ACM Research, Inc. (ACM) (NASDAQ: ACMR), a supplier of wafer processing solutions for semiconductor and advanced wafer-level packaging (WLP) applications, today announced that its 18 chamber, 300mm Ultra C VI single wafer cleaning tool has been qualified by a customer and successfully moved to mass production. First introduced to the market in the second quarter of 2020, the tool has also been qualified for mass production by a mainstream memory chip manufacturer in China.
“As technology nodes shrink, the complexity of chips is increasing, as are the number of wet cleaning process steps,” said Dr. David Wang, ACM’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With the current unprecedented demand for semiconductor chips, the requirements for production capacity have become higher as well—and our 18 chamber system directly addresses this need. By moving our Ultra C VI tool to mass production, we can better serve our customers, allowing them to increase throughput by 50% versus the Ultra C V 12-chamber system, yet with a similar footprint.”
About ACM’s 18 Chamber, 300mm Ultra C VI Tool
The 18 chamber, 300mm Ultra C VI tool is compatible with nearly all wet clean and wet etch processes. It can be used in several front-end and back-end applications, including polymer removal, tungsten (W) loop or back-end copper process, pre-deposition clean, post-etch and post-chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) clean, deep trench clean and RCA standard clean.
The 18 chamber, 300mm Ultra C VI tool is equipped with one highly efficient wafer transfer system that consists of multiple robots, which allows the tool to reach a maximum throughput of more than 800 wafers per hour. The tool targets high-throughput cleaning, with a 50% increase in throughput, as compared to the Ultra C V 12-chamber system, due to the higher chamber count, with the same tool width and only a slight increase in length to allow for integration into existing production lines.