MEI TruEtch Technology Selected by Israeli IDM For Critical Wet Etching

MEI TruEtch Technology selected by Israeli IDM for critical wet etching on 100mm GaAs substrates

September 27th, 2016 – Albany Oregon – MEI received an order today for a Semi-automatic Revolution wet process system
utilizing our patented TruEtch technology. The order comes from a new customer in Israel. MEI’s patented TruEtch technology provides etch uniformity that is comparable to single wafer processing. The TruEtch wet processing system was selected because it provides such excellent etch uniformity. As an added benefit, processing GaAs substrates in an immersion system produces far less arsenic wastewater which must be treated prior to disposal. This is not only better for the environment but also lowers the overall cost of ownership. The immersion based TruEtch technology creates tremendous value for our customers. Our TruEtch system produces more wafers per hour, use less chemistry, while producing less arsenic waste, in a smaller footprint at a lower cost. Although many of these advantages are inherently immersion based, immersion technology had always been quite limited in etch uniformity. This was especially true at the higher etch rates associated with IIIV material etchants. MEI has applied the TruEtch technology to many different IIIV EPI Films. These films were processed with a wide variety of etchants having etch rates from 8 to 300 A/Sec. The MEI Revolution platform is well suited for IIIV critical etch applications. The systems provide the Pre-clean, EPI film and hard stop layer removal without any operator intervention. When combined with MEI’s Genesis Marangoni dryer the Revolution becomes a Dry in Dry out system. This integrated Genesis dryer was purchased to ensure maximum yield while protecting their product.  Many substrates are sensitive to vibrations inherent to the SRD spin cycle. The Genesis dry technology provides additional protection from breakage due to vibration. The dry in dry out capability also maximizes the user’s productivity while minimizing contamination from the handling of wet wafer cassettes.

Our goal is to provide our customers with the best possible process control by using state of the art technology to ensure maximum performance, uptime, and reliability. Through a combination of patented technology, process experience, software sophistication, and robust design MEI provides superior wet process systems for a wide variety of applications.