Members’ Profiles

Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd.
1. Overview of business activities
In 1995, the British firm Surface Technology Systems(STS), an affiliate of Sumitomo Precision Products Co.,
Ltd., marketed the world’s first silicon deep etching unit.
Building on this unit and its technology, SumitomoPrecision Products became the first Japanesemanufacturer to produce a silicon deep etching unit, theMUC-21 ASE, in 2001. In 2006, Sumitomo Precision
Products also began domestic manufacture of the silicon
dioxide film etching unit, which uses HF vapor, of the U.
S. firm Primaxx (which became funded by Sumitomo
Precision Products in June of this year), in order to better
respond to the MEMS needs of its customers.
Sumitomo Precision Products also handles a wide
range of MEMS processing units, including SiO2/SiN
etching units, SiC etching units, compound semiconductor
etching units, PE-CVD units, silicon sacrifice layer etchingunits and units for wafer thickness reduction.

Fig. 2 VPX-ASE Pegasus(3) APS (SiO2/SiC high-speed etching unit)
Released last year, the APS system employs the highly
reliable MUC-21 domestically produced platform andincludes a newly developed Advanced Physical Source(APS) plasma source. It enables high-speed etching with
SiO2 and SiC and is attracting particular attention for its
application in the SiC etching of LEDs, semiconductor
components and next-generation power devices. In the SiC
etching process, the APS achieves a high etching rate of
4.2 µm/minute or greater. In addition, the mask selection
ratio is high, and the side wall angle can also be controlled.

2. Domestic products designed for MEMS
mass production

Aspect Ratio(1) MUC-21 ASE Pegasus (new silicon deep etching unit)
The ASE Pegasus is Sumitomo Precision Products’
most advanced model and was released in December 2005.
It is based on the so-called Bosch switching process, aswell as the Advanced Silicon Etch (ASE) technology
established by STS by combining various proprietary
technologies. The resulting hardware module andprocessing software offer superior performance thatmaximizes such switching process features as high etchrate, high mask selection ratio and high aspect ratio
processing.
Specifically, the unit offers greatly improved etchingshape and in-plane distribution through the use of a newly
developed plasma module, as well as an improved plasma
matching system and a new type of gas introduction
system that includes an MFC capable of high-speed
switching processing. The result is a product that offers
world-class performance. Moreover, Sumitomo Precision
Products continues to focus on development in an effort
to achieve further improvements in the future.
180160140120
100806040200Fig. 3 Example of SiC highspeed etching(4) SLE (Si oxide film sacrifice layer dry etching unit)
Removal of the sacrifice layer is a typical MEMS
process that involves extremely tiny moving parts.
Building on the basic concept of the MEMS-CET siliconoxide film etching unit (which uses HF vapor) producedby the American firm Primaxx, Sumitomo Precision
Products designed a domestically produced chamber andofficially released it domestically in 2006 under the name
SLE. The SLE system achieves a high-speed, stiction-freerelease configuration employing a silicon oxide film
sacrifice layer at a low cost. It also offers high selectivity
with regard to aluminum, enabling maskless etching evenwith wafers that have exposed aluminum pads.

HRPEGASUS

Fig. 4 SOI sacrifice layer etching(in the case of a siliconresonator)(Image provided by SiTime)Etching length : 116.2µm,
0.5

0.7

0.9
1.1
1.3
Top Width (um)

1.5

Top etch width : 0.80µm=> Aspect ratio : 145

Fig. 1 Example of silicon high aspect ratio etching(2) VPX-ASE Pegasus (platform for mass-productionfactories)
In 2007, Sumitomo Precision Products released theVPX-Pegasus cluster type ASE unit for users interested inthe mass production of MEMS devices.
In this system, the ASE-Pegasus source is mounted on acluster type conveyor system. Sumitomo Precision Products
is confident that this system will make a major contribution
to the production of various types of MEMS sensors, silicon
microphones, silicon oscillators and other components
already making the transition from the research anddevelopment stage to the mass-production stage.

3. A final word
Sumitomo Precision Products has a voluminous
process library accumulated over many years, centeringon silicon deep etching technology. The company isbuilding systems that can respond rapidly to theextremely diverse needs of any MEMS user company.
MEMS devices are now being are employed for an everwidening variety of purposes.
By developing a diverse array of applications andequipment, Sumitomo Precision Products will continue toprovide the means to respond rapidly to MEMS
development needs.
For more information about Sumitomo Precision
Products, access the SPP website at:
http://www.spp.co.jp

MICRONANO No. 61
MICRONANO is published quarterly by Micromachine Center (MMC) to promote the international exchange ofinformation related to micromachines, R&D and other technical topics, and is circulated free of change. Please send
your comments about MICRONANO to the publisher :Keiichi Aoyagi, Executive Director, Micromachine Center (MMC)
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Tel : +81-3-5835-1870, Fax : +81-3-5835-1873
Internet Home Page h t t p : / / w w w . m m c . o r . j p /Date of Issue : October 30, 2007

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