Semiconductor Equipment: innovations for chip producing industry

Addressing the challenges

Equipment manufacturers constantly seek to improve chip production. As the size of the chips decreases, the challenges increase in four key areas:

• Contamination control
• Positioning and stability control
• Material interface control
• Lithographic patterning

More than one-fifth of the world’s semiconductor equipment is produced in the Netherlands, so TNO is in a unique position to support both the local and global market and address current – and future – manufacturing challenges.

Tangible solutions

TNO has the experience and expertise to create concrete solutions. We are the R&D partner that manufacturers turn to when the answer seems out of reach. And our solutions speak for themselves. We go beyond the theoretical, and help companies produce tangible equipment that creates better chips in a cleaner environment. In both private partnerships and collaborations, we quickly and efficiently make the equipment that companies need today.

In-house expertise

For more than 15 years, TNO has been leading the industry in cutting-edge developments in nano-manufacturing. Our 120 dedicated researchers work to create equipment that can keep up with Moore’s Law and consumer demand. Our sizeable portfolio and numerous patents show that we are a leader in the development of state-of-the art semiconductor equipment.

Contamination control

TNO’s International Centre for Contamination Control (ICCC) is the industry standard for the highest level of contamination control technology. Equipment manufacturers rely on us to fulfil all of their contamination control needs, thereby eliminating the need for in-house expertise or the additional costs of executing independent controls.

Future focus

True innovation in nano-manufacturing means not only addressing the needs of today and tomorrow, but also looking beyond the horizon, at new applications. From large-panel displays to quantum technology to 3D atom-scale manufacturing, TNO explores the possibilities of the future – and the equipment needed to get there. With platform prototyping and pre-competitive collaborations, TNO is preparing equipment manufacturers for all the promise that the future holds.

Productive partnerships

Our partnerships with major market players, like MAPPER, ASML, Applied Materials and Carl Zeiss keep us on the cutting edge and ensure that we can address all of the challenges in equipment manufacturing.

Of course, we also partner with leading academics to explore the possibilities that the future has in store. In effective collaboration with our partners, innovations happen rapidly, with shared risk, shared costs, and shared benefit from the discoveries we make. And always with the potential for spin-off projects and joint ventures.

Find out more

Are you an equipment manufacturer with a challenge that needs a tangible solution? Or, are you interested in exploring the future possibilities for other industries and applications? Get in touch with Rogier Verberk to discuss how TNO can help.