It’s reported that Aviza Technology, the semiconductor equipment vendor with a renewed focus on the compounds sector, has scored a major win with a substantial order for its etch and CVD tools.
According to Kevin Crofton, the company's senior VP of product business units, the multiple orders were placed by one of the world’s top-five makers of high-brightness LEDs. Aviza's Delta i2L plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) and Omega i2L etch systems are now set to help produce both GaAs- and InGaN-based LEDs at the customer's high-volume fab. High productivity, increased uptime, superior reliability and better process stability are their advantages.
Crofton said that although the LED maker was an existing Aviza customer, and already owned a previous-generation CVD system, the latest deal is significant, as the Omega etch tool is now recognized as the "process tool of record" (PTOR). On the deposition side, Aviza is one of the LED maker's new tool suppliers for the PE-CVD application.
The deal suggests that Aviza's recent change of strategy – in which it has exited the cut-throat DRAM industry to focus more on growth markets such as III-Vs, power semiconductors, LEDs and MEMS – is already bearing fruit. Crofton pointed out that their product mix has shifted significantly towards the growth markets in just the past year.
The market research from Strategies Unlimited suggested that 20 percent year-on-year growth of HB-LED sales for the next few years. Crofton noted that as long as these markets continue to demonstrate growth, they will continue to pursue them, where their products deliver proven advantages.
