WAFER PRODUCES FIRST SPOT POTENTIAL OF MICROREPLICATION

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WAFER PRODUCES FIRST SPOT POTENTIAL OF MICROREPLICATION
12 August 2003 - Tecan

At its world-leading Microstructure Division in Dorset, UK, Tecan is experiencing significant interest from lateral thinking designers and OEMs due to its proven ability to produce ultra-fine electroformed parts for next-generation micro-applications. First-wave tangible acceptance of the technology is already being shown by wafer foundries and fabrication houses as they embrace the new techniques to produce duplicate 'families' for various undisclosed replication purposes.

The Tecan process involves electroforming directly onto a 3-D silicon wafer original, usually supplied by the customer, to produce an exact mirror-image replica in nickel. If the original silicon is male or female, defined by the peaks and troughs of its profile, the nickel replica will be the opposite gender. In the case of a female silicon original, for example, the resultant nickel part will be a male, or 'father', and vice-versa. The process allows this nickel duplicate to be simply separated from the silicon and used for processing, as it is, or as a parent part from which mirror-image 'offspring' can be produced, these 'sons' or 'daughters' will have exactly the same form and gender as the original. This allows expensive silicon originals to be kept as perfect masters, from which any number of replicas, in any gender, can be produced at any time and at comparatively low cost.

This microreplication is one of the fastest growing areas of the company's electroforming business, which offers massive potential for the production of completely new products and processes in industries as diverse as medicine, pharmaceuticals, electronics, aerospace. At this stage, non-disclosure agreements exist with several industry-leading companies who are showing interest in the technology, precluding the publication of specific new applications and processes. However, wafer foundries and wafer fabrication companies appear to be particularly interested in the idea of using highly durable nickel replicas of silicon originals for various new-concept production processes.

http://www.tecan.co.uk

About: Tecan
Tecan is a world-class, ISO 9001:2000 registered precision metal part and tool manufacturer, based in Weymouth, UK. Formed in 1970, Tecan offers the 'total' one-stop contract-manufacturing solution - from technology development through to rapid prototyping and volume production.

Tecan's team of experienced engineers work closely with the customer to develop manufacturing solutions to meet their exact cost and tolerance requirements. Years of process development have culminated in Tecan being able to cost-effectively manufacture metal parts with feature sizes down to 2-micron at sub-micron accuracy - and to put that into perspective, there are 1,000-microns to one millimetre.

Technological innovation and expertise form the basis of Tecan's success, and have provided the platform for the development of competences in several process technologies, including:

• Photo Chemical Machining (PCM)
• Photo ElectroForming (PEF)
• Precision photolithography
• Precision electroplating

Tecan works on a global basis with a diverse range of OEM customers, who are involved in a wide array of industries. The nature of Tecan's competences, combined with its commitment to R&D, allows it to stretch to meet the requirements of virtually any application.

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  • For August 2003
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  • For Photochemical Machining (PCM)