Materials
system must be performed in a fully controlled EpiVapor distribution system. The introduction of
manner with no contamination in order for users these technologies and systems has reduced
to develop the most efficient methods to both system down time and the amount of
manufacture competitive products. SAFC Hitech hardware used per tool, eliminating the need of
has undertaken extensive research into all multiple Temperature Controller Units and
aspects of the precursor delivery technology enabling automation and bulk chemical change
needed to offer complete solutions for customer out in an arrangement that can be tailored for
applications. the specific requirements of the customer.
The current economic climate has served to
amplify the usual level of scrutiny on Greater collaboration accesses
manufacturing costs at every level, with each expertise ‘on tap’
element considered from the perspective of its We’ve already mentioned an increased focus on
total cost of ownership (CoO). As expected, this total CoO through the electronic materials
includes materials supplied by electronic supply chain. One interesting development that
chemicals suppliers. Key to considering COO are helps to control costs is manufacturers and
materials that include, where appropriate, a materials suppliers pooling their knowledge and
requisite solution for materials delivery, with an sharing more of the overall burden of materials
appropriate delivery system. development. This is leading to deeper levels of
As the MOCVD industry, for example, collaboration designed to address future
moves into high volume manufacturing, overall challenges in the face of mounting development
cost of ownership ( CoO) has become an costs, which not only spreads both cost and risk,
important consideration in cost control. but also shares the potential rewards. In SAFC
Reducing the cost of transporting metalorganic Hitech’s case, we are working much more closely
chemicals to the process tool plays a significant with some of our key customers in the
24
part in reducing overall CoO. In addition, the semiconductor manufacturing field, placing
reliable, flexible and highly controllable engineering teams on-site in some cases, to
www
dosimetry of organometallic precursors is of work closely on specific developmental projects.
.eur paramount importance in production After all, it’s more cost effective for a
oasiasemiconductor
environments where downtime is prohibitively semiconductor manufacturer to leverage its
expensive. When considering the total CoO, the materials partner’s specialist chemical expertise
delivery system is a critical element that may than (a) duplicate work and (b) invest the
lead to significant reduction in tool downtime, massive costs it would take to set up the same
ensure better asset utilisation in that processes function in-house.
can be run at full capacity without stoppages, This type of collaboration and sharing of
.com
optimising process efficiency and reducing specialist knowledge is essential if the industry is
operational costs without compromising ultra to continue to move forward and solve the
high performance levels. These factors have challenging complexity of manufacturing devices
square4
Issue VIII 2009
resulted in a greater focus by SAFC Hitech on that are increasingly being custom tailored to
developing delivery systems such as our EpiFill specific applications. This ‘tailored design’
technology for pyrophoric materials and the approach is probably best exemplified in the
design of the current crop of portable,
multifunctional consumer electronics that
operate using low power consumption,
delivering significantly longer battery life than
previous generations of devices, yet do not
compromise on desired functionality. From both
a design and a manufacturing perspective, this
tailored approach to device fabrication (which
increasingly is including the challenges of ever
denser packaging solutions for multichip
modules in portable applications) in essence
ends up defining ever more demanding
boundary conditions for the design rules of the
device or component fit for its intended use. The
demands placed on modern devices and
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