rus
scia Systems was founded 2013 in partnership with the VON ARDENNE GmbH. The company is located in the Technology Center of Chemnitz (Germany), near Dresden. scia Systems develops and manufactures ion beam and plasma processing systems for electronics, MEMS and precision optics. Sales Director, Marcel Demmler told about the advanced solutions of the company.
scia Systems is a young and relatively small company, is it a disadvantage or an advantage for customers?
Our company employs only about 80 people, indeed. I believe that due to small size of scia Systems it is easier for us to adapt to customer requirements, offer tailored solutions that optimally meet their needs. However, we have sufficient resources to work with large customers, to implement large-scale projects and to provide a high-quality service and technological support for our equipment. In addition, a small company has small expenses, therefore we offer top quality equipment at very attractive prices.
What trends in the field of thin-film technologies do you find particularly interesting today?
The General trend in optics and electronics is increasing the demands for precision coatings. This ensures that our solutions based on ion-beam technology are increasingly in demand by the market.
What products of scia Systems are the most important to the success of the company?
First of all, it should be noted scia Trim 200 for Ion Beam Trimming (IBT), which is developed to correct the geometry of the functional layers in the processing of optical and semiconductor devices. Ion-beam trimming allows to perform the correction with sub-nanometer accuracy. The heart of the system is the ion beam source, which is designed by our company, and together with precision mechanics provides exceptional stability and high repeatability of the process. The main applications of scia Trim 200 are the trimming of acousto-electrical devices and filters such as bulk acoustic wave or surface acoustic wave filters, the correction of thickness of wafers on the basis of lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, quartz and SOI (silicon on insulator), the processing of thin-film heads and precision thin film resistors. The system is designed for wafer sizes from 100 to 200 mm and can operate around the clock. For use in large-scale production scia Trim 200 can be equipped with a cassette-handling robot. Also a cluster configuration with two process chambers is available. The performance is about 150 plates a day. The experience of our customers from USA, Japan and Europe confirms the high efficiency of the scia Trim 200, which enabled us to occupy a strong position in the segment of ion-beam trimming systems.
We have also developed a range of scia Coat ion beam deposition systems, which includes three models. The peculiarity of our technology is the use of a dual beam system, whereby the second beam can be used for pre-cleaning that provides a very high quality films. Up to six different targets can be used, which are mounted on the rotational holder, whereby the targets can be changed without stopping the operation. scia Coat 500 system allows to deposit coatings onto substrates with a size up to 300 Ч 500 mm. Ion beam deposition is used in cases of very high requirements to the accuracy of thin-film structures, for example, in the production of x-ray optics, optical filters, antireflective and gradient coatings.
Is the equipment of scia Systems in demand in the Russian market?
I think our systems for ion beam etching (IBE) have best prospects in Russia. We produce scia Mill range of equipment for etching and milling of 150 and 200 mm wafers. These systems are universal and allow IBE, reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) and chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE). Thanks to the flexible setting of the etching process of a wide range of materials, scia Mill is ideal for research projects. I am confident that together with our partner, TechnoSystem Trade, we will successfully contribute to the development of Russian research and industrial projects in electronics, optics and MEMS.
Text and photo by O.Lavrenteva
and D.Gudilin
scia Systems is a young and relatively small company, is it a disadvantage or an advantage for customers?
Our company employs only about 80 people, indeed. I believe that due to small size of scia Systems it is easier for us to adapt to customer requirements, offer tailored solutions that optimally meet their needs. However, we have sufficient resources to work with large customers, to implement large-scale projects and to provide a high-quality service and technological support for our equipment. In addition, a small company has small expenses, therefore we offer top quality equipment at very attractive prices.
What trends in the field of thin-film technologies do you find particularly interesting today?
The General trend in optics and electronics is increasing the demands for precision coatings. This ensures that our solutions based on ion-beam technology are increasingly in demand by the market.
What products of scia Systems are the most important to the success of the company?
First of all, it should be noted scia Trim 200 for Ion Beam Trimming (IBT), which is developed to correct the geometry of the functional layers in the processing of optical and semiconductor devices. Ion-beam trimming allows to perform the correction with sub-nanometer accuracy. The heart of the system is the ion beam source, which is designed by our company, and together with precision mechanics provides exceptional stability and high repeatability of the process. The main applications of scia Trim 200 are the trimming of acousto-electrical devices and filters such as bulk acoustic wave or surface acoustic wave filters, the correction of thickness of wafers on the basis of lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, quartz and SOI (silicon on insulator), the processing of thin-film heads and precision thin film resistors. The system is designed for wafer sizes from 100 to 200 mm and can operate around the clock. For use in large-scale production scia Trim 200 can be equipped with a cassette-handling robot. Also a cluster configuration with two process chambers is available. The performance is about 150 plates a day. The experience of our customers from USA, Japan and Europe confirms the high efficiency of the scia Trim 200, which enabled us to occupy a strong position in the segment of ion-beam trimming systems.
We have also developed a range of scia Coat ion beam deposition systems, which includes three models. The peculiarity of our technology is the use of a dual beam system, whereby the second beam can be used for pre-cleaning that provides a very high quality films. Up to six different targets can be used, which are mounted on the rotational holder, whereby the targets can be changed without stopping the operation. scia Coat 500 system allows to deposit coatings onto substrates with a size up to 300 Ч 500 mm. Ion beam deposition is used in cases of very high requirements to the accuracy of thin-film structures, for example, in the production of x-ray optics, optical filters, antireflective and gradient coatings.
Is the equipment of scia Systems in demand in the Russian market?
I think our systems for ion beam etching (IBE) have best prospects in Russia. We produce scia Mill range of equipment for etching and milling of 150 and 200 mm wafers. These systems are universal and allow IBE, reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) and chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE). Thanks to the flexible setting of the etching process of a wide range of materials, scia Mill is ideal for research projects. I am confident that together with our partner, TechnoSystem Trade, we will successfully contribute to the development of Russian research and industrial projects in electronics, optics and MEMS.
Text and photo by O.Lavrenteva
and D.Gudilin
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