Surface
Technology Systems plc (STS), a leader in plasma process
technologies required in the manufacturing and packaging of micro
electromechanical systems (MEMS) and advanced electronic devices, today
announced that they have sold a Pegasus Deep Reactive Ion Etch (DRIE)
tool to the Institut für Halbleiter- und Mikrosystemtechnik
(IHM, or Semiconductor & Microsystems Technology Laboratory),
part of the Technische Universität Dresden.
The Technische Universität Dresden dates back to the
Technische Bildungsanstalt Dresden, founded in 1828 and thus ranks
among the oldest technical-academic educational establishments in
Germany. The university has about 35,000 students and almost
4,200 permanent employees, and is the largest university in
Saxony. The IHM is involved in research into a wide range of
semiconductor and microsystems applications, such as chip copper
wiring, investigation of high-k materials (in cooperation with Namlab
(www.namlab.com) and Qimonda (www.qimonda.com)), fabrication of
microfluidic systems and sensors and bumping technologies for chip
connection. They will be using STS’ DRIE technology in the
development of advanced packaging solutions, in particular
investigating the use of through-wafer vias for 3D-IC interconnects.
Dr. Christian Wenzel, senior scientist from TU Dresden stated,
“IHM chose the Pegasus system for its superior silicon etch
capabilities, and over the past decade we have developed a good working
relationship with STS. We have consistently experienced
excellent customer service, and appreciate that they continue to lead
the field in enabling silicon wafer processing.”
Eizo Yasui, CEO of STS added, “We are very happy to
receive this order from a long-standing customer, which underlines the
importance we place on providing market-leading process technologies
for 3D-IC packaging applications”