEMS and 3D IC applications.
It is designed to improve on etch rates of comparative tools and increase DRIE productivity and yield benefits. In addition to demonstrating sustained high etch rates, the new reactor offers a three-fold improvement in ion uniformity. For some applications, the higher uniformity enables a 40%+ improvement in etch selectivity. The ProNova2 also allows users to adjust selected etch parameters across the ICP reactor plasma and diffusion zones. This allows for better control of etch process performance across the wafer which boosts the silicon DRIE etch flexibility needed for some advanced applications.
The first ProNova2 tool has been installed in a Japanese development laboratory where it is meeting the performance expectations set by Tegal’s France-based R&D team.
Porting established MEMS processes onto 200mm tools and then improving on the baseline process results has been a key challenge for 200mm MEMS fabrication. For silicon DRIE, these challenges include achieving higher etch rates, along with tighter control of tilt angles and etch profiles, and better etch depth uniformity across 200mm wafers. The ProNova reactor family was developed to address all key market requirements identified by the 200mm MEMS community which include Tegal’s 3D IC Through Silicon Via (TSV) commercial partners. With an improved ICP reactor geometry and plasma source design, the ProNova products target better etch depth uniformity and etch profiles, as well as better etch tilt angles across 200mm wafers when compared to traditional ICP sources.
The ProNova2 is immediately available to ship on Tegal 110, 200, 3200 and 4200 DRIE wafer processing systems. It is also compatible as a retrofit with Tegal and AMMS DRIE systems already in the field. As with the first member of the ProNova family, the product supports Tegal’s Super High Aspect Ratio Process (SHARP), which achieves etched feature aspect ratios of greater than 100:1 in production environments.
Tegal will showcase the new ProNova2 at SEMICON Japan 2010, Dec. 1-3 at the Makuhari Convention Center in Chiba, Japan. For more information, please visit Tegal at the Canon Marketing Japan booth, Number 3C-701.
Tegal provides specialized production solutions for the fabrication of advanced MEMS, power ICs and 3D ICs found in products like smart phones, networking gear, solid-state lighting, and digital imaging. For more information, visit www.Tegal.com.
Also read: DRIE from MEMS to wafer-level packaging
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