11 April 2011

EV Group wins Frost & Sullivan’s European Nanoimprint Technology Product Innovation Award

EV Group (EVG) of St Florian, Austria, a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system), nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, has received the 2010 European Nanoimprint Technology Product Innovation Award from market research firm Frost & Sullivan, recognizing its accomplishments in addressing industrial needs with nanoimprinting solutions.

Frost & Sullivan implemented a comprehensive research study that ranked multiple nanoimprint lithography (NIL) providers across several categories including advancement of technology, industrial implementation, solution portfolio, fulfilling future market needs, and impact on the end-user. EVG says that it received among the highest marks in every category and ranked significantly higher than the nearest competitor overall.

“With market leadership in wafer bonding, 3D interconnect and MEMS manufacturing tools, EV Group has vast expertise in different areas that synergize with its nanoimprinting solutions,” comments Frost & Sullivan research analyst Kenneth Chua. “The company is known to provide proven solutions fulfilling the needs of the semiconductor industry. Its NIL equipment continues this legacy and brings about low-cost, high-throughput and reliable solutions to its end-users,” he adds.

According to Frost & Sullivan, much of the competition in NIL has been focused on making NIL viable for either mainstream semiconductor fabrication or patterning for future data storage media (bit-patterned media in hard disk drives). In contrast, EVG has leveraged its expertise to focus on key high-growth markets, including optics and microfluidics.

Moreover, as EVG continues to enhance the capabilities and performance of its NIL technology, it periodically evaluates its potential for other markets—and is prepared to realign its development strategies in the event that NIL becomes better suited to the needs of data storage and mainstream semiconductor manufacturers. The firm says that this is evident in its latest development, which is the ability to pattern features as small as 12.5nm in diameter using ultraviolet-assisted nanoimprinting, compatible with its EVG620, EVG6200 and EVG770 NIL systems.

“With a decade of experience in nanoimprint lithography, this award is testament to the quality and EVG’s outstanding achievements in NIL technology innovation, as well as to the company’s overall success in aligning its development efforts with market demand,” states Dr Thomas Glinsner, EV Group’s head of product management.

Nanoimprinting is used to produce patterns on a substrate by mechanical means. EVG's ultraviolet-assisted NIL (UV-NIL), as well as its hot embossing processes, leverages its proprietary soft-stamp technology, whereby a master imprinting stamp is used to generate soft stamps. This method increases the lifetime of the master stamp due to reduced mechanical contact and enables an overall reduction in cost of ownership.

See: EV Group Company Profile

Tags: EVG NIL

Visit: www.awards.frost.com

Visit: www.evgroup.com/en/products/lithography/nil_systems

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