Power Electronics and RF Applications Driving Demand for EV Group Wafer Bonding Solutions
EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, has announced that the company has seen a significant increase in demand for its wafer bonding solutions for engineered substrates over the past year. This rise in demand is driven in part by the rapid growth in the power electronics and radio frequency (RF) device markets"”where engineered substrates offer key performance benefits, such as high carrier mobility and reduced power loss/leakage, due to their unique material properties.
For the past several years, the engineered substrate market has mainly been driven by RF applications, including mobile electronic devices such as smart phones and Internet-connected tablet computers. Mobile communications is expected to continue to spur significant demand for engineered substrates over the next several years"”particularly for RF front-end applications"”as a result of the global adoption of 4G and transition to the Internet of Things (IoT). At the same time, the need for improved performance in power devices utilized in adapters, electric vehicles, power inverters and other power electronic devices and applications is also driving up growth in engineered substrates, such as silicon carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN).
"Wafer bonding provides the most cost-effective and highest yielding method for producing engineered substrates," stated Dr. Thomas Uhrmann, director of business development at EV Group. "As the market and technology leader in wafer bonding, EVG is well positioned to capitalize on this growth and support the evolving needs of engineered substrate manufacturers. We helped pioneer the engineered substrate market with the introduction of our first silicon-on-insulator (SOI) production wafer bonder more than two decades ago. Over the years, we have enabled our customers to continually innovate in this market through a combination of world-class equipment, process and materials expertise, and applications support."
EVG has a complete suite of fusion wafer bonding solutions for different engineered substrate applications:
"¢EVG 850 SOI "“ the established industry standard for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer bonding, the EVG850 automated production bonding system for SOI and direct wafer bonding has been continually enhanced by EVG to meet tighter industry specifications for newer SOI technologies such as fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI)
"¢EVG 850LT "“ the EVG850LT LowTemp plasma activated automated fusion bonder provides wafer annealing at temperatures below 400 degrees Celsius, enabling its use for bonding a variety of substrate materials with different coefficient of thermal expansions (CTEs) that are not compatible with higher-temperature fusion bonding processes using an interfacial oxide layer
"¢EVG 580 ComBond "“ the EVG580 ComBond automated high-vacuum covalent wafer bonding system combines several technology breakthroughs to enable the formation of bond interfaces between heterogeneous materials at room temperature while achieving excellent bonding strength and electrical conductivity
