APS Materials, Inc.

Spraying overlay for the electrical
industry using robotics.

Semiconductor Equipment Applications

The highly corrosive process of manufacturing silicon wafers and semiconductors require very specialized, highly-engineered coating solutions. APS Materials, Inc. has been pioneering new thermal spray solutions for this industry for nearly a decade.

Applications

Corrosion Resistance for Etch Chambers
Dielectric Coatings for Electrostatic Chucks
Sputtering Targets
PVD Shields
PVD Liner Sets
Ceramic Domes and Bell Jars
Heat Sink Carriers
Plasma Electrodes
EMI/RFI Shielding

PVD/CVD Metal Etch Chambers
A proprietary plasma sprayed coating, engineered by APS Materials, Inc., is currently being used as corrosion resistance in metal etch chambers. This coating extends the overall life of etch chambers by more than 30 times, compared to conventional coatings or anodizing.

E-chucks
The semi-conductor manufacturing equipment industry utilizes APS Materials, Inc.'s thermal sprayed ceramics for dielectric layers on metal electrostatic chucks. These high-purity, dielectric coatings are very dense, highly durable, and provide long operating life, high breakdown voltage (4000+ volts), as well as comparatively short de-chucking times. APS has served this industry with high-purity ceramic dielectric coatings for over 5 consecutive years, and our expertise in this field is unsurpassed.

Shields & Sputtering Targets
Shield kits, deposition rings and sputtering targets are crucial in the operation of any PVD operation. During the deposition of some refractory metals, material can build up on the walls of the chambers and shields, which then begins to flake off at a certain thickness. The results are short operating times and high defect rates. APS Materials' twin-wire arc coatings provide the solution! These rough coatings provide 2-5 times the surface area versus an uncoated surface, as well as a very high bond strength to the substrate (4000-7000 psi), which allows the sputtered refractory metals to build up to much higher thicknesses without flaking. The benefits are dramatically increased tool uptime, decreased particle generation and overall lower cost of tool ownership.

Bell Jars, Domes, Deposition Rings, Baffle Plates
APS Materials, Inc. has done a significant amount of work applying a variety of different coatings to all sorts of semiconductor equipment components. These coatings can provide corrosion resisitance, erosion resistance, enhanced thermal conductivity and/or dielectric properties, depending on the application. Custom coatings are frequently engineered by APS Materials, Inc. in order to meet the specific requirements of a new or unusual application. There are also numerous cases where a plasma spray coated metal component provided a more durable, less costly alternative to a solid ceramic, quartz, carbide or nitride part.