Halo Industries, a spin out from Stanford University, got started back in 2014 with a focus on laser-based technology solutions. The move to 200 millimeters is what got Halo searching for a modern, flexible CMP tool that could deliver the highest throughput, enable greater process improvements, and cost improvements.
Halo was one of the early adopters of Axus Technology’s Capstone for Silicon Carbide. When they were looking for a CMP solution, they saw that the Capstone was very efficient, modern, easy to maintain, and productive from a wafers per hour standpoint that really helped reduce consumable costs. When they compared the benefits compared to other suppliers, for them, it was an easy choice.
When it came to going a traditional batch polishing route, Halo saw a lot of damage caused to wafers and limitations in terms of the ability to process different wafer thicknesses. Whereas single wafer CMP enabled them to adjust the process on the fly to handle different wafer thicknesses. With single wafer CMP, Halo saw fewer scratches because it ran 1 or 2 wafers on a single platen; therefore, there was much less of a chance of an edge chip or some particle getting into the slurry and scratching the wafer. Overall, there was much higher quality from a single wafer CMP process.
Halo appreciated Axus Technology’s innovative mindset and the ability to think about creative solutions to issues that may arise for their customers. Halo noted how Axus paid very close attention to the voice of the customer, and if they could identify an important feature, Axus would work to put that into the road map as quickly as possible. Essentially, if a customer needed a new functionality for a certain process, Axus Technology would work with them to figure out the process or improvement and give the customer a timeline. They also would work with the customer in the intermediate period to truly qualify the process.
“The ability to work with Dan Trojan and his team has been spectacular. I have a lot of respect for him. He is the best engineer, with respect to CMP in the world at this point. The pace at which he pushes innovations has been a breath of fresh air, and this is what we try to do at Halo as well. His methodology is: if something doesn’t work, rip it apart, rebuild it, and make it work better. We’re very lucky to have this kind of innovation in the Silicon Carbide industry. Axus has a spectacular team that allows us to quickly iterate, get many cycles of learning, and come up with solutions far ahead of anybody else.” Andrei Iancu, CEO of Halo.
Axus Technology’s core focus when creating new developments is to help drive down costs for customers and improve quality. Axus Technology’s goal for CMP, is to make Silicon Carbide CMP as cost effective as silicon, and continue to work on driving that cost down, either through throughput, different tool designs, and consumables that they are testing in order to benefit all their customers.
