ULVAC Inc. to Launch Luminous NA-8000, New Plasma Ashing System Compatible with Extensive Range of Organic Film Processes for Semiconductor/Electronic Parts

November 27, 2009　ULVAC, Inc.

ULVAC, Inc. (President & CEO: Hidenori Suwa; headquarters: 2500 Hagizono, Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan) is pleased to announce its launch of the Luminous NA-8000, a new plasma ashing system for the Luminous NA series of dry ashing systems, which have proven track record in the wafer-level CSP and mounting fields. The new Luminous NA-8000 plasma ashing system offers widely applicable processes for the semiconductor and electronic parts fields.

[Background]

In recent years, the proportion of organic films used in the semiconductor and electronic parts fields that have various functions such as high heat resistance, high strength, and high refractive index is increasing. Until now, organic films have been processed by means of ashing systems that use oxygen (O₂), but organic films with new functions have complex material properties, making it difficult for conventional ashing systems to process such organic films. ULVAC sells Luminous NA-1300 and Luminous NA-1000 in the wafer-level CSP and high-density mounting fields and holds a high market share in these fields. In these fields, where support for many types of organic film processes is a must, ULVAC supports an extensive range of processes that can be used in areas ranging from resists to advanced organic films.
To meet market demand in the semiconductor and electronic parts fields, November 2009 see ULVAC launch the Luminous NA-8000, new plasma ashing system that offers high quality at low cost, which ULVAC achieved by reducing costs to unprecedented level through the optimization of required functions. From the design stage, ULVAC made each unit, including the process modules and transfer modules, simple while also satisfying a wide range of processes that support processes ranging from those for resists to those for advanced organic films and simple etching, by applying the process technologies that ULVAC nurtured with the Luminous NA-1300 and Luminous NA-1000. The new plasma ashing system, Luminous NA-8000, supports a wide range of industries and applications in the semiconductor and electronic parts fields.

[Features]

1. Wide Range of Processes & High Quality
The Luminous NA-8000 plasma ashing system follows in the footsteps of the current Luminous NA series, offering process performance that has been widely successful with various existing types of organic films, and it is therefore capable of performing the same process chamber construction as current systems (microwave down flow chamber, RF chamber, microwave + RF chamber). To enable it to support an extensive range of processes, the Luminous NA-8000 was also designed to be capable of performing the fluorine base gas addition process. This support for chamber construction and process gas allows the Luminous NA-8000 to cover a wide range of processes, from dry cleaning and etching for variety of advanced organic films to simplified etching for oxidized films and nitride films.
The microwave down flow chamber, characterized by low damage and high stripping performance, minimizes the effects on devices. The “microwave + RF” chamber can manage low-temperature processes, the demand for which has been growing in recent years, without the use of cooling units such as electrostatic chucks. Combining the fluorine gas addition process and the “microwave + RF” chamber for a low-temperature process offers both high productivity and low damage.

2. System Upgradability and Space-saving Installation
The Luminous NA-8000 units are modular, design concept that allows you to employ various specifications by using different module combinations. This modular design has the added benefit of reducing the cost. You can select modules to build various types of systems, ranging from low-cost manual equipment to high-throughput mass production equipment. The above-mentioned details demonstrate, then, that the Luminous NA-8000, which has the same process coverage as existing systems, is a system that offers support for all stages, from development and prototyping through to mass production.
To reduce installation space, the Luminous NA-8000 is designed to be side-maintenance free. This enables the systems to be installed in a row, taking up half the amount of space required by current systems.

3. Flexible Transfer Support
The transfer system supports tray transfer, thin-wafer transfer, and warpage-wafer transfer in addition to normal wafer transfer. It can be used in semiconductor wafer processing, as well as in the production processes for devices such as power devices, mounting devices, TSV (Through Silicon Via) devices, LED (Light Emitting Diode) devices, and MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical system) devices.
A diameter of up to 330 mm is supported for the stage size. Extremely high productivity has been achieved for LED systems, for which 29 two-inch wafers can be carried in the tray transfer.

[Sales Plan]

The new Luminous NA-8000 plasma ashing system will be launched in November 2009 at a standard price of 40 to 50 million yen. We expect to sell 15 to 20 units worldwide in fiscal 2010, in countries including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and some Europe countries. ULVAC will introduce the Luminous NA-8000 at the ULVAC booth (Hall 2, 2D-601) at SEMICON JAPAN 2009, which is to be held in Makuhari, Chiba from December 2 (Wed.) to 4 (Fri.), 2009.