OEM Group Receives Repeat Endeavor AT System Orders for AlN PVD in FBAR Filter High Volume Manufacturing

PHOENIX, Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Global semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer OEM Group announced today it has received repeat orders for its Endeavor™ AT PVD system from a major FBAR filter maker. The new systems will join the other Endeavor AT tools already being used by the customer for high volume manufacturing of thin-film bulk acoustic resonator filters, which are an essential component in wireless communication systems, for example 4G/LTE smartphones, requiring advanced high-frequency RF filters. The Endeavor AT system reorders are a result of the demonstrated ability of the Endeavor AT to achieve excellent control of the deposited film stress, film thickness uniformity, and other critical piezoelectric aluminum nitride properties that are essential to high-yield FBAR manufacturing in a mass production environment.

FBAR filters, a MEMS device, have several important performance benefits over the surface acoustic wave filters they are displacing. The advantages of FBAR over SAW include better power handling capabilities, smaller form factors in multi-band configurations, and crisper filtering performance – i.e. a steeper filter response, and superior out-of-band rejection. It is for these reasons, and others, that FBAR technology has gone mainstream, generating the need for the additional manufacturing capacity these Endeavor AT reorders represent.

Valery Felmetsger, PVD Process Development Manager, OEM Group, Inc., lists these important criteria as being essential to the success of depositing piezoelectric AlN films for FBAR device fabrication: process stability, including controllable and reproducible deposition rates, and stable plasma-chemical reactions during sputtering; high repeatability of the film properties from wafer-to-wafer, run-to-run, and throughout the sputter target lifetime; and, independent control of AlN film properties such as thickness uniformity, film stress, and AlN crystal orientation.

According to Dr. Felmetsger, "OEM Group's reactive sputter deposition processes on the Endeavor AT satisfy all these criteria. Due to its unique operational performance and its ability to deposit AlN and metal electrode films with precisely controllable properties, Endeavor AT cluster tools have been widely implemented in the mass production of various electroacoustic devices. These repeat orders from a leading FBAR manufacturer confirm the success of OEM Group's technical approaches to AlN PVD optimization, and exemplify the value customers receive as a result of OEM Group's deep expertise in piezoelectric AlN deposition."

About Endeavor™ AT PVD Systems
The Endeavor AT™ cluster tool is a state-of-the-art platform for traditional and reactive thin film sputtering of a wide range of materials used in the microelectronics industry. The heart of the system is the patented dual-cathode S-Gun™ magnetron sputtering source. Designed to give the engineer very tight control over a wide range of process parameters, it produces high purity, dense films with excellent uniformity, and low stress. Featured applications include under bump and back side metallization, ultra-dense silicon nitride encapsulation, resistor films with controllable TCR, and highly oriented aluminum nitride for FBAR devices. The Endeavor AT is the premiere PVD system for metallization of ultra-thin silicon wafers used for the most advanced IGBT power devices.  Please visit http://www.oemgroupinc.com/endeavor_at.php for more information about OEM Group's Endeavor AT PVD product.

About OEM Group, Inc.
OEM Group is a global manufacturer of new and remanufactured semiconductor capital equipment and upgrades focused on innovative and sustaining solutions for emerging markets. Our proven LEGENDS™ portfolio consists of exclusive intellectual property acquired from leading semiconductor brands, including: P5000™, Tegal™ Etch, Sputtered Films® Endeavor™, MRC® Eclipse™, AGHeatpulse®, Varian® Sunset™, Lam® AutoEtch™ and SEMITOOL® Manual Batch, Automated Batch and Single Wafer Equinox™. In addition to the LEGENDS™ lines, OEM offers an Applications Development lab for wet processing and Foundry services for piezoelectric AlN films.  For more information, please visit us at www.oemgroupinc.com.

Contact 
Michael LaMonica  
[email protected] 

SOURCE OEM Group, Inc.

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