EV Group strengthens presence in Middle East

ST. FLORIAN, AUSTRIA: EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced it has shipped an EVG520IS semi-automated wafer bonding system and two EVG6200 automated alignment systems to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

Students at the graduate-level institution will use the EVG equipment for advanced technology research and development, including projects outsourced to KAUST from technology firms in the region.

EVG's first customer headquartered in the Middle East, KAUST opened in September 2009 and boasts the largest, most modern cleanroom within the Arab states that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman. A key win for the company, this order is testament to EVG's ability to deliver world-class technology and customer support for its customers centered in emerging new markets, particularly at the R&D level.

In the past year alone, EVG has received orders to support a breadth of R&D and university-related projects from the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Michigan's Lurie Nanofabrication Facility, the Institute of Microelectronics in Singapore, Europe's Imec, and the RFID/USN Center in Korea.

KAUST chose the EVG equipment based on several key capabilities, chief among them being the systems' modularity and flexibility. The university plans to utilize one EVG6200 for bond alignment and nanoimprint lithography (NIL), and the other for lithography mask alignment. According to Dr. Xixiang Zhang, Manager of the Nanofabrication, Imaging & Characterization Core Lab of KAUST,

"We were impressed with the EVG systems' performance and ability to multitask, which will be of great value in working on the variety of research projects that the university is undertaking. Moreover, EV Group has proven its ability to provide us with excellent onsite process and application support so that our local needs can be met quickly and efficiently."

Paul Lindner, EV Group's executive Technology director, noted: "Working with KAUST is an important milestone for EVG, as technology activity in this region of the world continues to expand. Moreover, working with this prestigious institution marks a further step in our partnering with leading universities and research firms around the world in their efforts to develop solutions to today's challenges as well as explore advancements that will address future needs."