Recently, Tegal Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of plasma etch and deposition systems used in the production of LEDs, MEMS, integrated circuits, and nanotechnology devices, announced that it received another follow-on order for an additional Tegal 901ACS unit from a leading opto-semiconductor / LED manufacturer.

The new 901ACS system will support the customer’s capacity expansion for lighting and optical sensor device production, and adds to the customer’s existing installed base of Tegal 900ACS Series plasma etch systems now being used for these applications. John Almerico, Marketing Director, Etch Products, Tegal Corporation, said the Tegal 900ACS tool, with its single-wafer etch configuration, brings improved manufacturing precision to the task of fabricating LEDs. Improved manufacturing precision translates as better process reproducibility, better manufacturing reproducibility, higher device yields, and lower operating costs for the plasma etch applications in their customer’s fabs. That’s an unbeatable value proposition, into which their customer has readily, and repeatedly, bought.

The Tegal 901ACS is the latest in a series of capacitively coupled diode plasma etch systems produced. Over 1,500 systems in the 900 Series have been shipped to date, providing reliable and cost-effective support for a wide range of plasma etch processes. The Tegal 900ACS Series is optimized for pad, zero layer, non-selective nitride, backside, and planarization etching, as well as for photoresist descum, oxide, nitride, poly, and compound materials applications for HB-LED, Optoelectronic, TFH, and MEMS device fabrication. Among their other features, the Tegal 900ACS and 980ACS Series platforms incorporate a production-proven transport system that can robustly accommodate the 75 mm to 200 mm round, square or rectangular substrates found in the opto, TFH, and MEMS markets.

HB LEDs are being increasingly deployed in such high-visibility applications as display backlighting for mobile appliances and notebook computers, for signals, indicators, and exterior and interior illumination in the automotive market, and in lighting for signs and displays, according to the LED market research firm. The LED lighting market will grow at double-digit rates from today through early in the next decade, as LEDs become more and more ubiquitous in industrial and consumer illumination applications.

About Tegal
Tegal provides process and equipment solutions to leading edge suppliers of advanced semiconductor, MEMS, and nanotechnology devices. Incorporating unique, patented etch and deposition technologies, Tegal’s system solutions are backed by over 35 years of advanced development and over 100 patents. Some examples of devices enabled by Tegal technology are energy efficient memories found in portable computers, cellphones, PDAs and RFID applications; megapixel imaging chips used in digital and cellphone cameras; power amplifiers for portable handsets and wireless networking gear; and MEMS devices like accelerometers for automotive airbags, microfluidic control devices for ink jet printers; and laboratory-on-a-chip medical test kits.