YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that one of its customers has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract by the US’s National Institutes of Health to manufacture a new COVID testing device for mass distribution. The award was made possible through the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative.

Key to the customer’s product is an innovative technology that enables instant-read accuracy rivalling that of conventional PCR testing, which can require a day or more to provide results. Scaling this promising new device to high production volumes will leverage the capabilities of YES’s EcoCoat™ HVM molecular vapor deposition system.

The YES EcoCoat HVM system and manufacturing process applies a highly uniform surface-transforming film coating to the customer’s devices. This molecular monolayer coating provides a functional interface between the device surface and COVID-specific biomolecular recognition elements applied later in manufacturing. The high-capacity vapor phase coating system and automated substrate load/unload capabilities provide throughput enabling millions of individual detection devices per month.

“YES is honored that our process equipment was chosen to help get this novel diagnostic technology into the hands of millions of people, as the worldwide battle against COVID-19 continues,” said Rezwan Lateef, President of YES.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit http://www.yieldengineering.com.

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Don Foldenauer Joins YES as Vice President of Operations

FREMONT, Calif. – July 19, 2021 — YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that Don Foldenauer is the company’s new VP of Operations.

“I am very pleased to welcome Don to our executive staff,” said Vinod Mahendroo, Senior VP of Operations at YES. “I expect that his extensive industry experience and proven track record of building and managing high-functioning teams will be considerable assets to YES as we continue our rapid growth and transition to a world-class, global manufacturer.”

Mr. Foldenauer began his career as a design engineer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment systems and has been awarded multiple patents. He spent more than 15 years in Field Operations management at Applied Materials and KLA-Tencor. His resumé also includes over 15 years in Manufacturing Operations management at Applied Materials, followed by VP of Operations roles at three contract manufacturers: Jabil, Celestica, and Ultra Clean Technology. In addition to holding bachelor’s degrees in electronic engineering and business management, and an MBA from San Jose State University, he is a regular guest lecturer at Stanford University on the topics of photovoltaics and semiconductor manufacturing.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit www.yieldengineering.com.

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ESPOO, Finland, 28th of July 2021 – Picosun Group delivers cutting-edge Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology to ams OSRAM for volume manufacturing of optical semiconductor devices.

ams OSRAM has invested in a fully automated PICOSUN® Morpher production cluster, which can deposit multiple materials on a batch of wafers even during the same process run. The flexibility and process variety of the PICOSUN® Morpher system is a key advantage, which enables volume production as well as the testing of new processes for R&D of future products.

Picosun Group and ams OSRAM have collaborated in a public funded project FLINGO (m-era.net project) to develop new ALD materials and processes to improve the characteristics of LEDs, such as efficiency and durability. The collaboration between the parties will continue after the ALD system delivery with activities to further expand the use of ALD in optoelectronic semiconductor processing.

“We have been working with Picosun since 2010 and now with this investment we can bring our collaboration to the next level. We are very excited to have the PICOSUN™ Morpher F cluster platform installed in our cleanroom”, states Dr. Sebastian Taeger, at ams OSRAM.

“The optical semiconductor market is one focus area of Picosun today. It is a fast-growing market where we have a strong presence with our tailored solutions for compound semiconductor-based devices. We have had excellent collaboration with the ams OSRAM technical team during project FLINGO and during the system specification stage. The expertise from both companies has resulted in optimized ALD solutions to boost the performance of the customer’s products.”, continues Dr. Christoph Hossbach, General Manager of Picosun Europe GmbH.

More information:
Dr. Christoph Hossbach, General Manager, Picosun Europe GmbH
Tel. +49 1522 449 49 11
Email: [email protected]
www.picosun.com

Picosun provides the most advanced AGILE ALD® (Atomic Layer Deposition) thin film coating solutions for global industries. Picosun’s ALD solutions enable technological leap into the future, with turn-key production processes and unmatched, pioneering expertise in the field – dating back to the invention of the technology itself. Today, PICOSUN® ALD equipment are in daily manufacturing use in numerous leading industries around the world. Picosun is based in Finland, with subsidiaries in Germany, USA, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China mainland and Taiwan, offices in India and France, and a world-wide sales and support network. Visit www.picosun.com.

About ams OSRAM
The ams-OSRAM Group, including the listed companies ams AG as parent company and OSRAM Licht AG, is a global leader in optical solutions. By adding intelligence to light and passion to innovation, we enrich people’s lives. This is what we mean by Sensing is Life.

With over 110 years of combined history, our core is defined by imagination, deep engineering expertise and the ability to provide global industrial capacity in sensor and light technologies. We create exciting innovations that enable our customers in the consumer, automotive, healthcare and industrial sectors maintain their competitive edge. We thereby drive innovation that meaningfully improves the quality of life in terms of health, safety and convenience, while reducing impact on the environment.
Our around 30,000 employees worldwide focus on innovation across sensing, illumination and visualization to make journeys safer, medical diagnosis more accurate and daily moments in communication a richer experience. Our work creates technology for breakthrough applications, which is reflected in over 15,000 patents granted and applied. Headquartered in Premstaetten/Graz (Austria) with a co-headquarter in Munich (Germany), the group achieved well over USD 5 billion combined revenues in 2020 (pro-forma).

ams AG is a listed company on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ISIN: AT0000A18XM4). OSRAM Licht AG remains a listed company on the XETRA market in Germany (ISIN: DE000LED4000).

To find out more about us on https://ams-osram.com

ams is a registered trademark of ams AG. In addition many of our products and services are registered or filed trademarks of ams Group. All other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.
Join ams social media channels: >Twitter >LinkedIn >Facebook >YouTube
Join OSRAM social media channels: >Twitter >LinkedIn >Facebook >YouTube

Please note: The ams brand is owned by ams AG, the OSRAM brand is owned by OSRAM GmbH. ams group and OSRAM group are in the process of integration. The combination of the ams and OSRAM brand is not representing a new brand. This is a visual symbol of the two companies coming together, representing the aspiration of our future joined group.

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ClassOne Technology (classone.com), global provider of advanced semiconductor electroplating and surface preparation systems, announced that it has received multiple tool orders from one of the world’s largest RF device manufacturers. The orders are for Solstice® S8 systems and include the proprietary GoldPro™ processing chamber for advanced gold plating applications. The announcement was made by ClassOne’s VP Product and Technology, John Ghekiere, and CEO, Byron Exarcos.

"The new Solstice S8s are being used to produce advanced BAW filters for leading-edge 5G communications products,” said Ghekiere. “This customer supplies innovative RF solutions to all the major smart phone manufacturers, so they demand maximum performance for these devices. In particular, they were interested in our GoldPro electroplating chamber for their advanced cyanide gold processes.”

“Our customer is extremely pleased with the Solstice’s process performance, especially its within-feature and wafer-to-wafer uniformity,” said Exarcos. “Plus, they like how quickly it gets them to full production levels. We won this business for several key reasons – electroplating performance, price/performance, CoO, and, very importantly, our level of customer responsiveness and support.”

ClassOne’s Solstice S8 is an eight-chambered, fully-automated single-wafer production tool that delivers high-performance electroplating – as well as wafer surface preparation for a range of processes, including cleaning, metal lift-off, resist strip, UBM etch and more. The Solstice series also includes the fully-automated S4 with up to four processing chambers and the semi-automated Solstice LT with up to three chambers for process development and lower-volume production. The Solstice platform’s unique flexibility, enabling both plating and surface prep processes on the same tool, can serve to streamline production and optimize ROI.

In addition to advanced production equipment, customers depend on ClassOne for a deep level of semiconductor process experience and technical support which can significantly shorten their time from start-up to production. For example, ClassOne routinely provides pre-production sampling through the company’s central Technical Development Center. ClassOne has become known for this combination of world-class technology and customer support around the globe.
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About ClassOne Technology
ClassOne Technology (classone.com) has become the semiconductor industry’s leading provider of advanced wet-chemical wafer processing equipment for ≤200mm wafers. ClassOne’s popular Solstice® plating and surface preparation systems include the S8 with up to eight chambers and the S4 with up to four chambers for high-speed fully-automated single-wafer production. The Solstice LT provides up to three chambers for process development or lower-volume production. Complementing the Solstice platform, ClassOne has developed a series of proprietary chambers, including the GoldPro™ and CopperMax™, to uniquely optimize specific processes. In addition, ClassOne offers the Trident™ product lines of advanced batch-processing spin-rinse-dryers and spray solvent tools. Headquartered in Kalispell, MT, the company has successfully brought new high-performance processing technology to compound semiconductor and many emerging markets that have long been underserved by the older equipment manufacturers. Hundreds of ClassOne tools are now at work in leading fabs and research facilities around the world, producing many of the most advanced devices, from microLEDs and VCSELs to next-generation RF and sensors.

• Read more about Leading RF Manufacturer Orders Multiple Solstice Plating Systems for 5G Devices

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences, and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that Prabhat Mishra will be the company’s new Vice President of Finance.

“Prabhat joined the company in August of 2019 as our Head of Finance,” said Ramakanth Alapati, CEO of YES. “Over the past two years, his efforts have been instrumental in helping us manage our rapid trajectory from small-scale manufacturer to preferred supplier for the world’s largest technology companies.”

Prior to joining YES, Mr. Mishra was Senior Director of Finance at Macom and Applied Micro, managing the Financial Planning and Analysis function of the company. Before that, he spent 10 years as a finance leader at Intel Corporation, supporting the Mobile Products Group, the Software & Services Group and the Technology & Manufacturing Group. He started his career as an engineer and was an engineering manager at STMicroelectronics, Sun Microsystems and Intel.

Mr. Mishra holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, an MBA from Arizona State University, and Certification in Accounting from University of California, Berkeley.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and plasma etching tools used for precise surface modification and thin-film coating of semiconductor wafers, semiconductor and MEMS devices, biosensors and medical substrates. With YES, customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies can create and volume-produce products in a wide range of markets, including Advanced Packaging, MEMS, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Life Sciences. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing presence globally. For more information, please visit http://www.yieldengineering.com.

• Read more about Prabhat Mishra Promoted to Vice President of Finance at YES

Samco, a leading manufacturer of etching, deposition and surface treatment processing equipment for the semiconductor and related industries and academic facilities, announces that the Nanofabrication Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University Materials Research Institute (Penn State MRI Nanofab) has selected a complementary suite of surface treatment solutions from Samco consisting of an Aqua Plasma™ cleaning system and a UV ozone cleaning system as new additions to their specialized equipment toolsets for micro-and nanofabrication.

Penn State MRI Nanofab, one of the leading facilities in North America for nanotechnology research/development and prototyping, has selected Samco’s unique water-based plasma treatment system Aqua Plasma™ model AQ-2000 and tabletop UV ozone cleaning system, model UV-2 for surface modification of substrates that include 2D semiconductor materials such as graphene and polymers used in microfluidic devices. They operate as an open user facility for nanofabrication with academic, industrial, and government users.

Aqua Plasma™ enables efficient and safe reduction of metal oxides, improves bond strength between substrates, enhances hydrophilization, and can be used for ashing or organic removal applications. Not only is this unique surface treatment technique effective, it is also safe to the environment and operators.

Chad Eichfeld, Nanofab director of operations at Penn State’s NF, states "The flexibility of the AQ-2000 will have long-term impact on the materials research community at Penn State by allowing for the processing of wide range of materials with a more robust and efficient process flow. With the expanding research on devices made with 2-dimensional materials there is a need for plasma etching with both low damage as well as reduced oxidation of surfaces. The AQ 2000 is a unique tool that allows for both oxygen and water-based plasma processing that is unique in that it eliminates surface oxidation, a main driver for the system selection. After sending some samples of our 2D materials we found that the water plasma also had the added benefit of reducing the surface damage of the material as well. Another key factor in our decision was the flexibility of having multiple plasma technologies: Down Stream Plasma, Plasma Etching and RIE Etching in the same system. Bundling these capabilities into a single system will allow us to optimize our capabilities while at the same time reducing the equipment footprint in our cleanroom.”

Tsukasa Kawabe, President and COO of Samco, comments: "With our cutting-edge surface treatment technology, Aqua Plasma™ and UV ozone cleaning, we offer a convincing solution even for world-leading research facility. For more than thirty years, Samco has been delivering plasma processing solutions to universities and R&D facilities in the US. We are truly proud that Penn State Nanofab has now selected our equipment for their open laboratory.”

About Nanofabrication Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University Materials Research Institute
Penn State’s MRI Nanofabrication Laboratory (Nanofab) is a full-service user facility providing faculty, students, and industry researchers the opportunity to perform hands-on research with some of the world’s most sophisticated instruments for micro- and nanofabrication. The Nanofab’s technical support staff has world-class capabilities in the areas of deposition, etch, lithography, material modification and characterization. The sheer number of materials processed - more than sixty five (65) materials can be deposited and over seventy (70) materials can be dry etched - in the suite of tools resident in the facility that is a testament to the flexibility of the toolset and the staff that supports it. From the wide variety of available processes, academic and industrial researchers can develop and fabricate a wide array of novel devices. The general theme of the Nanofabrication Laboratory's core areas of expertise is the ability to handle non-standard materials alongside the more common materials.

At Penn State, nearly one hundred research groups are engaged in high-impact science and engineering at the nanoscale. The Nanofab provides specialized instruments and experienced, highly trained technical staff who support researchers in areas that reflect our faculty strengths, including sputter deposition, atomic layer deposition, thin film piezoelectrics, two-dimensional materials, CMOS and MEMs. Technical capabilities that set the Nanofab apart include e-beam lithography of nanoscale features on curved surfaces and the ability to integrate non-traditional electronic materials, such as complex oxides, chalcogenides, graphene etc., into complex structures.

About Samco Inc.
Samco Inc. (TSE: 6387) stands for Semiconductor And Materials Company, is a leading manufacturer of processing equipment for the semiconductor and related industries founded by Mr. Osamu Tsuji in Kyoto, Japan in 1979. Over the past forty years, more than 4,000 Samco systems have been installed and used in 30 different countries. Its equipment and thin film technology are widely adopted in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, including MicroLEDs, Laser Diodes, VCSELs, SiC Power Devices, GaN RF Devices, BAW/SAW Filters, MEMS, TSVs, and so on. Learn more at www.samcointl.com

• Read more about The Pennsylvania State University plans to install Samco Aqua Plasma™ and UV ozone cleaning systems