EV Group's GEMINI wafer bonder selected by RFID/USN Center for 3D MEMS manufacturing

ST. FLORIAN, AUSTRIA: EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, announced that the RFID/USN Center has selected EVG's fully automated GEMINI wafer bonding system for stacked 3D MEMS device development.

Located in Incheon, Korea, RFID/USN is a leading MEMS foundry that offers manufacturing services for companies to initiate production processes with capabilities to segue from R&D to high volume. This order represents a significant win for EVG, marking its first foray into the prestigious institute's manufacturing line-up.

"As a foundry service provider, we strive to offer our customers with cutting-edge technologies to support their 3D MEMS production needs, and as such, require a flexible system that can adapt to a wide range of requirements," said RFID/USN Center's executive director, Dong-suk Han.

"Given the stringent demands of the leading-edge MEMS market, particularly for 3D devices, we evaluated a number of bonding solutions on the market for MEMS production, and in the end, chose EVG's GEMINI not only for its superior reliability and high-volume capabilities, but also for its flexibility and extendibility. The GEMINI enables us to quickly adjust the chuck to handle both 6- and 8-inch wafers, offering the highest available uptime in the market to ensure around-the-clock operation--a significant factor in our decision."

Commenting on the announcement, Paul Lindner, EVG's executive technology director noted: "This opportunity to cooperate with a leading Korean MEMS foundry, such as the RFID/USN Center, is an important step for EVG as we continue to expand our footprint in the growing Korean market. Following the opening of our Korean subsidiary in the summer of 2008, we have witnessed positive momentum in the market, and are fully committed to serving the needs of the region in the future.

Lindner added, "We have long served the MEMS market, and this order win is further testament to the strength of our solutions to address the production demands of advanced technologies, such as 3D MEMS devices."

EVG's GEMINI platform is a field-proven, production manufacturing solution for high-volume wafer bonding applications for MEMS, 3D IC integration and advanced packaging, as well as compound semiconductor applications.

Its modular design offers customers a highly flexible and extendible platform that enables customers the opportunity to incorporate pre-processing options such as cleaning and plasma activation modules, as well as additional bond chambers to augment throughput.

Additionally, this fully automated wafer bonding system integrates EVG's SmartView aligner, which yields precision alignment accuracy, as well as wafer handling expertise into one wafer bonding platform. The GEMINI maintains an installed base of more than 100, contributing to EVG's 75-percent market share dominance in wafer bonding.