5 April 2011

LED and laser maker Soraa adds Plasma-Therm dep and etch systems

Plasma process equipment maker Plasma-Therm LLC of St Petersburg, FL, USA says that Soraa Inc of Fremont, CA, USA has recently purchased three of its systems to provide plasma deposition and etch steps in its wafer fabrication process.

Founded by pioneering nitride researchers from the University of California at Santa Barbara (professors Shuji Nakamura, Steve DenBaars and Jim Speck), Soraa is developing a new class of green and blue laser diodes and LEDs for application in general lighting and projection display markets. Led by CEO Eric Kim, the firm is rapidly expanding its US-based manufacturing capacity in preparation for volume production.

Soraa purchased a 790+ RIE (reactive ion etch) system, a VERSALINE PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition) system and a VERSALINE ICP (inductively coupled plasma) system. By providing dielectric deposition and metal, dielectric, and active material patterning, they collectively deliver key front-end processing technologies that are critical to the development and production of photonic devices. Plasma-Therm says that demand for LEDs and lasers continues to increase as they enter mainstream applications including consumer lighting, displays, biotechnology, defense and industrial markets.

Picture: Plasma-Therm's VERSALINE PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition) system.

“As engineers apply their skills and knowledge to different semiconductor applications, they often keep the knowledge and experience they have from working with different equipment sets,” says executive VP of sales & marketing Ed Ostan. “Positive experiences with Plasma-Therm processing systems have repeatedly led to new orders and continued relationships,” he adds. “The value previously experienced with Plasma-Therm equipment was instrumental in this manufacturer’s decision to purchase Plasma-Therm equipment. Our emphasis on building strong business relationships as well as the proven reliability and support of our systems is a key factor in repeat orders.”

See related items:

Plasma-Therm acquires majority stake in Advanced Vacuum

Soraa demos record 4W blue laser diode

Soraa demos green lasers for >20lm pico projectors with minimal speckle

Tags: Plasma-Therm Soraa LEDs Lasers

Visit: www.plasmatherm.com

Visit: www.soraa.com

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