Tegal Corporation, (Nasdaq:
TGAL) an innovator of specialized production solutions for the fabrication
of advanced MEMS, power ICs and optoelectronic devices, today announced it has
received an order for a Tegal 110 S/DE DRIE tool from McGill University, a leading
research university involved in developing biosensors, biochips and biomaterials
using nanostructure methodologies. The Tegal 110 S/DE DRIE tool will ship in
the current quarter, and will be installed in the McGill Nanotools - Microfab,
located in Montreal, Canada.
The silicon DRIE tool order from this first-time Tegal DRIE customer was secured
by Tegal following a thorough competitive evaluation process by McGill University.
“We are looking forward to engaging in a variety of productive collaborations
with McGill University in their particular areas of expertise, which include
the important field of BioMEMS devices and applications, and we believe this
order is a testament to the strength of the 110 S/DE system,” said Paul
Werbaneth, Vice President of Marketing and Applications at Tegal Corporation.
“McGill’s strengths in multidisciplinary projects involving McGill’s
Engineering, Science, and Medicine faculties, combined with Tegal’s strengths
in deep silicon etching, and deep etching of dielectric materials, creates important
synergies that we think will lead to the kind of effective, focused research
which results in real value for both teams.”
“The addition of DRIE capabilities to our toolset will make the McGill
Nanotools Microfab a fully equipped 150mm compatible MEMS fab,” said Dr.
Matthieu Nannini, Microfab Manager. “This tool fits our needs for performance,
versatility and small foot print. We are confident it will give us the opportunity
to develop new processes and devices for a wide range of applications such as
microfluidics, RF-MEMS, MOEMS and MEMS in general.”
The Tegal 110 S/DE system is a high-density plasma etch tool featuring an inductively
coupled plasma etch reactor and magnetic plasma confinement. The tool can run
Tegal’s patented SHARP - Super High Aspect Ratio Process, achieving
etched feature aspect ratios of > 100:1 in production environments. Together
with its high reliability, broad process windows, and high etch rates, the Tegal
110 S/DE system is a critical enabler for etching silicon (S) and dielectric
(DE) films found in the MEMS/MOEMS, bio-tech, and hi-voltage markets. Tegal
DRIE tools are presently employed in numerous research and development laboratories
throughout the world, engaging in both commercial and academic research programs,
and are also found in MEMS foundries and other dedicated commercial High Volume
Manufacturing lines world-wide.