KDF RELEASE 2002
KDF today announced that Plasmion Corporation has ordered a custom engineered KDF 744NT batch sputtering system for installation at Hanwha L&C’s Korean facility. The KDF 744NT was ordered as the result of a strategic alliance between Plasmion and Hanwha L&C wherein, Hanwha licensed Plasmion’s Negative Sputter Ion Beam (NSIB) technology and ordered a production system from Plasmion. After critical review, Plasmion and Hanwha selected KDF’s 744NT tool retrofitted with Plasmion’s Negative Sputter Ion Beam. By developing a tailored solution quickly, KDF demonstrated its ability to meet the needs of partners and customers based on its core competencies. The production system is scheduled for installation at Hanwha L&C in December 2002.
Hanwha will use the enhanced 744NT system to manufacture and process ITO coated glass for use in the production of Organic Light Emitting Displays (OLED). OLED is a new type of flat panel display that is currently used in automotive audio and cellular telephone applications. Hanwha plastics manufactured with the new production system will be able to replace the glass used to manufacture OLEDs, providing the display industry with a more cost-efficient way of manufacturing displays for miniature and mobile applications.
“We selected the KDF 700 Series production platform because this batch sputtering system can be easily upgraded to utilize our ITO coating process,” commented James A. Ionson, CEO, Plasmion Corporation. Mr. Ionson further disclosed that “Our strategic alliance with Hanwha is the first of many production partnerships we plan to form with end-users of our process technology, and we will be actively working with major equipment manufacturers such as KDF to embed our cost-effective process within their systems.”
“This is a reliable and advanced solution that will meet our requirements for ITO coated glass production,” said Jin Ki Paik, vice president, business development, Hanwha. “Uniting Plasmion’s Negative Sputter Ion Beam technology with KDF’s production-proven sputter system provides us with the best of both worlds.”
“This design win demonstrates how flexible and customer-focused we are. In this instance our systems will be customized to meet the customer’s specific needs and cover a wide variety of process requirements. Partnering with a leading-edge technology provider such as Plasmion Corporation gave us the opportunity to participate in this design win for Hanwha, the top petrochemical company in Korea,” said Kurt Flechsig, president of KDF.
The KDF 744NT is a large area, four-target, batch sputtering system, designed for processing high-density interconnect, 200mm semiconductor wafers and flat panel displays. The Plasmion enhancement of the KDF 744NT includes an NSIB that provides excellent ITO coatings on polycarbonate substrates at very low temperatures. Plasmion’s technology creates solid ion beams during the coating process to achieve an atomically smooth surface.
The 744NT is equipped with a high-vacuum loadlock configured with a substrate pre-heat that enables the tool’s high throughput. The 744NT offers a pallet area of 19 x 19 inches with a compact footprint that uses less than one-third the floorspace of competing equipment. The tool can hold four 200mm wafers or multiple smaller wafers and features two processing pallets, allowing an instantaneous change of wafer sizes and the ability to process both the front and back sides of wafers.
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