Ferrotec Temescal Unveils Ultra-Efficient Fast Cycle Electron Beam Metallization System for Compound Semiconductor Applications

LIVERMORE, Calif., April 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Temescal Division of Ferrotec Corporation, a global supplier of materials, components, and precision system solutions and the leading manufacturer of electron beam evaporation systems, today announced the Temescal UEFC-5700, a ultra-high efficiency electron beam metallization system for lift-off compound semiconductor applications. The UEFC-5700 is the first Temescal system to incorporate the Auratus^™ Deposition Process Enhancement Methodology, offering near-perfect uniformity while delivering up to 40% increases in material collection efficiency, resulting in significant cost savings on process materials like gold and platinum compared to traditional box coaters.

The Temescal UEFC-5700 is designed for compound semiconductor production environments that use lift-off electron beam evaporation processes. The UEFC-5700 features a unique conical shaped vacuum chamber that reduces volume and surface area, significantly reducing pump-down time. The system also features a patent-pending High-Uniformity Lift-off Assembly (HULA) design that uses a dual-axis motion to optimize collection efficiency.

"With the UEFC-5700, we have significantly improved the throughput efficiency of traditional lift-off coating processes. From the unique chamber design to the HULA carrier system, the UEFC-5700 improves pumping and batch capacity with excellent uniformity across all evaporated materials, enabling the system to run more wafers and more batches per day than any conventional box coater," said Gregg Wallace, managing director of Ferrotec's Temescal division. "The biggest benefit to users of this system is the improvement in uniformity and collection efficiency of all materials being evaporated. For IDMs and foundries, this equates to improved yields of better devices that cost much less to produce. "

The Temescal UEFC-5700 offers increased wafer production capacity, up to forty-two 150mm wafers in a batch, without a significant change in raw material or energy consumption. In terms of footprint and power consumption, the UEFC-5700 is virtually identical to the FC-4400 system, Temescal's largest production system.

With its unique conical shaped load-locked chamber and 44,000 liters/second of installed cryogenic pumping capacity, the UEFC-5700 reaches process pressures significantly faster than most conventional box coaters. Systems have reached 5E-07 Torr in under 10 minutes, improving production cycle times and the number of batches that can be run per shift or day.

The system incorporates Temescal's Auratus deposition process enhancement methodology. Auratus is a patent-pending proprietary optimization methodology for lift-off electron beam evaporative coating that incorporates patent pending technology to achieve unprecedented levels of uniformity, precision, and collection efficiency.

More information about the UEFC-5700, Auratus and other Temescal products can be found at www.temescal.net.

More About Ferrotec
Founded in 1980, Ferrotec Corporation (JASDAQ: 6890 (OTC)) is a worldwide leader in the supply of materials, components, and precision system solutions for businesses and products. Ferrotec's Temescal division is the leading manufacturer of electron beam-based evaporative coating systems. For additional information about Ferrotec products, visit the company's web site at www.ferrotec.com.

SOURCE Ferrotec Corporation