Plasma etch, deposition and thermal processing equipment maker SPTS Technologies Ltd of Newport, Wales, UK says that its Sigma fxP physical vapor deposition (PVD) system had been selected by a Chinese foundry dedicated to producing RF devices on gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates. The PVD system will be used to deposit front and backside metal layers, including integrated passives for producing monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). SPTS did not disclose the name of the customer.
SPTS adds that its production-proven Sigma fxP platform provides critical capabilities for GaAs based RFIC fabrication, and is being used by the majority of the world’s leading radio frequency IC (RFIC) device makers.
The award-winning Sigma fxP is a single-wafer cluster tool designed for high-volume PVD processing, offering excellent process control with high throughput, says the firm. It supports various process chamber configurations and combinations to address a large variety of specific applications. Deposition process modules are based on a standard design that enables simple technology upgrades. Key applications for the Sigma fxPM include, thick Al alloys for power device and next generation CMOS bondpad, metal seeds for advanced packaging applications such as 3D-IC TSV & UBM/RDL, highly uniform aluminum nitride (AlN) for RF-MEMS devices and processes for the compound semiconductor industry.
''SPTS is proud to be part of China's developing compound semiconductor device manufacturing industry,'' said Kevin T. Crofton, executive vice president and chief operating officer at SPTS Technologies. ''We look forward to contributing to our customer’s success in their production ramp.''