EV Group (EVG) declared that it is partnering with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to deliver advanced manufacturing techniques for futuristic MEMS devices.
Under the terms of the collaboration, ITRI has bought an EVG6200 automated mask alignment system and EVG510 semi-automated wafer bonding system with bond alignment and top-bottom alignment alternatives. EVG will build, modify and optimize the ITRI's wafer-level bonding technique to suit its clients and partners. EVG supplies lithography and wafer bonding equipment for the nanotechnology, semiconductor, and MEMS markets.
The new systems from EVG will be mounted at the Micro Systems Technology Center of ITRI. A number of EVG wafer bonders and mask aligners have been already mounted at this location and are currently under operation. The EVG systems are used for various wafer-level bonding processes such as metal thermo compression bonding, eutectic bonding, and anodic bonding. ITRI uses the EVG510 bonder to process 200-mm MEMS wafers.
According to IHS Suppli, a market research company, the MEMS market will grow rapidly from 2012 through 2014. Key factors for market development include the use of MEMS devices, accelerometers, pressure sensors and gyroscopes in consumer and automotive mobile communication devices.
Wafer-level aligned bonding offers protection to the minute and delicate mechanical equipment and is used to manufacture MEMS devices. Wafer-level aligned bonding also generates a zero-level package to close and encapsulate the MEMS device hermetically. The company offers wafer bonding systems that are suitable for high-volume manufacturing.