Custom-Engineered Semiconductor Components
At Southeast Thermal Systems, we work with leading equipment manufacturers who rely on innovative components that solve complex process challenges. Our partnership with CAS allows us to offer access to their dedicated New Product Development Team, which is backed by an expansive in-house R&D Lab. This team expertly guides custom-engineered components through the entire development cycle—from initial concept to prototype and full-scale production.
Whether you need a tailored solution for a specific application or a new design to meet stringent process requirements, we ensure that every component is meticulously engineered to meet your needs.
- CAS’s New Product Development Team offers engineering tools and manufacturing resources explicitly dedicated to modeling, fabricating, and testing new products and custom-engineered prototypes.
- Engineering and laboratory technologies include structural and thermal modeling using finite element analysis (FEA), x-ray and ultrasound inspection technology, helium leak testing, 3-D CAD software, accelerated life cycle testing, and infrared thermal imaging in both ambient and vacuum chamber setting
- Examples: heated shower heads for gas distribution, heated chamber liners & lids, rim & edge heaters, cleanroom air heaters, valve cylinder heaters, special inline liquid/gas heaters, special-geometry heated platens, and custom chill plates for wafer cooling stations.
- Available materials include aluminum 356, aluminum 6061, stainless steel, bronze, copper, and more.
- Fabrication techniques include cast-in, IFC (interference fit construction, and vacuum brazed.
This chamber cover was designed by our New Product Development team. The primary plate has an interference-fit cable heater which was precision-formed for uniform heat distribution. Two temperature sensors are also integrated. This component’s power and control fitments were engineered for easy unification with the customer’s existing control panel.
This heated gas distribution showerhead nicely illustrates the precision that can be achieved with our in-chamber devices. A 500-watt tubular heater is fit around the circumference, with hundreds of tiny distribution holes evenly patterned machined across the face. CAS also fabricated precision-mated backing plates for these units.
This highly-customized wafer heater has several unique features. The platen material is bronze, chosen for its compatibility with operating temperatures above 450°C. In addition to a multi-zone heating system, the unit has an integrated cooling tube, plus RTD temperature sensors.
Our full-service test lab can validate temperature uniformity using surface mounted sensors (seen here) or via infrared cameras (in either atmospheric or vacuum chamber test environments). Accelerated life-cycle and reliability tests are conducted using variable voltage power inputs, elevated operating temps, and irregular ramp rates. Advanced data logging equipment provides the required documentation.
