memsstar and Plasma-Therm Partner to Strengthen MEMS Technology Offering in North America

memsstar Ltd. and Plasma-Therm LLC, both leading providers of semiconductor processing equipment for specialty markets, announced today that they have entered into a distribution agreement for North America.

The agreement gives Plasma-Therm the exclusive rights to distribute all release products (HF and XeF2) as well as self-assembled monolayer (SAM) products from memsstar, adding to Plasma-Therm’s deep silicon etch (DSETM) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) portfolio.

The two companies can now deliver complete MEMS fabrication solutions to customers in North America based on a combined product portfolio of production-proven VERSALINE®, ApexTM, ORBISTM, XERICTM and AURIXTM systems.

“The agreement with Plasma-Therm is a critical component to our North American expansion strategy,” said Tony McKie, CEO of memsstar. “By combining forces with Plasma-Therm, we are able to better serve U.S. MEMS manufacturers with solutions that span the etch and deposition process steps. We are eager to get started serving our customers with the competitive advantages that our combined technologies can offer.’’

“Our ability to offer combined DSE and HF vapor technology solutions to MEMS manufacturers is a key milestone,” commented Yannick Pilloux, business development manager at Plasma- Therm. “Offering multiple products with a greater knowledge of process integration issues will ultimately strengthen our relationships with customers.”

Plasma-Therm’s state-of-the-art DSE IV technology delivered on the VERSALINE platform with a single cassette or dual cassette load-locks has very high etch rate capability as well as best-in- market selectivity to oxide and aluminum masking layers. It offers excellent wafer uniformity and high wafer throughput, resulting in low cost of ownership for medium- to high-volume MEMS manufacturers.

This alliance will leverage Plasma-Therm’s recognized customer service commitment as demonstrated by 18 years of VLSIresearch awards.

memsstar’s XERIC HF vapor release technology can be installed on the ORBIS platform Alpha 1000 for R&D to small volume production, or on the ORBIS 3000 for high-volume production. XERIC’s single wafer processing technology provides excellent uniformity and huge selectivity to SiNx film