Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that Shenyang Silicon Technology Co. Ltd. (SST) has successfully installed an EVG850LT 300-mm, low-temperature automated production bonding system for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) materials.
The China-U.S. joint-venture SOI wafer provider selected the 300-mm bonder as a follow-on to its prior purchase of a 200-mm EVG850LT. The system has already shipped to SST's state-of-the-art facility, marking the first installation in China of a 300-mm SOI wafer production tool.
"Our 200-mm EVG850LT system has been instrumental in helping us fulfill customer requirements for high-performance SOI wafers," stated Prof. He ZhiQiang, CEO of SST. "As we look to advance our ability to produce 300-mm SOI wafers in high volumes, we need technology that offers the same degree of reliability, throughput and quality as we experienced with our prior EVG bonder, so adding a 300-mm version of the EVG850LT to our line was an easy decision to make."
A key enabling technology for the SOI wafer fabrication process, wafer bonding achieves high-quality, single-crystal silicon films on insulating substrates. With the EVG850LT SOI production bonding system, all essential steps for low-temperature SOI bonding, from cleaning and alignment to pre-bonding and IR inspection, are combined to assure a high-yield production process for void-free 300-mm wafers. This has enabled establishment of the EVG850 family as the industry standard in the SOI wafer market.
Swen Zhu, director of sales for EV Group in China, noted, "The demand for SOI-based devices continues to grow at a rapid pace, particularly in emerging markets such as China, creating more opportunity for EVG to extend our relationships with our customers producing SOI wafers. This follow-on order from SST serves both to strengthen our alliance and to extend EVG's proven leadership in providing advanced process technology for SOI wafer development."