Smoltek has developed a process for production of engineering samples in high volumes which are expected to be available before the end of Q4 2023
Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB ("Smoltek") announces that the group company Smoltek Semi has successfully manufactured capacitor prototypes (without carbon nanofibers) on 8-inch wafer format, where most of the processing has been done with standard tools for high-volume production. The developed 8-inch manufacturing process is intended to be used to produce CNF-MIM engineering samples in high volumes, expected by the end of the fourth quarter 2023.
The group company Smoltek Semi has successfully manufactured capacitor prototypes (without carbon nanofiber) on 8-inch wafer format, where the processing of the prototype capacitors has been carried out in collaboration with several partners around the world comprised of research institutes, tool vendors as well as high-volume foundries. Most of the processing has been made on standard high-volume production tools that are used for component production in the semiconductor industry.
The capacitor prototypes are meant for developing and validating the stability, repeatability, and overall quality of all fabrication processes necessary for 8-inch wafer production—not to demonstrate high electrical performance.
“This is the first time that Smoltek Semi has produced capacitors on 8-inch wafer format in this kind of fabrication processes”, says Karl Lundahl, COO and Head of R&D at Smoltek Semi.
“This is important for primarily two reasons. The first reason being the significant increase in the number of capacitors we can produce for development purposes. We can fit around 27 000 capacitors on one single 8-inch wafer. The sheer number makes it possible to conduct more data-driven development, and hence accelerate the development pace towards a commercial product,” he continues.
“The second reason why the 8-inch form factor is important is that the format is compatible with high-volume production. We are therefore quite confident that the 8-inch wafer format that we now have migrated to in our development will enable us to more effectively expedite the tech-transfer of the fabrication processes to a future high-volume production setting”, Karl Lundahl, concludes.
Based on the successful results achieved, the R&D team have decided to utilize the developed 8-inch fabrication process to produce the first lot of CNF-MIM engineering samples, incorporating Smoltek’s proprietary and patent-protected carbon nanofibers.
The CNF-MIM engineering samples are expected by the end of the fourth quarter this year, and will then undergo further evaluation by Smoltek Semi and its partner YAGEO Group. The electrical performance, reliability and process stability that Smoltek Semi aims to demonstrate with these CNF-MIM engineering samples will provide information needed to take the next step towards a commercial high-performing capacitor product together with their partner YAGEO Group.
For further information
Håkan Persson, CEO of Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB
E-mail: hakan.persson@smoltek.com
Phone: +46 317 01 03 05
Website: www.smoltek.com/investors
Smoltek develops process technology and concepts to solve advanced materials engineering problems in several industrial sectors. The company protects its unique carbon nanotechnology through an extensive patent portfolio, consisting of around 100 applied for patents, of which 82 have been granted. Smoltek's share is listed on Spotlight Stock Market under the short name SMOL. Smoltek is a development company and forward-looking statements regarding time to market, production volume and price levels should be interpreted as forecasts and not commitments.