FSI International receives order for ORION single wafer cleaning system from major Asian semiconductor manufacturer

MINNEAPOLIS, USA: FSI International Inc., a leading supplier of surface conditioning equipment for microelectronics manufacturing, announced the receipt of an order for its FSI ORION single wafer cleaning platform from a major Asian semiconductor manufacturer.

The order represents acceptance of the evaluation tool shipped in late 2009 for front-end-of-line (FEOL) development programs. This system is now qualified in ashless all-wet photoresist strip and silicon etch for the production of 28nm logic devices. Revenues for the four-chamber evaluation system and four-chamber expansion model is expected to be recognized in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

“This order is important to us on many levels,” said Don Mitchell, FSI’s president and CEO. “It reaffirms the critical capabilities of the ORION system and validates that the system is production ready for both FEOL and back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications.”

Unique among single wafer processing tools, the closed chamber design of the FSI ORION system effectively contains process chemicals, permitting the use of the aggressive, high-temperature sulfuric peroxide mixture (SPM) chemistry of the ViPR process. Standard SPM chemistries are unable to completely strip photoresists exposed to higher levels of ion implantation unless first subjected to a plasma ashing step.

The ViPR process effectively strips in one step by wet chemical action alone, providing both manufacturing cycle time and lower operating cost benefits to the customer. Additionally, the ViPR process removes resists while preserving the customer’s device materials such as silicon nitride achieving silicon nitride losses as low as 0.1 nanometer.