St. Florian, Austria, November 1, 2007 – EV Group, a
leading supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment for the
advanced semiconductor and packaging, MEMS, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and
emerging nanotechnology markets, today announced it has successfully
installed its 500th bond chamber and 100th automated production wafer
bonder for high-volume manufacturing. Today’s milestone achievement is
testament to EVG’s systems’ ease of implementation and performance within
high-volume production lines and its proximity to its customers around the
globe—enabling superior service and support.
According to Jean-Christophe Eloy, general manager of Lyon, France-based
market research firm Yole Développement, “Wafer-bonding equipment developed
for MEMS manufacturing, particularly for wafer-level packaging, has been
widely adopted into full-volume production for a wide range of devices—from
compound semiconductors, such as LEDs and high-brightness LEDs, to
integrated circuits, such as SOI-based and power devices, 3D devices and
image sensors—and for more and more applications. As a result, the market
for wafer-bonding equipment is experiencing more than 20-percent growth per
year, with EVG leading the way, especially for production-level tools.
These milestone installations further underscore the importance of wafer
bonding as a key process for IC and MEMS manufacturing.”
“EVG has significant influence on the MEMS value chain, especially on the
speed of new-product commercialization through optimizing the cost of
ownership for production equipment,” noted Herwig Kirchberger, business
development manager for EVG. “It’s essential for our company to be as close
to the market as possible, and for our customers to rapidly implement
capabilities for future requirements. The latest capabilities on our GEMINI
fully automated high-precision aligned wafer bonding cluster with optional
pre-processing chambers for novel wafer-level-MEMS packaging applications
include throughput of up to 20 wafers per hour and a post-bond alignment
accuracy of less than 1 micron at 3 sigma. We look forward to continuing to
bring new innovations to our growing global customer base.”
In related MEMS news, EVG also announced today that it is the Platinum
sponsor of the MEMS Executive Congress®, which will be held November 4-5,
2007 in Del Mar, Calif. EVG’s Vice President and General Manager of North
America, Steven Dwyer, will kick off the conference on Monday, Nov.
5—introducing both the keynote speaker and subsequent panel sessions, which
will focus on the role of MEMS in areas such as energy, mobile media,
consumer goods and bio/medical.
Commenting on EVG’s active participation at the event, Karen Lightman,
managing director of the MEMS Industry Group noted, “As MEMS devices are
used as components in a number of well-publicized commercial applications,
most notably the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPhone, interest in MEMS
technology is at an all-time high. To respond to this interest, we have
assembled an elite group of executives representing a wide spectrum of
industries. We are proud to be at the center of this unprecedented
gathering of industry leaders such as EVG who are like-minded in their goal
of accelerating the deployment of MEMS technology.”
About EV Group
EV Group (EVG) is a world leader in wafer-processing solutions for
semiconductor, MEMS and nanotechnology applications. Through close
collaboration with its global customers, the company implements its
flexible manufacturing model to develop reliable, high-quality,
low-cost-of-ownership systems that are easily integrated into customers’
fab lines. Key products include wafer bonding, lithography/nanoimprint
lithography (NIL) and metrology equipment, as well as photoresist coaters,
cleaners and inspection systems.
In addition to its dominant share of the market for wafer bonders, EVG
holds a leading position in NIL and lithography for advanced packaging and
MEMS. Along these lines, the company co-founded the EMC-3D consortium in
2006 to create and help drive implementation of a cost-effective
through-silicon via (TSV) process for major ICs and MEMS/sensors. Other
target semiconductor-related markets include silicon-on-insulator (SOI),
compound semiconductor and silicon-based power-device solutions.
Founded in 1980, EVG is headquartered in St. Florian, Austria, and operates
via a global customer support network, with subsidiaries in Tempe, AZ;
Albany, NY; Yokohama and Fukuoka, Japan; Seoul, Korea and Chung-Li, Taiwan.
The company’s unique Triple i-approach (invent - innovate - implement) is
supported by a vertical integration, allowing EVG to respond quickly to new
technology developments, apply the technology to manufacturing challenges
and expedite device manufacturing in high volume.
Contacts:
EV Group
Tel: +43 7712 5311 0
E-mail: Marketing@EVGroup.com
Marie Labrie
Vice President
MCA, Inc.
Tel: +1-650-968-8900, ext. 119
E-mail: mlabrie@mcapr.com