LatticeGear LLC announces their new FlexScribe Station, a scribing solution that allows any user, regardless of previous experience, to make a straight and fine scribe line quickly, easily and repeatedly. It is designed to handle the variety of substrates typically encountered in semiconductor and materials research labs—crystalline, off-crystalline and amorphous, including 200mm wafers down to 5mm sized pieces, silicon, III-V, glass and sapphire—without restrictions on shape or thickness. Until January 30, 2019, FlexScribe is being offered at the introductory price of USD $1200, and it also can be ordered directly from LatticeGear’s online store.
FlexScribe is used to prepare samples for analysis or further processing by enabling substrate downsizing to specific dimensions and isolation of site-specific features. It employs a unique scribing mechanism, a tungsten carbide wheel set on a slide shaft, that allows a light touch for smooth and easy scribing. It eliminates the need to push hard or “dig in” to make an effective scribe line. The integrated self-healing cleaving mat not only protects the back of samples, but also provides reference marks for aligning crystal orientation, positioning the sample and defining dimensions.
“Our customers told us that they were looking for a low-cost way to improve their handheld scribing processes and achieve better quality cleaves, quickly and repeatedly.” stated Efrat Moyal, co-founder of LatticeGear. “To meet their needs, we designed the FlexScribe to be flexible to any substrate material, simple to operate and easy to learn, so that anyone in the lab can scribe with precision.”
FlexScribe made its debut at the 2018 International Symposium of Testing and Failure Analysis conference in Phoenix, where visitors to the LatticeGear booth were able to master its operation in a matter of minutes. Feedback from booth visitors was that they appreciated the simple operation and speed with which they could downsize samples. They also appreciated the accuracy of scribe placement so that they didn’t waste time or samples on multiple attempts to make the scribe in the required location.
Flexscribe is easy to clean with IPA or water and is maintenance-free beyond replacement of consumables. Because it requires no power or computer connection, FlexScribe is portable and can be moved to the lab locations where it is needed.