Tegal Ships Etchers To CSMC News from E-InSitePlasma etch systems maker Tegal Corp. said today that Compound SemiconductorManufacturing Co. (CSMC) has bought a Tegal 6500 Series etch system and a 900 Seriesplasma etch system.
The tools will be used for processing high performance III-V materials such as GalliumArsenide (GaAs) and Indium Phosphide (InP) for the wireless telecommunications marketTegal said.
The order, which the company said marks the first business between Tegal and CSMC, isscheduled for installation in January at CSMC's facility in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Petaluma,Calif.-based Tegal did not reveal the pricing of the contract.
“Compound semiconductor manufacturers are continuing to expand capacity,”said Jim McKibben, Tegal vice president of worldwide marketing and sales. In fact, theyare witnessing what he called “phenomenal growth,” although the base forcompound semiconductors stands at $4 billion this year.
Compound semiconductor or III-V materials are used to make many of the ICs forhigh-performance networks, data communications, cellular phones and other wirelesstelecommunication devices that are due to witness huge growth. Tegal said the rising tideof high bandwidth chips will rise its boat, upping demand for production-capable etchsystems.
“It's a very important market,” said McKibben, using materials that areas yet unknown in the semiconductor industry. Tegal still regards the market as in itsinfancy, so CSMC is an important new customer because Tegal believes it is penetrating anew application with a platform that will create more orders.
Having developed the system back in 1995 and sold about 30 units so far, Tegal istouting its 6500 as the etcher of choice for HBT mesa etch, via etch, and gold/platinuminterconnect etch for high performance broadband ICs. The company claims to have soldabout 1,300 of its companion 900 Series systems. The 900 can handle both round and squaresubstrates.
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