Garching and La Chaux-de-Fonds, November 14, 2022 – SÜSS MicroTec SE, a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry, paves the way for a novel low-temperature field-assisted bonding technology called Impulse Current Bonding. The technology which has been developed by the Swiss university spin-off Sy&Se is based on a major scientific discovery and will be made available on both manual and automatic wafer bonder systems.

Impulse Current Bonding (ICB) combines the robustness of Anodic Bonding with the material versatility of other, more complex bonding methods. It allows for bonding of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion, such as glass to metals, semi-metals, and ceramics. In addition, silicon to sapphire bonding confirms the potential for next-generation products as it is the first demonstration of an alkali-free field-assisted bonding. Compared to Anodic Bonding, the impulse current causes a higher interatomic diffusion at the material interface which leads to a strong and durable bond at lower temperatures and shorter process times.

Stefan Lutter, Business Unit Manager for SUSS MicroTec’s Bonder products, considers ICB a groundbreaking technology: “Impulse Current Bonding is a truly innovative approach that can be adapted to many different material systems and therefore opens up a broad range of new opportunities in the market. We are proud to be the exclusive partner of Sy&Se to deploy this technology for wafer level bonding applications.”

Sébastien Brun, co-founder and CEO of Sy&Se, is thrilled by the rollout of its ICB into an industrial process: “Never did we think during our years of R&D that this technology would so quickly enable a wide range of MEMS applications. Together with our partner SUSS MicroTec, we are confident that our customers will soon benefit from innovative solutions to their technical challenges.”

The technology will be introduced at the Semicon Europa trade show in Munich.
More information on Impulse Current Bonding can be found here: https://icb.suss.com
 

About SUSS MicroTec
SUSS MicroTec is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for microstructuring in the semiconductor industry and related markets. In close cooperation with research institutes and industry partners SUSS MicroTec contributes to the advancement of next-generation technologies such as 3D Integration and nanoimprint lithography as well as key processes for MEMS and LED manufacturing. With a global infrastructure for applications and service SUSS MicroTec supports more than 8,000 installed systems worldwide. SUSS MicroTec is headquartered in Garching near Munich, Germany. For more information, please visit www.suss.com

Contact:
SÜSS MicroTec SE
Hosgör Sarioglu-Zoberbier
Director Corporate Marketing
Tel: +49 89 32007 397
Email: [email protected]

About Sy&Se
Sy&Se was founded in 2017 as a spin-off from Haute-Ecole Arc Ingénierie Neuchâtel (HE-Arc) and specializes in assembling glasses with metals and ceramics. A Swiss Innovation Agency project between HE-Arc and a leading high-end watchmaking company focusing on assembly processes – a key step for high-performance and high-quality products – gave birth to ICB, the so called Impulse Current Bonding process. It also sparked the creation of Sy&Se sàrl, whose legal form evolved in 2020 to an SA with its own Board of Directors. Since 2021, the company is working on inserting the ICB technology into wafer level bonding up to 6", with 8" expected in the coming year. Currently based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Sy&Se SA will move into larger facilities next to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in early 2023. For more information, please visit www.syandse.ch