Helping reduce experimentation costs and
development lead times, and enabling early problem-solving on mass
production lines
Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo;
Representative Director & CEO: Akira Tanae) today announced
that Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited (Head Office:
Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa; Representative Director & CEO:
Koichiro Tanaka; EEJA), which operates the Tanaka Precious Metals’
plating business, has developed, and launched from July 15, the
RAD-Plater cup-type1 ultra-compact plating laboratory equipment for
semiconductor wafers, which achieves equivalent films to
mass-production machines.
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RAD-Plater (Photo: Business Wire)
The RAD-Plater is ultra-compact laboratory equipment for
manufacturing 2 to 8 inch semiconductor wafers. Measuring 800 mm
wide and 700 mm deep, it is smaller than mass production machines
and can operate on only compressed air and the 100 volt power of
general equipment. In addition to gold, silver, palladium, copper
and nickel, it can use a wide variety of plating solutions
including alloys and lead-free solutions, and at 10 liters or less
of solution, it uses about half the plating solution required by
dip-type machines, which also reduces experimentation costs. The
RAD-Plater uses an EEJA-manufactured Stir Cup2 and delivers
mass-production level plating quality through uniform and
bubble-less film thickness and superior filling of deep vias3. It
also enables reduced plating time by using a high current density4
achieved with an increased ion supply. Even though the RAD-Plater
is laboratory equipment, it achieves a level of plating equivalent
to that of mass-production machines, which enables early
problem-solving in the development stage for mass production issues
such as expected yield, and enables trouble-free rollout to the
mass-production line. This is the world’s first cup-type plating
laboratory equipment for manufacturing semiconductor wafers, using
10 liters or less of plating solution and handling 8-inch
wafers.
Many development divisions of manufacturers with mass-production
plating lines would have previously contracted out the plating
solution experimentation work to equipment manufacturers and others
for evaluation, but purchasing a RAD-Plater and conducting
experiments in-house now enables a considerable reduction in
development lead times. Other customers would have previously
purchased mass-production machines to conduct their own
experiments, but because the RAD-Plater comes at a cost that is one
third to one quarter that of the mass-production machines, they can
now achieve considerable cost reductions. EEJA provides samples of
plating solution together with the RAD-Plater to research,
development and trial manufacture divisions of manufacturers,
universities and other education and research institutes, material
manufacturers and others to improve sales of plating equipment and
plating solutions for mass production. It aims to achieve
RAD-Plater sales of 500 million yen per year by 2017.
1. Cup-typeA specification of equipment for manufacturing
semiconductor wafers, using a jet stream of plating solution and
agitation to form a film. Another method is dip-type, which
immerses the material to be plated. The trend in current plating
processes is to use cup-type equipment for wafers of up to 8 inches
and dip-type equipment for wafers of 12 inches or greater.
2. Stir CupRandom agitation of the solution on the plating
surface of wafers improves ion supply uniformity and film thickness
uniformity. It also produces pressure differentials in holes in the
plating surface to continuously replenish the solution, which
prevents bubbles from sticking to the plating surface and improves
bubble removal.
3. ViaA fine through-hole on a wafer or glass substrate to
connect metal electrodes on the top and bottom layers of a chip,
used as a miniaturization technology for semiconductor chips. Via
diameters have recently become smaller, at around 10 to 20
micrometers, making it difficult for conventional plating cups to
plate (fill) the inside of the vias with metal.
4. Current densityCurrent density has been increased to 1.6A/dm2
from the 0.4A/dm2 of conventional laboratory equipment.
■ Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.
(Holding company of Tanaka Precious Metals)
Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo Representative: Akira Tanae, Representative Director &
CEO Founded: 1885 Incorporated: 1918 Capital: 500 million yen
Employees in consolidated group: 3,511
(FY2014) Net sales of consolidated group: 856.4 billion yen
(FY2014) Main businesses of the group: Manufacture, sales, import
and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others)
and various types of industrial precious metals products. Recycling
and refining of precious metals.
Website:
http://www.tanaka.co.jp/english (Tanaka Precious
Metals),
http://pro.tanaka.co.jp/en (Industrial
products)
■ Electroplating Engineers of
Japan Ltd. (EEJA)
Head office: 5-50 Shinmachi, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa
Representative: Koichiro Tanaka, Representative Director & CEO
Established: 1965 Capital: 100 million yen Employees: 95
(FY2014) Sales: 22,480 million yen (FY2014) Areas of Business: 1.
Development, production, sales and export
of precious metal and base metal platingsolutions, additives, and
surface processing-related chemicals
2. Development, production, sales, and export of plating equipment
3. Import and sales of plating-related products
Website: http://www.eeja.com/
About the Tanaka Precious MetalsEstablished in 1885, the
Tanaka Precious Metals has built a diversified range of business
activities focused on the use of precious metals. On April 1, 2010,
the group was reorganized with Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. as the
holding company (parent company) of the Tanaka Precious Metals. In
addition to strengthening corporate governance, the company aims to
improve overall service to customers by ensuring efficient
management and dynamic execution of operations. Tanaka Precious
Metals is committed, as a specialist corporate entity, to providing
a diverse range of products through cooperation among group
companies.
Tanaka Precious Metals is in the top class in Japan in terms of
the volume of precious metal handled, and for many years the group
has developed and stably supplied industrial precious metals, in
addition to providing accessories and savings commodities utilizing
precious metals. As precious metal professionals, the Group will
continue to contribute to enriching people’s lives in the
future.
The eight core companies in the Tanaka
Precious Metals are as follows.
- Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (pure holding company) -
Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. - Tanaka Kikinzoku Hanbai K.K. - Tanaka
Kikinzoku International K.K. - Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K. -
Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K.
- Tanaka Kikinzoku Business Service K.K.
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Press inquiriesTanaka Kikinzoku International K.K.
(TKI)https://www.tanaka.co.jp/support/req/ks_contact_e/index.htmlKazuko
Shimano, +81-3-6311-5596k-shima@ml.tanaka.co.jpGlobal Sales
Dept.