NEWS

Axus Technology Delivers Multi-Zone Process Control On Micrel CMP Tool - IPEC 472 Equipped with ViPRR™ Carrier Technology Delivers Leading Edge Process Capability

Chandler , AZ: Axus Technology announced the recent delivery of an IPEC 472 CMP tool equipped with the Strasbaugh ViPRR™ carrier upgrade to Micrel in San Jose, California (www.micrel.com). The ViPRR carrier upgrade provides IPEC tool users with leading-edge carrier technology for use on their proven IPEC production tools. After having installed more than four hundred ViPRR carriers on Strasbaugh CMP tools, Strasbaugh selected Axus Technology to design the ViPRR carrier upgrade kit for installation on IPEC CMP tools. The resulting ViPRR carrier upgrade significantly extends the useful life of users’ CMP equipment.

“The IPEC 472 together with the ViPRR carrier upgrade, will enable Micrel to enhance its multi-zone CMP process control technology,” stated Guy Gandenberger, Vice President of Wafer Fab & Foundry Operations for Micrel. “The solution promises to be a cost-effective strategy for upgrading our legacy CMP tools without the significant expense of additional capital equipment.”

The Strasbaugh ViPRR upgrade kit was introduced several months ago and has now been installed in multiple production facilities. Mike Kirkpatrick, vice president of sales at Strasbaugh noted, “The IPEC ViPRR upgrade is being evaluated by several users and was recently selected by one user for installation on more than a dozen IPEC 472 tools. The outstanding process results seen in fabs and in our product demonstrations have led to increasing interest by IPEC tool owners.”

The ViPRR upgrade kit was designed to be installed without making any structural or software changes to the IPEC tools. “We focused on creating an upgrade that met all of the mechanical interface requirements for metrology and wafer handling, without making any changes to the tool software.” said Dan Trojan, vice president of engineering at Axus. “The ViPRR upgrade improves performance without changing the tool operation.”

The ViPRR upgrade kit is available on tools provided by Axus Technology or as a field retrofit provided by Strasbaugh.

Strasbaugh is an established supplier of precision surfacing solutions. The company offers a range of products related to planarization, polishing, and grinding technologies for use in semiconductor, optical and other technical fields. To learn more about Strasbaugh, visit www.strasbaugh.com .

Axus Technology is a global supplier of equipment, parts, and engineering services for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) and related technologies. To learn more about Chandler Ariz.-based Axus Technology, visit www.axustech.com.