Improve Semiconductor Capital Equipment Accuracy and Simultaneously Improve Speed and Throughput
20+
years of additive manufacturing and semiconductor expertise
1 - 2 nm
improvement in semiconductor equipment accuracy
5X
stabilization improvement demonstrated

Process More Wafers and Achieve Higher Lifecycle Value with Increased Machine Speed and Uptime

Innovating Semiconductor Capital Equipment with 3D Systems

Semiconductor lithography and wafer processing equipment require constant innovation to meet the accuracy, speed, reliability, and productivity demands of increasingly complex microchip production. Additionally, the continual need for increased quality, improved total cost of ownership, reduced time to market, and minimized supply chain disruption persists.

With decades of expertise in semiconductor applications and metal additive manufacturing, 3D Systems has a dedicated team that understands these challenges and can help semiconductor OEMs and suppliers overcome them. As a complete solution provider, we will collaborate with you on application development, helping you transition from prototype to production and enabling your own metal additive capabilities.

Applications for Semiconductor Capital Equipment

Wafer Table Thermal Management

Wafer Table Thermal Management

Maximize heat transfer efficiency and improve semiconductor capital equipment throughput and accuracy. Optimized cooling channels and surface patterns dramatically improve surface temperatures and thermal gradients (<4 mK) while reducing time constants (<1.5 s), which enhances system speed and accuracy.

Wafer Table Thermal Management Applications

Manifold Fluid Flow Optimization

Manifold Fluid Flow Optimization

Design and manufacture superior-performing manifolds with optimized flow to reduce pressure drop, mechanical disturbances, and vibration. Replace multipart assemblies with monolithic parts for increased reliability, improved manufacturing, and yield.

Manifold Fluid Flow Optimization Applications

Flexure and Structural Optimization

Flexure and Structural Optimization

Semiconductor lithography, wafer processing, and test equipment rely on structural parts that move fast while maintaining positional accuracy. Improve kinematic and static performance with structural optimization, lightweighting, and part consolidation of optical assembly flexures and mechanisms. Part courtesy of VDL

Flexure and Structural Optimization Applications

Linear Stage Cooling

Linear Stage Cooling

Improve the temperature stability of fast-moving linear stages by optimizing cooling channels and cooling jackets’ walls thickness, down to 0.6mm. Combined with leak-proof consolidated components, this results in improved system long-term reliability and precision.

Linear Stage Cooling Applications

Showerhead Optimization

Showerhead Optimization

Ensure showerhead’s even material deposition and increase reliability by leveraging part consolidation techniques to prevent leakages, novel cooling strategies to extract heat and intricate nozzle shapes for deposition control – all of this in 25% of traditional showerhead production time.

Showerhead Optimization Applications

Gas Conveyance and Mixing

Gas Conveyance and Mixing

Reduce flow turbulences and reliably convey caustic gases designing and producing smaller, more complex, leak-proof gas mixers and feeders with reduced part count. Optimized gas mixers can be developed in far less time to deliver more effective mixing faster and at lower manufacturing cost.

Gas Conveyance and Mixing Applications
"3D Systems' technology transfer and consulting approach has enabled us to support our customers with their design and engineering challenges. We can better help our customers scale their ideas down to keep them printable and bring the benefits of additive manufacturing to their application."
—Adwin Kannekens, Sales Director, Wilting

Semiconductor Solutions that Solve Challenges

  • 2 people talking and working on a tablet

  • Application Development

    Through our Application Innovation Group, we leverage years of semiconductor and metal additive manufacturing expertise to help find optimized solutions for your applications. The support we provide enables an engineering and designing approach that repeatedly meets strict requirements.

  • semiconductor metal additive image

  • Metal Additive Capabilities

    With our combination of metal hardware, software, and materials, we offer solutions with unprecedented design flexibility, economics, and reliability that traditional manufacturing cannot match.

  • Multiple printers in a facility to illustrate production capabilities

  • Production Capability

    With our production facilities, we can be your agile manufacturing arm, helping you transition from prototype to production, while offering increased supply chain capacity and flexibility. We also offer on-demand printing services available to you 24/7.

  • semiconductor technology transfer image

  • Technology Transfer

    We help semiconductor OEMs and suppliers establish their own metal additive capabilities that reduce costs and ramp times. Through hands-on training and consultation—and the transfer of prequalified manufacturing processes to your site—our dedicated team works with you across every step, from pre-production to full-scale volume production.

The Experience and Technology to Gain a Competitive Advantage

  • Design Flexibility

    Optimally design, rapidly iterate, and manufacture components with complex features, including wafer tables with conformal cooling channels, part-consolidated end effectors, and advanced kinematic couplings and flexures for optical components. 

  • Performance and Productivity

    Produce more wafers by improving semiconductor equipment accuracy, speed, reliability, and throughput. Realize performance benefits in critical parts and subsystems, including thermal management, optimal fluid flow, lightweighting, and part consolidation.

  • High Quality and Accuracy for Clean Room Environments

    Our metal additive solutions ensure high material quality and part accuracy, producing parts in an inert atmosphere with a steady, ultra-low oxygen level — coupled with proprietary processes for optimal particle cleanliness. This results in metal parts that meet clean room requirements and are fit for use in high vacuum environments.

  • Metal AM Expertise and Capability

    Establish your own metal additive manufacturing capabilities and quickly scale to production volumes while partnering with us to develop new concepts/prototypes.

  • Scalability and Risk Reduction

    Our manufacturing facilities offer increased capacity, flexibility, and reduced inventory. We can help eliminate supply chain risks for OEMs through technology transfer by replicating our manufacturing processes and qualifying your suppliers.

Resources

  • Silicon Wafers and Microcircuits sitting on a robot arm

    Additive Manufacturing for Semiconductor Capital Equipment

    Discover how 3D Systems’ metal additive manufacturing can give semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers and suppliers the capabilities they need to improve performance, productivity, and reliability.

    Read the Brochure
  • close-up of a wafer table

    Advancing Semiconductor Capital Equipment Performance With Metal Additive Manufacturing

    In this executive brief, you’ll find out how 3D Systems is helping semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers incorporate metal additive manufacturing (AM) to overcome the limitations of existing workflows and meet today’s rising quality and productivity demands.

    Download the Executive Brief
  • Semiconductor ebook cover

    Rapidly Adopt and Scale Metal Additive Manufacturing

    In this eBook, you’ll learn how 3D Systems’ decades of experience and expertise helps integrate metal AM to drive performance, productivity, and reliability improvements for semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

    Get the eBook

Talk to an expert to learn more about the benefits of 3D printing for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

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  • Application Innovation Group

    Our team can help you solve your most difficult design and production challenges with additive manufacturing solutions. Together we’ll identify your needs, working with you to optimize your designs, prototype, validate and define a manufacturing flow.
    Find out more