Owens has announced to provide multiple customised film frame automated handling solutions for customers in the semiconductor and LED industries.

The large variety of film frames and film frame cassettes has created a need for customisable solutions for a variety of process tool applications. By working with its customers in a collaborative design and build approach, Owens Design has developed an automated film frame handling solution that can easily be customised to address a variety of non-standard form factors.

Until recently, the loading and unloading of film frames into a process tool has been mostly a manual operation. Today's semiconductor manufacturers, however, need to automate the process to address the timing needs of back end of line (BEOL) inspection and test applications. At the same time, LED manufacturers need an automated solution to enable greater volume production to support the increasing demand for LEDs in a variety of markets.

John Apgar, president of Owens Design, introduced that,"LED usage is becoming widespread in an ever-growing number of applications, including aviation and automotive lighting, household appliances, remote controls for electronic systems and traffic signals. The LED market, however, is extremely price-sensitive, so LED manufacturers are looking for ways to increase productivity, while lowering manufacturing costs. Our customisable automated film frame handler solution provides a low-risk approach to meeting both these needs."