LAYERS 9 – It’s all about Particle Control
As Micro LED device dimensions shrink into the submicron range, particle contamination has become one of the biggest challenges for maintaining high production yields. Evatec’s CLUSTERLINE® 200 BPM platform continues to prove its value by combining high deposition rates, low particle generation, and excellent thin‑film uniformity without relying on traditional uniformity shields. Eliminating these shields not only increases deposition rates but also removes a significant particle source, creating a strong foundation for today’s Micro LED mass production needs.
The system’s latest generation integrates a turntable with individually rotating chucks, proprietary cathode magnet technology, and in‑situ broadband monitoring. This combination allows stable, low‑damage deposition of metals, TCOs, and DBRs, even on sensitive materials such as GaN. With fully automated cassette‑to‑cassette handling and the ability to process batches of up to 15 eight‑inch substrates, the CLUSTERLINE® 200 BPM offers high throughput and low cost of ownership for advanced LED and Micro LED manufacturing.
Recent process results underline the platform’s strong particle performance. For a typical cold 40 nm ITO sputtering process, “in‑film” particle levels above 1 µm remain consistently low across all 15 chuck positions. Even over extended target and shield lifetimes up to 180 kWh, particle counts typically stay between 20 and 80 per full eight‑inch wafer. Mechanical particle tests, conducted without plasma ignition, confirm that system handling contributes minimal contamination, with very low particle counts even after long shield lifetimes. In‑film distribution measurements further demonstrate stable and predictable particle behavior under typical production conditions.
With more than 15 years of LED sputtering expertise, Evatec supports customers in optimizing materials, stack designs, and temperature conditions as device requirements evolve. The CLUSTERLINE® 200 BPM continues to deliver the particle control performance required for the next generation of Micro LED mass production.
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