German-based equipment supplier technotrans AG has introduced a new plating tool for the specific demands of MEMS and certain semiconductor applications, the microform.200. The core technology of the system is based on the latest generation of electroforming units for the production of optical disc mould inserts. In co-operation with NXP (former Philips Semiconductor) in France, who bought the second system by end of 2006, the system was refined to the specific demands of the thick layer copper plating process on silicon wafers. Additionally a fully automatic reconditioning system was developed, which allows charge-controlled dosing of additives, pH-levelling and even regular exchange of process solution.
The unique advantage of the system is that it combines a development tool and a production system. The entire process development for the individual application can be made on the basic start-up unit. Once the program, the chemical composition and the parameters are defined, the same system can be used for pilot and even mass production. The one-switch operation and the simple scalability ensure constant and repeatable production results. To increase the capacity one or more plating cells can be added and can even be connected to one larger tank, so that maintenance and reconditioning are as simple as for a single plating cell.
Depending on the particular application the system can be equipped with several different rectifiers and options. Even if new demands only become clear during process development, the hardware and software can be upgraded by several standard options. For the efficient research and development work the systems allows the storage of up to 100 different plating programs. It also stores every single process with all relevant data including the graph of the actual parameters. Such data can be stored either in the internal database of the machine or in an external system. For this and for convenient development work, the system can also be operated and programmed from any external desktop PC. If required the operation directly on the machine can be limited to pure start-stop-pause mode so that programming, change of programs, parameters and settings can only be made from the external terminal. Of course remote maintenance is also possible.
The plating unit can be used for many different deposition materials. A very fast nickel process can be offered including chemicals and on-site training. Any kind of copper process for pattern plating, full surface coating and via-hole plating can be offered in co-operation with all known chemical suppliers. Other processes such as gold, palladium or alloys are also possible and the necessary adaptations on the system are for the most part already available as standard options.
technotrans develops and produces electroforming equipment for very specific applications for more than 25 years. The goal has always been to standardize wet chemical processes of niche applications which require a high level of expertise and to supply them to the world-wide market. With 18 subsidiaries at every relevant point of the world, technotrans ensures global service and support to their customers. This close-to-the-market strategy combined with the unique long-term stability of the products has made technotrans the world-market leader of plating equipment for optical disc mould inserts.
