Plasma-Therm strengthens presence in Europe to collaborate with customers on new microelectronics development

Grenoble-based manufacturing and cleanroom demo facility offers customers product and applications development, regional field service and technical support for advanced etch, deposition, RTP and plasma dicing manufacturing processes

Comprehensive regionalized support facilitates multi-system orders from two European-based customers of the company’s newly redesigned Heatpulse RTP system

Plasma-Therm, a manufacturer of plasma-process equipment for the semiconductor and compound semiconductor markets, announced its Grenoble location will serve as regional headquarters to support customers located in central Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMEA) markets focused on developing power, wireless, memory, sensor and MEMS, and other advanced microelectronic devices. The company’s European facility, equipped with advanced R&D, manufacturing and demo cleanrooms, is poised to support new application and product development with strategic customers and partners in the region.

Plasma-Therm’s emphasis on process solutions and customer satisfaction has resulted in the recent award of multiple orders for its newly redesigned Heatpulse rapid thermal processing (RTP) platform (launched earlier this year), on target to ship to two major European customers next month. Heatpulse RTP was selected for its new, best-in-class control system software, upgraded robotics and ability to accommodate a variety of substrates up to 200mm, including silicon, gallium arsenide, silicon carbide and other compound materials. The new system design helps existing Heatpulse customers mitigate any supply chain and obsolescence issues with their current systems. Remanufacturing options for legacy systems are also available.

“Increasing our presence in Europe is part of our long-term strategic growth plan to provide a premier client experience and customized technology processing solutions for customers in the region,” said Jim Garstka, vice president of sales and business development for Plasma-Therm. “We anticipate EMEA will continue to be a high-growth market for us, driven by demand for advanced compound semiconductor and silicon devices used in automotive, wireless, IoT, AR/VR and other end-use applications.”

“Being able to quickly deploy our highly specialized engineering, sales and support teams and offer flexible solutions helps our customers achieve faster time to market for their devices,” said Yannick Pilloux, Plasma-Therm’s executive sales manager, EMEA. “We expect our new Heatpulse system will continue to see market traction with improved reliability and performance, as well as assurance of readily available spare parts and maximum tool uptime in the fab.”