RENA Technologies, headquartered in Gütenbach, Germany, has announced the receipt of three major orders for high-throughput wet-chemical processing equipment targeting the semiconductor manufacturing sector. The systems are intended for production facilities in Europe, Asia, and the United States, spanning both 200 mm and 300 mm wafer formats — the two dominant wafer sizes in current volume semiconductor production.
According to the company, a key factor in securing the contracts was the ability to integrate customer-specific options into the equipment architecture. These customisations address requirements such as higher degrees of automation, enhanced process control, and unattended operation — capabilities that are increasingly demanded as semiconductor manufacturers seek to reduce reliance on manual intervention and maintain tighter process windows.
Two of the three systems are fully automated platforms configured for 300 mm wafer processing, with a focus on wet-chemical etching processes that demand particularly high uniformity across the entire wafer surface. Uniform material removal is critical at this diameter, where even minor cross-wafer variation can result in yield loss or non-conforming device parameters. The etching sequences are followed by high-precision cleaning steps designed to remove contaminants and particles at the nanometer scale — a requirement that has intensified as device geometries continue to shrink and surface cleanliness specifications tighten accordingly.
The third order covers a high-throughput cleaning system for 200 mm wafers. Although 200 mm fabs are often associated with legacy nodes, demand for this wafer size has remained robust — particularly in power semiconductors, MEMS, compound semiconductors, and analogue devices. The system incorporates automated process sequences and continuous parameter monitoring to meet increasingly stringent particle-control requirements without sacrificing throughput.
Across all three platforms, RENA Technologies highlights high equipment availability, energy efficiency, and reduced maintenance requirements as contributors to long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction. Fewer unplanned downtimes and reproducible process conditions are cited as mechanisms for lowering operating costs over the full system lifecycle — a consideration that has become central to procurement decisions in capital-intensive semiconductor fab environments.
Wet-chemical processing — encompassing etching, cleaning, and surface conditioning — remains a core enabler in front-end semiconductor manufacturing. The segment requires close control of chemical concentration, temperature, and fluid dynamics to achieve the surface quality and dimensional accuracy demanded by advanced and specialty device fabrication. RENA Technologies positions its equipment as adaptable to evolving fab requirements, a characteristic that appears to have been decisive in these contract awards given the breadth of customer locations and wafer sizes involved.
Quelle: SEMICON Europa – https://www.semi.org/en/node/176421
