Semiconductor Equipment - Berenberg Bank

Suess Microtec AG
Small/Mid-Cap: Technology Hardware
Figure 10: Products used in different end-markets
Front end
Back end
Segment Photomask equipment Lithography
Substrate Bonder
Products used MaskTrack Pro Exposure system Mask Aligher Coater/developer Wafer bonders
Process step Photomask cleaning Stepper, Scanner
Mask Aligner
(proximity exposure)
coating/developing Bond Alignment
(UV projection) Nano imprinting Permanent Bonding
Temporary Bonding
Mask manufacturing
Advanced Packaging
Markets
3D Integration
MEMS
LED
Source: Company data
Mask manufacturing: Photomask equipment is used for cleaning and processing
the photomasks used in the lithography process. SUSS currently holds an 80% share
of the mask cleaning equipment market for ArFi lithography tools. The most
advanced EUV lithography tools require the use of highly sensitive reflecting masks
instead of optical transmission masks, and operators need to use advanced mask
cleaning equipment: SUSS is currently the only provider of EUV mask cleaning
tools.
Advanced packaging (such as flip chip and wafer level packaging): With the
growing spread of Ultrabooks, tablets and smartphones which demand thin, light
designs, advanced packaging is preferred over traditional wire bonding for producing
thin, light designs. Flip chips are used as a cost effective solution for forming
electrical connections with small bump pitches instead of tradition wire. As a result,
the completed chip is much smaller and thinner, and the short wires allow higher
speed data processing. Wafer level packaging allows all steps of integrated circuit
packaging to be performed at wafer level, and reduces the size of the packaging
footprint so that no plastic housing and wires are needed.
3D integration: New 3D integration technology is likely to be developed in parallel
with shrinking as part of the constant requirement for smaller components, and is
expected to drive smaller chip sizes once shrinkage has reached its physical limit. 3D
stacking using through-silicon vias (TSV) is the one of the main 3D integration
solutions being considered. By stacking the chips or wafers on top of each other
instead of laying them out on a planar surface, 3D integration offers the advantages
of shorter signal paths, reduced power consumption, enhanced bandwidths and a
smaller surface area. Thinner wafers are usually required in 3D integration to reduce
the thickness of chips.
MEMS: MEMS are key components for automotive, industrial, medical, aerospace
and consumer electronics. MEMS sensors are used in applications ranging from
gaming, smartphone and medical testing to satellites. The manufacturing process for
MEMS requires highly specialised equipment to create mechanical structures. SUSS
has been supplying equipment to the MEMS industry ever since such products have
been produced in volume.
LED: SUSS solutions are used in three stages of the LED process: the structuring
of substrates, the structuring of LED chips and chip packaging.
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