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SEZ Predicts Single-Wafer Market to Outgrow Industry Forecasts
Evolution Driven by Next-Generation Technology Roadblocks
With a renewed strategy to focus on single-wafer technology, the SEZ Group (SWX: SEZN) today at SEMICON Europa presented its outlook for accelerated growth in the single-wafer cleaning market. Holding a strong 65 percent market share in the single-wafer segment, SEZ predicts market share for single-wafer cleaning technology to increase from today's 20 percent to 32 percent by 2006.
"There is immense growth potential for single-wafer in the pre-clean, post-clean and resist strip front end of the line (FEOL) areas",
said SEZ's chief marketing officer, Kurt Lackenbucher. "While wet benches still account for 70 percent of the wet surface preparation market, SEZ believes there will be a natural selection or evolution in this market segment, driven by development roadblocks presented by the progression to the next technology nodes. Batch will find itself on loose ground in this evolution in favor of single-wafer technology."
The choice between single-wafer and batch technologies will increasingly depend on process capability and productivity. Batch technologies have proven unsatisfactory when it comes to cleaning for high aspect ratio structures. Additionally, batch processes are plagued with low yields for copper and new materials creating extended opportunities for single-wafer platforms and an increasing trend of new chemical developments geared toward single-wafer processes. While batch still has the edge in terms of productivity, SEZ's next and new generation platforms currently under development will offset that advantage.
Since 1990, SEZ has pioneered and evolved single-wafer technology to become a mainstream process. The company successfully created the market for single-wafer polymer removal and sees the largest near-term growth in back end of the line (BEOL) cleans. However, with technology nodes rapidly nearing the sub 90 nm era and process requirements becoming increasingly stringent, FEOL critical cleans and resist strip show the largest long-term growth potential for single-wafer technology.
"Spin-Processing is now considered the industry standard for single-wafer polymer removal," commented Heinz Oyrer, strategic marketing director for the SEZ Group. "Customers are looking for tool and process flexibility, especially when requirements push them to next technology nodes. At the 65 nm node, there is an increased need for FEOL single-wafer solutions. Whoever comes first with a working FEOL clean solution is poised to gain huge market share."
80 percent of all the single-wafer surface preparation tools installed since 1990 are SEZ made. Today, over 700 single-wafer tools (almost 1000 process chambers) are installed in fabs worldwide.
About SEZ
The SEZ Group is a leading supplier of wet wafer surface preparation equipment to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company's proprietary Spin-Processor technology, single-wafer technology, forms the basis of a broad process solution portfolio for wafer cleaning and decontamination. SEZ maintains development, manufacturing, sales, marketing and service operations in Europe, Asia and North America. Registered in Zurich, Switzerland, SEZ Holding AG is listed on the Swiss Exchange under the symbol SEZN since 1996
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