As companies around the world are preparing for the growth of AI and the future of technology, Axus Technology has made waves in the semiconductor industry and spearheaded the creation of the most modern, flexible chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) systems capable of producing unmatched throughput, cost of ownership, and processing results.
With over 20 years of experience in CMP Axus Technology empowers various technological sectors, such as 5G, III-V and II-VI materials, aerospace, advanced packaging, TSV, MEMS, LED, precision optical, photonics, and nanotechnology with the best and most innovative CMP technology that ensures maximum efficiency with dual wafer polish and dual sided capabilities that produces the highest throughput.
Since its establishment, Axus has been proactive in adapting to the ever-evolving trends of the semiconductor industry. Sustainability is one of the key focus points for Axus to continue to succeed in this competitive market. Axus tools are custom built with environmental responsibility in mind, allowing customers to re-use chemical materials, significantly reducing water consumption, energy consumption, and minimizing the collective ecological footprint.
On a mission to provide leading-edge surface processing solutions and custom CMP process development services, Axus reinvents the technological landscape with its Capstone® CS200 series. This next-generation CMP processing tool offers world-class wafer polishing performance for a range of wafer sizes including 100, 150 and 200mm. With an exemplary system architecture that includes a dynamic load-polish-unload sequence, Capstone® enhances the efficiency and utilization of chemical mechanical polishing slurry, reducing the slurry consumption by 40-50%. The best-in-market pad conditioning system achieves double the pad life of other competing CMP tools, significantly lowering the CoO and overall processing costs.
Axus Technology has made its mark as an industry leader by building the only CMP platform on the market with built-in process temperature control (PTC) for managing the process temperature in both single-wafer and dual-wafer process scenarios. Capstone® is making waves and outperforming all competitors when it comes to delivering the highest throughput on the market. It is also the only CMP tool that can process both sides of a wafer and handle very thin and fragile wafers when coupled with the company’s Crystal carrier. With advanced CMP technology, Axus has been able to deliver unmatched removal rates for SiC and deliver exceptional SiC substrates with sub-micron TTV and sub-Angstrom surface finish.
Available in SA (standalone), MA (multi-load with Aquarius cleaner), or IA (integrated Aquarius cleaner) configurations, Capstone® includes multi-zone wafer carriers, independent wafer movement, unlimited wafer flip capabilities, a linear pad conditioner with a symmetrical travel pattern, a high-pressure D.I. water rinse bar, a smart-slip sensor system, a fully integrated post-CMP cleaner with double-sided brushes, and a true bridge tool that supports two different wafer sizes simultaneously.
“Our team is composed of a prestigious group of highly skilled process and tool engineers with relevant years of wide industry experience. This Axus team will support you in identifying your requirements for CMP that will enable your latest innovations.” — Dan Trojan, President & CEO
Another notable offering by Axus Technology is the Aquarius™ Wafer Cleaner, designed to support all aspects of 100mm, 150mm, and 200mm wafer cleaning, delivering low defectivity and high wafer throughput. This innovative tool improves the efficiency of wafer cleaning processes by running two different wafer sizes simultaneously. Axus has reshaped the current market by designing a product that provides four brush boxes with complete recipe control along with two spin-rinse-dry stations, four wet cassette stations, a high-speed wafer-handling robot, and integrated metrology options.
Axus Technology has made remarkable strides by addressing and combating customer challenges. A recurring concern in the CMP process was controlling the pad temperature, particularly when running at high wafer pressure and platen velocity values—which can yield undesirable results including high wafer surface defects and reducing CMP consumable life. Axus Technology built its products and services with these challenges at the forefront and designed tools with built-in parameters to monitor and control CMP wafer process temperatures.
Axus Technology also addresses inefficient cost-per-square-foot ratio concerns that severely affect the throughput efficiency by designing tools that deliver a low cost-per-square-foot ratio and a fast ROI. The company has also replaced legacy CMP systems that have low reliability and limited tool utilization with modern CMP equipment that offers dual sided polishing capability and enhanced tool handling of intricate semiconductor wafers.
Moreover, Axus Technology has cemented its position as a trailblazer in the semiconductor space by equipping customers with extensive built-in alarms and fault detections for vital CMP parameters that protect both wafers and tools, resulting in quick recovery, as the alarms and faults will identify the precise area that requires attention before damage occurs, reducing resource wastage and tool downtime.
As a leading global provider of CMP, wafer thinning, and wafer polishing-surface processing solutions, Axus Technology has forged partnerships with other leaders across the industry to bring a transformative shift throughout the market, as evidenced by the collaboration between Axus Technology and Halo Industries; a provider of silicon carbide-based laser technology solutions, including optics, light material interactions, and laser tool sets.
The innovative collaboration between Axus Technology and Halo Industries began when Halo Industries sought a modern, flexible CMP tool that could deliver the highest throughput and better processing results for Silicon Carbide (SiC) and found a unified solution in Axus’ expertise and advanced CMP tools. Halo found that other CMP equipment manufacturers were only providing batch processing solutions or legacy single-wafer CMP products and were not offering any process development services.
Axus Technology was able to assist Halo Industries in designing a comprehensive end-to-end CMP process and technology roadmap, from optimizing consumables and slurry configuration to upgrading to newer tool revisions by identifying and addressing the pain points and modifying the tool accordingly. Axus’ ability to provide a tool with unmatched processing capabilities, a modern design, and a true partnership is what continues the collaboration between Halo and Axus Technology to this day.
Axus Technology announced it has received $12.5 million in capital funding from growth capital firm IntrinSiC Investment LLC. As a result, the company is extremely well positioned to drive toward volume sales of, and enter new markets with, its highly differentiated Capstone® and Aquarius™ platforms. The company will use the equity funds to further these efforts, leveraging its strong capitalization to pursue and fulfill high-volume orders from semiconductor and compound semiconductor manufacturers around the world.
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