SHANGHAI, Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking a milestone for its Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) business, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. (AMEC) today announced that it has shipped 100 Prismo A7™ MOCVD tool chambers since the product's introduction last year. It is AMEC's second-generation MOCVD tool, and is used by customers to manufacture gallium nitride-based (GaN) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for solid-state lighting products, and other applications. Each Prismo A7 system contains up to four chambers. Production throughput is more than twice as high as AMEC's first-generation MOCVD tool, the Prismo D-BLUE.
The products are installed at customer facilities in China, where the majority of the world's LED devices are produced. Customers include leading Chinese LED manufacturers, San'an Optoelectronics and HC SemiTek Corporation. Since its introduction, AMEC has received multi-tool orders, as well as repeat orders for the system. Sales momentum is brisk, and by the end of this year, the company expects to record shipments of approximately 120 chambers.
San'an Optoelectronics' Vice Chairman and General Manager, Mr. Kechuang Lin, remarked on the tool's unique enabling technologies, calling the system a productive contributor to San'an's LED manufacturing lines. He noted: "With AMEC, we have a partner that can meet our advanced technical requirements with a tool that's engineered to deliver superior performance and very high throughput, at lower-than-average capital costs. What's more, as a local China-based company known for developing leading-edge process technology, we benefit from close proximity to AMEC's rich process expertise, as well as fast response times from the company's field support teams. We're very pleased to work with this vendor," said Mr. Lin.
AMEC's Senior Vice President & COO, Dr. Zhiyou Du, stated: "We're proud to offer all of our valued customers a trusted and reliable local source for their critical MOCVD product requirements. We're committed to helping them improve LED device performance and lower their manufacturing costs by constantly innovating and bringing new solutions to their fab lines. We greatly appreciate their business."
The Prismo A7: Engineered for Ultra-High Throughput LED Production
The development of the Prismo A7 MOCVD tool was guided by a singular focus on helping manufacturers improve performance and reduce the cost of producing GaN-based LEDs in high volume. With the advantage of engineering a tool from the ground up for the rigorous manufacturing demands of today's applications, AMEC made a compact footprint an essential part of the design. A novel configuration allows for four chambers to process 136 x 4" wafers simultaneously. Each chamber can be controlled independently.
To further enable the performance, throughput and lower-cost goals, AMEC included key process imperatives in the chamber's design plan. They include:
Superior uniformity through a multiple-zone gas injection system, as well as a specially designed gas distribution injector, and a multiple-zone heating system;
High reliability enabled by proprietary industrial-proven software, as well as mature system automation and control. The implementation of SEMI standards on design, integration and test, also contributes to the system's high reliability;
Excellent repeatability thanks to a proprietary special-edge purge design that eliminates particles on the showerhead;
Easy serviceability enabled by a fully automated and programmable reactor open/close capability, as well as a custom-designed vacuum line for metal organic bubbler change. The system requires no cleaning or maintenance between runs. This advantage vastly improves throughput.
The technology embedded in the Prismo A7 system is protected by 155 patents (issued and pending). The patents include filings in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the US. They're an imperative part of AMEC's Intellectual Property portfolio of more than 1000 patents (issued and pending).
Prismo A7 is a trademark of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. (AMEC)
AMEC is China's leading provider of advanced process technology to global manufacturers of semiconductors and solid-state lighting (SSL) products. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company is an entrenched supplier of dielectric and TSV Etch tools, helping chipmakers build devices at process nodes as low as 7nm. To date, more than 600 AMEC process units have been positioned at 39 leading-edge semiconductor fabs across Asia. The company is also well established in Europe with AMEC MEMS tools running in production at major IDMs. In addition, with its MOCVD system, the company helps SSL manufacturers build today's most advanced LED products. To learn more about AMEC, please visit www.amec-inc.com.
