Release of the Multifilament Heater® with Partial Temperature Control Feature

― Designed for Semiconductor and Solar Cell Applications ―

Ushio Inc. has developed the Multifilament Heater® for use in the process of fabricating films and performing heat treatment for semiconductors and solar cells. The product is scheduled to hit the market in July.

The Multifilament Heater® is a straight tube-type halogen lamp with three filaments aligned in a single shaft inside a cylindrical quartz envelope. The three linearly aligned filaments can be configured to produce different temperatures at three different positions, namely at both ends and the center of the lamp. Moreover, the lamp allows users to separately set individual filaments to desired temperatures.

Traditionally, it was difficult to achieve evenness in temperature in the process of heating a wafer and other substrate using a conventional halogen lamp heater, given that the temperature is more likely to drop on the periphery than at the center. In addition, the process involved unnecessary power consumption caused by heating of parts other than the wafer.

In contrast, the Multifilament Heater® has independent filaments that can be set up at higher temperatures, enabling the periphery to be kept cooler. This paves the way for appropriate heating by applying the necessary light to the necessary place in the necessary volume. This in turn helps conserve energy and reduce the cost of ownership*.*The cost of ownership, or CoO for short, refers to the total cost entailed for owning and using a certain product.