Tegal Corporation, (Nasdaq:TGAL) an innovator of specialized production solutions for the fabrication of advanced MEMS, power ICs and optoelectronic devices, today announced it has received an order for a Tegal 200 SE DRIE tool, equipped with the Tegal ProNovaTM ICP source, from a leading manufacturer of precision timing devices. Tegal was awarded the 200 SE DRIE tool order after a thorough competitive evaluation by the customer, who will use the silicon DRIE tool to develop MEMS-based precision timing devices.
“Tegal is pleased to have our Tegal 200 SE DRIE Silicon Etch System selected by this important manufacturer of precision timing devices. Our customer, with its long-established reputation for producing high-quality products, chose the Tegal DRIE tool after an extensive competitive evaluation,” said Thomas Mika, President and CEO, Tegal Corporation. “We think this particular order is a strong endorsement of the winning value proposition Tegal brings to the silicon DRIE equipment market. Our customer chose Tegal based on our superior silicon DRIE process performance, superior after-sale equipment and process support, and on our ability to provide pre- and post-sale wafer processing services from both our Petaluma, CA and Annecy, France, DRIE process demonstration laboratories.”
MEMS-based timing and frequency control devices are making significant inroads into the high-precision timing markets currently served by products based on quartz crystal oscillators. Important industrial and consumer applications for precision timing devices include Global Positioning System navigation units, smartphones and other wireless communication products, cameras, watches and portable media players. Silicon MEMS timing devices, including those incorporating piezoelectric AlN films, are displacing quartz timing devices as a result of the demonstrated ruggedness of the silicon MEMS timing devices in rough-and-tumble applications, and because of their lower cost. Tegal supplies silicon DRIE tools and AlN PVD tools to the timing market for basic research purposes, for process and product development, and for mass production.
The Tegal 200 SE system is high-density plasma etch tool featuring the Tegal ProNovaTM inductively coupled plasma etch reactor and magnetic plasma confinement. The tool can run Tegal’s patented SHARP – Super High Aspect Ratio Process, achieving etched feature aspect ratios of greater than 100:1 in production environments. Together with its high reliability, broad process windows, and high etch rates, the Tegal 200 SE system is a critical enabler for etching silicon (SE) films found in the MEMS, bio-tech, power IC, optoelectronic, and 3D-IC markets. Tegal DRIE tools are presently employed in numerous research and development laboratories throughout the world, engaging in both commercial and academic research programs, and are also found in MEMS foundries and other dedicated commercial high volume manufacturing lines world-wide.