EV Group, a provider of lithography and wafer bonding tools for the nanotechnology, MEMS and semiconductor markets, has announced the installation of its semi-automated single-wafer cleaning system called the EVG301 at Arai-Nishiyama Lab of the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Arai-Nishiyama Lab is using the EVG301 for the research and development of sophisticated optical communication ICs, especially for stripping particles from the surfaces of silicon-on-insulator and pre-bonded III-V compound semiconductor wafers utilized in the optical IC production.
Ever-increasing network traffic necessitates higher levels of optical communication IC integration, which includes the utilization of wave division multiplexing transceivers and optical routers in order to maintain the every channel’s transmission rates at manageable levels. For this purpose, Arai-Nishiyama Lab is working on developing compound semiconductor-based optical transceiver parts on silicon platform, which allows the higher levels of integration of circuits. EV Group’s EVG301 megasonic wafer cleaning system will help the lab in leveraging this project.
Dr. Nobuhiko Nishiyama from Arai-Nishiyama Lab informed that improved wafer bond quality is essential for producing high-quality luminescent components, which are essential part in building optical circuits on silicon. Luminescent component’s normal performance gets affected due to the presence of trace amounts of tiny particles that generate gaps on the wafer bonding interface. The EVG301 fully eliminates such particles and provides perfect bonding results.
According to Yuichi Otsuka, EV Group Japan’s Representative Director, the installation of the EVG301 at Arai-Nishiyama Lab for research and development of highly integrated optical ICs and superior performance semiconductor lasers corroborates the status of the tool in this research field.