Silicon Austria Labs Partnership with Evatec

Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) has expanded its advanced thin-film processing capabilities with the installation of a second Evatec CLUSTERLINE® 200 thin-film cluster tool at its Villach facility. The new tool has been made possible through joint European funding with particular focus on developing leading new industrial deposition processes and film properties for the high-performance metal and nitride films essential for emerging applications in Wireless, Power and MEMS.  

The new system provides advanced etch, sputter, and high-temperature processing capabilities and integrates Evatec’s custom HiPIMS source technology. This enables SAL to investigate high-energy plasma processes and their impact on critical film characteristics such as density, stress control, and uniformity.  

Ralf Eichert, Managing Director Evatec Europe, commented “SAL’s Villach facility is already well established as a leading research centre across areas including MEMS and Advanced Packaging. Capabilities now available through the new tool complement their existing CLUSTERLINE® 200 equipped with both single- and multi-source sputter technology and low temperature PEALD capability, making SAL a perfect development partner for industry." 

Mohssen Moridi, Senior Executive Director at SAL confirmed that the investment further strengthened SAL’s role as a European innovation hub for advanced materials and microsystems technologies. The close collaboration between Evatec and SAL has been reinforced even further with the recent signing of a joint “Memorandum of Understanding” between our two companies. Evatec’s CLUSTERLINE® platform provides a powerful foundation for developing next-generation thin-film processes and supporting industrial partners in accelerating technology development and market adoption.