ClassOne Technology, global provider of advanced semiconductor plating tools, announced the sale of a second Solstice® S8 system to i3 Microsystems (i3M), a wholly-owned subsidiary of defense industry supplier i3 Electronics headquartered in Binghamton, NY. The eight-chambered Solstice S8 configuration includes ClassOne’s proprietary CopperMax™ chamber for advanced copper plating. The announcement was made jointly by ClassOne CEO, Byron Exarcos, and i3 VP/General Manager, Robert Nead.

"We brought in the first Solstice S8 to replace our wet benches and automate our plating processes,” said Nead. “And the tool’s high performance and flexibility have served us extremely well. With eight chambers, the Solstice is able to handle both plating and surface preparation processes. We’re now adding solvent strip and UBM etch capabilities to our first Solstice, and we are configuring our second Solstice to match. Bottom line, we've been very pleased with the Solstice and also with ClassOne's customer service, both of which are strongly supporting our ongoing growth.”

“A key feature of i3M’s Solstice S8 configuration is that it includes our proprietary CopperMax™ electroplating chamber,” said Exarcos. “This unique chamber is designed to deliver class-leading copper plating quality while at the same time reducing plating consumables costs. It gives users the ability to routinely achieve exceptional levels of copper plating feature quality and also cut copper chemistry additives costs by as much as 95%.

Solstice presently serves many of the world’s leading defense contractors and is emerging as the electroplating and wafer surface preparation system of choice for meeting the exacting requirements of the defense and aerospace industries.

The ClassOne Solstice S8 is an eight-chambered system for high-performance, fully-automated electroplating and surface preparation. The Solstice platform also includes the S4, which provides up to four processing chambers, and the LT, with up to three chambers. In addition to electroplating, the tool’s unique Plating-Plus™ capability also enables it to handle many surface preparation functions, including wafer cleaning, high-pressure metal lift-off, resist strip, UBM etch and more. This multi-processing flexibility serves to streamline process production and can reduce the number of different tools a user needs to purchase.

• Read more about Defense Industry Supplier i3 Microsystems Places Repeat Order for ClassOne’s Solstice Electroplating System

SANTA ROSA, Calif., – March 23, 2021 – PNI Sensor, the world’s foremost expert in precision location, motion tracking, and fusion of sensor systems into real-world applications, has announced new Dismounted Soldier Tracking (DST) technology that determines a soldier’s precise location, even when GPS is compromised or denied.

PNI has spent seven years of internal research and development perfecting the highest-accuracy, lowest-power sensor fusion algorithms for wearables and smartphones. DST is the result of this combined expertise. DST location technology stays accurate over time and through a wide range of conditions, so its data can be trusted to deliver precise results in mission-critical scenarios.

Ubiquitous Tracking - PNI’s advanced DST inertial tracking technology provides unparalleled accuracy and offers step-by-step tracking for soldiers, both indoors and outdoors.

Unmatched Direction of Motion - DST technology determines direction of motion independent of the soldier’s body pose or dynamic movement in any direction (forward, backward, sideways).

Self-contained - No additional infrastructure required and optimized for low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). The DST module can be body worn.

“PNI has operated in the soldier-portable domain for more than thirty years and our compass technology is used in U.S. Army laser rangefinders, enhanced night vision goggles, and other mission critical applications that require high accuracy, consistency and reliability in the field,” said Robin Stoecker, vice president of sales and marketing at PNI Sensor. “We are committed to delivering world-class positioning, navigation and timing capabilities that enhance combat overmatch for modern warfighters.”

Evaluation Kit Availability
DST technology is made in the U.S.A, ITAR-free, and fully customizable to mission specifications. Engineering samples are available now. To purchase a DST evaluation kit, please contact PNI Sales or your regional PNI representative.
For product specifications and more information, visit Dismounted Soldier Tracking.

About PNI Sensor
With over 30 years of experience, PNI is the world’s foremost expert in precision location, motion tracking, and fusion of sensor systems into real-world applications. PNI’s sensors and algorithms serve as the cornerstone of successful IoT projects and other mission-critical applications where pinpoint location, accuracy, and low power consumption are essential. Building on decades of patented sensor and algorithm development, PNI offers the industry’s highest-performance geomagnetic sensor in its class, location and motion coprocessors, high-performance modules, sensor fusion algorithms, and complete sensor systems. To learn more, please visit www.pnicorp.com.

• Read more about PNI Sensor’s New Dismounted Soldier Tracking Technology Provides Precise Location in GPS-denied Environments

ESPOO, Finland, 22nd of March 2021 – During the past year, organizations worldwide have been forced to adapt to new ways of working and serving their customers due to the covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions to travel and logistics. Picosun Group has significantly reinforced its local service units globally and established its PicoSupport™ Center.

PicoSupport™ Center provides on-site support and planned service items such as ALD system installations and preventive maintenance visits conducted by highly experienced, trained and certified field service engineers. It also takes care of customers’ Helpdesk and Emergency Service operations.

At the core of PicoSupport™ Center’s Helpdesk are state-of-the-art remote support tools taking advantage of augmented/mixed reality, live video, screensharing and remote connection applications. In accordance with Industry 4.0, these tools allow safe and on-time service delivery no matter the physical location or time zone of the customer. They also offer an endlessly upgradeable platform for further embedding of e.g. remote training and e-learning modules with full virtual reality environments.

Today, the remote support tools are already widely implemented in Picosun’s customer base. The remote applications are used for a number of services ranging from system inspections and troubleshooting to software upgrades, bug fixes and process optimizations.

“I’m very proud to say that we have been able to adapt to the changing environment by employing new ways of interaction to ensure continued customer satisfaction. The feedback on the new remote support applications has been very positive. Customers find them easy to use and have benefitted from them in terms of faster reaction times and lower costs compared to traditional on-site services,” says Timo Malinen, VP, Service Business Area of Picosun Group.

“As our customers’ trusted strategic ALD partner we are committed to top-notch and uninterrupted services, despite of the changes in the world we operate in. We are looking forward to further enhance and develop the ways with which we can ensure smooth and trouble-free operations together with our customers,” Malinen concludes.

About Picosun
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.

More information:
Timo Malinen
VP, Service Business Area, Picosun Group
Tel: +358 40 5011860
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.picosun.com

• Read more about Picosun trusts in augmented reality for refined customer support

Carlsbad, CA, USA – Nordson Electronics Solutions, a global leader in electronics manufacturing technologies, are pleased to announce they will showcase many new dispensing, conformal coating, selective soldering, and surface treatment products and technologies at two events: Productronica China (Hall E6 booth #6202) and SEMICON China (Hall N4, booth #4022), both held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China, March 17 – 20, 2021.

Nordson Electronics Solutions product lines for printed circuit board assembly are on exhibit at Productronica China, including:
• Conformal Coating - ASYMTEK Panorama™ R-Line, featuring Select Coat® SL-940 and FX-940UV Inspection system. This line provides flexibility and convenience to manufacturers who are transitioning to an automated conformal coating process.
• Fluid Dispensing – Two ASYMTEK platforms and one new valve family are featured at this show. The new Forte™ MAX System demonstrates dual-jet dispensing with two IntelliJet® jet valves including real-time skew correction - ideal for multi-up, panelized or patterned parts. The award-winning Spectrum™ II dispensing system performs tilt jetting for dispensing accurately into hard-to-reach areas. Also featured is the new Vortik® Progressive Cavity Pump for two-component fluids, which utilizes the award-winning ARC™ Technology software for ensuring easy set-up and accurate mix ratios.
• Selective Soldering - The SELECT Integra® 508.3PD 2seg multi-station includes concurrent fluxing, preheating with dual fluxers and solder pots, and can solder two singulated boards in a parallel mode in-line with two segmented conveyors.
• Plasma Surface Treatment – The popular MARCH AP-1000 is a cost- and space-efficient vacuum plasma treatment machine for treating all types of parts and components. It is completely self-contained including pump, chamber, control electronics, and requires minimal floor space.

On exhibit for semiconductor packaging at SEMICON China 2021 is the ASYMTEK Vantage dispensing system and IntelliJet® Jetting system, demonstrating dispensing for the highest levels of precision and speed.

We look forward to seeing you in Shanghai at either event!

https://www.nordson.com/en/divisions/electronics-solutions
High-resolution image: https://ndsn.tech/4cd

About Nordson Electronics Solutions
Nordson Electronics Solutions offers products to customers for precision automated fluid dispensing, conformal coating, plasma surface treatment, and selective soldering. Consisting of complementary product lines – ASYMTEK, MARCH, and SELECT – we deliver to semiconductor packaging, printed circuit board assembly, and other precision assembly operations. Our passion is helping customers take their processes further faster, with best-in-class technologies, dedicated global sales and support teams, and unmatched consultative applications expertise.

About Nordson Corporation
Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN) is one of the world’s leading producers of precision dispensing equipment that applies adhesives, sealants, coatings and other materials to a broad range of consumer and industrial products during manufacturing operations. The company also manufactures equipment used in the testing and inspection of electronic components as well as technology-based systems for curing and surface treatment processes. Headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, Nordson has direct operations and sales support offices in more than 30 countries.

• Read more about Nordson Electronics Solutions to Showcase Printed Circuit Board Assembly and Semiconductor Packaging Equipment at Productronica China and SEMICON China Tradeshows

FREMONT, Calif. – Mar 15, 2021 – YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a preferred provider of material modification and surface enhancement solutions for the semiconductor, life science and display markets, today announced that a leading memory manufacturer has ordered the YES VertaBond™ system for wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer bonding. The new system will be utilized in bringing next-generation HBM (high bandwidth memory) to market. It is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2021 to support the customer’s R&D activities and initial production demands.

“This order marks an important milestone for YES, as it is a validation of our efforts to serve the memory market. This new VertaBond system will enable our valued customer’s most advanced HBM development and pilot production,” said Alex Chow, Asia Sales President & General Manager at YES. “We are very pleased and look forward to working with them to meet their exciting technology roadmap.”

“YES has long been a leader in cutting-edge solutions for polyimide cure and wafer-to-wafer bonding applications utilizing novel vacuum technologies. We are pleased to introduce the VertaBond system for wafers and panels, which is based on this core competence, to customers with demanding 3D stacking and heterogenous integration applications in logic, memory and other critical areas,” said Dr. Zia Karim, Sr. VP and CTO at YES.

About VertaBond
VertaBond is YES’s new vacuum-based wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer bonding system. Its superior temperature uniformity and low vacuum environment work together to improve the properties of bonding interfaces and eliminate voids which can cause yield loss and performance degradation. Vacuum technology enables void-free bonding in less time, reduces thermal budget, and provides excellent bonding strength and particle performance.

About YES
YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.) is a leading manufacturer of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for transforming surfaces, materials and interfaces. The company’s product lines include vacuum cure ovens, 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, and biodevices. 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 global presence. For more information, please visit www.yieldengineering.com.

VertaBond™ and the YES logo are trademarks of YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.).

• Read more about YES Receives VertaBond™ Purchase Order from a Tier 1 Memory Manufacturer

Intermolecular, Inc. (“Intermolecular”), the trusted partner for materials innovation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced the relocation of the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub from Menlo Park to Intermolecular’s San Jose facilities, combining Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s innovation efforts in the Bay area with Intermolecular’s services for materials and electronics, creating a unique space that empowers collaboration with startups.

The Silicon Valley Innovation Hub was established in 2017 in Menlo Park, CA. As part of the global Innovation Ecosystem of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, it strives to identify and develop viable new businesses and technologies between the company’s existing business sectors or break new ground beyond them.

“The mission of the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub is to identify and explore untapped innovation- and business opportunities for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In this context, the intersection of life science and material science is becoming increasingly important and opens new areas of innovation. Having the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub and Intermolecular under one roof now will allow us and our cooperation partners to develop and test new materials for biological applications. We are very excited about these new opportunities,” states Thomas Herget, head of the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub.

Intermolecular has a unique toolset and expertise to quickly test and prove new advanced technologies and materials for semiconductor devices and electronic applications.

Having the Innovation Hub in the same building will further strengthen collaboration of the company’s businesses with startups and innovative companies in and around the Bay Area to rapidly grow their business from concept to high-volume manufacturing. The building boasts 30,000 square feet of cleanroom, chemical labs, offices, a collaboration area and event spaces.

Intermolecular’s customizable services are tailored to meet a startup’s unique needs, whether it is achieving a proof-of-principle, a first prototype, or a small series production. Intermolecular assigns experts in emerging technologies and offers its manufacturing facilities, which can run experiments 24/7to test and validate materials critical to product development. Intermolecular’s flexible methodologies and quality data help accelerate product design innovation, at any phase of a startup’s product development cycle.

“Intermolecular offers a seamless process flow that is specific and confidential to each startup, which is key to speeding time to innovation,” said Casper van Oosten, business field head and managing director for Intermolecular, Inc. “By providing startups the tools and expertise to validate their ideas, we can help them accelerate their path to new investment and speed their product introductions by giving them concrete data needed to move quickly from a research phase to full production. Having the experts from the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub now under one roof, we are looking forward to branch out into new areas and exploring collaboration opportunities that bring benefits to our customers/startups.”

“Semiconductor companies, particularly companies working on current generation and emerging memories, need to do a lot of experimentation to get the best combination of processes and materials,” said Tom Coughlin, president of Coughlin Associates. “Companies such as Intermolecular can provide efficient ways to gather and analyze the required data to make the next generations of memory possible.”

About the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s Silicon Valley Innovation Hub supports scouting for the company’s existing businesses, with the additional objective to look between and beyond their scopes. This means evaluating new technological opportunities, building and maintaining local relationships and partnerships, and driving new business in fields such as cell-based meat.

About Intermolecular

Intermolecular is a trusted partner for materials innovation and the Silicon Valley science hub of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and its Performance Materials business. Intermolecular explores, tests and develops advanced materials that are revolutionizing the next generation of electronics that make lives easier, entertaining and more productive. For more than 15 years, the team, methodologies and quality data have driven impactful outcomes, market opportunities and innovative product designs for customers.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.

• Read more about Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany moves the Silicon Valley Innovation Hub to San Jose's Intermolecular site

SANTA ROSA, Calif., – February 17, 2021 – PNI Sensor, the world’s foremost expert in precision location, motion tracking, and fusion of sensor systems into real-world applications, today announced availability of the new TargetPoint TCM™ gyro-stabilized digital magnetic compass. TargetPoint TCM incorporates PNI’s high sensitivity Magneto-Inductive sensors with the latest high stability 3-axis MEMS accelerometer and 3-axis MEMS gyroscopes providing accurate orientation while in dynamic motion and in magnetically challenging environments. TargetPoint TCM excels in conditions that cause errors in traditional digital magnetic compasses.

TargetPoint TCM uses advanced magnetic distortion compensation and calibration scoring algorithms to counter the effects of hard and soft iron interference, providing highly accurate heading information in almost any environment and orientation.

TargetPoint TCM features and benefits include:
 Patented magnetic anomaly rejection algorithms eliminate errors due to magnetic distortion, even in magnetically harsh environments
 Gyro-stabilized compass for dynamic accuracy of sub-0.5 degrees of heading accuracy
 Multiple calibration methods, including 12-point hard- and soft-iron calibration methods, are available to ensure ease of calibration for all applications
 ITAR-free

“For military rangefinder and targeting systems developers who need accurate orientation in demanding conditions, TargetPoint TCM is a ruggedized digital magnetic compass built to handle weapons shock,” said Robin Stoecker, vice president of sales and marketing at PNI Sensor. “It’s an ideal choice for targeting applications that require reliability, consistency and accuracy.”

Pricing and Availability
For product specifications, download the TargetPoint TCM product sheet. For pricing and availability, please contact PNI Sales or your regional PNI representative.

About PNI Sensor
With over 30 years of experience, PNI is the world’s foremost expert in precision location, motion tracking, and fusion of sensor systems into real-world applications. PNI’s sensors and algorithms serve as the cornerstone of successful IoT projects and other mission-critical applications where pinpoint location, accuracy, and low power consumption are essential. Building on decades of patented sensor and algorithm development, PNI offers the industry’s highest-performance geomagnetic sensor in its class, location and motion coprocessors, high-performance modules, sensor fusion algorithms, and complete sensor systems. To learn more, please visit www.pnicorp.com.

Media Contact:
Robin Stoecker
PNI Sensor
Tel: +1 707-566-2260 |Email: [email protected]

• Read more about PNI Sensor’s New TargetPoint Tilt-Compensated Compass Module (TCM) Provides Accurate Heading in any Environment

BERLIN, Germany – 17 February, 2021 –Qurv and Infineon Technologies have won the MEMS & Imaging Sensors Technology Showcase at the Technology Unites Global Summit, SEMI announced today. The Qurv wide-spectrum image sensor was recognized as the best imaging technology and the Infineon Technologies environmental sensor as the leading MEMS technology. The winners were selected from five finalists in each category in a vote by a committee of industry experts.

“Image and MEMS sensors advances are delivering tremendous societal and economic benefits, making our lives safer and healthier and the air cleaner,” said Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe. “The Qurv and Infineon Technologies innovations epitomize electronics industry innovation.”

The Technology Showcase honors standout applications enabled by MEMS and image sensors technology. The awards were presented by Dr. Martina Vogel of Fraunhofer ENAS.

Technology Showcase Winners

Qurv– Enabling a World of Enhanced Vision Qurv developed wide spectrum image sensors that capture information hidden by ambient light interference or information not available in the visible light spectrum for next-gen computer vision applications. Qurv's technology leverages current CMOS scalable manufacturing and advanced materials to unlock new levels of performance, reliability and function. All Qurv image sensors are designed with AI and machine perception in mind. The technology was presented by Stijn Goossens, Co-founder and CTO of Qurv.

Infineon Technologies– XENSIV™ PAS CO2 Sensor, a new Environmental Sensor Technology. Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) Miniaturizes CO2 Sensors for High-volume Applications Leveraging its advanced MEMS microphone technology, Infineon Technologies developed a disruptive CO2 sensor based on photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). Exceptionally miniaturized, the sensor is designed to accommodate high-volume manufacturing. The first CO2 sensor with SMD capabilities, the innovation will enable widespread adoption of air quality monitoring in high-volume applications in a variety of markets such as industrial, medical and Internet of Things (IoT). The platform was presented by Andreas Kopetz, Senior Director of Environmental Sensing at Infineon Technologies.

The Technology Showcase demonstrations are available for on-demand viewing. The awards, organized by SEMI, are offered each year for companies across a range of sectors from IoT and consumer electronics to robotics and biomedical equipment. Winners receive a free exhibition booth at SEMI MEMS & Imaging Sensors Summit.

Technology Showcase Finalists

• Enabling a World of Enhanced Vision, Stijn Goossens, Qurv
• Analyze-first Architecture for Ultra-low-power Always-on Sensing, Tom D., Aspinity, Inc.
• Novel Platform to Solve 3D Nanometry Challenge, Mikko Utriainen, Chipmetrics Oy
• All-silicon Ultrasonic Recognition of the Environment, Bert Kaiser, Fraunhofer IPMS
• XENSIV™ PAS CO2 Sensor, Andreas Kopetz, Infineon Technologies

Stay in touch on Twitter and LinkedIn @SEMIEurope: #TechnologyUnites #SEMIEurope #SensorsSummit #MEMS #Imaging

About SEMI
SEMI® connects more than 2,400 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics design and manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, devices, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), FlexTech, the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA) and the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) are SEMI Strategic Association Partners, defined communities within SEMI focused on specific technologies. Visit www.semi.org to learn more, contact one of our worldwide offices, and connect with SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Association Contact
Serena Brischetto/SEMI Europe
Phone: +49 30 3030 8077-11
Email: [email protected]
www.semi.org/eu

• Read more about Qurv and Infineon Win for Leading MEMS and Image Sensors Innovations at SEMI Technology Showcase