Refurbished 150 mm and 200 mm tools for pilot lines and small fabs

What changes when the tool goes into production

A pilot line or small fab asks more of a used tool than a research lab does. The tool runs qualified recipes, often across shifts, and every hour of downtime holds up wafers that customers or project partners are waiting for. Wafer handling is automated, recipes are locked, and process results must match from one month to the next.

The platforms that suit this work are the 150 mm and 200 mm production tools that larger fabs ran for years: cluster tools for etch and deposition, batch furnaces, automated coat and develop tracks, steppers, and automated metrology. Many specialty processes for MEMS, photonics, power devices, compound semiconductors and sensors are still built on these wafer sizes, and the tools have a long service record and a known set of failure modes.

Choosing between 150 mm and 200 mm

The choice of wafer size shapes the whole tool set, the spare parts strategy and the cost of every future addition. 150 mm tools are often simpler and cheaper to buy and support, while 200 mm opens access to more substrates and a larger supply of used production tools. Our article on 150 mm vs 200 mm tools for pilot lines covers the trade-offs in detail.

Where a line already runs on one size and needs a tool that exists mostly in the other, a wafer size conversion can be an option. It depends on the platform: some tools were designed for several wafer sizes with a change of chuck, clamp ring and handling parts, others were not.

How we prepare a tool for a production line

For production use we generally recommend the Refurbished or Certified grade. Before delivery we:

• replace worn consumables, seals and parts known to fail on that platform,
• leak check and recalibrate the vacuum, gas and RF systems,
• verify wafer handling over repeated cycles, not just a single transfer,
• run a test process with acceptance limits agreed with you, for Certified tools,
• record software versions, recipes supplied and installed options.

If you already run a tool of the same model, tell us. Matching configuration, software version and options to your existing tool reduces requalification work and lets you share spare parts and recipes between the two.

Typical examples of 200 mm platforms we see in this market are the Applied Materials P5000 and the Applied Materials Endura 5500, alongside many 150 mm single-wafer and batch tools.

Spare parts and obsolescence

On older production platforms, the limiting factor is usually spare parts, not the tool itself. Original manufacturer support for some models has ended or been reduced, and certain boards, generators and robot parts are hard to find. We source new, refurbished and used parts for the platforms we work on, and we say which of the three each part is. Our spare parts service covers sourcing, testing and critical spares lists.

For a new installation we recommend agreeing a critical spares list at the start: the parts whose failure would stop the tool and whose lead time is long. Keeping those on your shelf turns a multi-week outage into a short repair.

Service for production uptime

Production tools need planned maintenance on a fixed schedule, quick response when something fails, and records that support your quality system. We offer preventive maintenance, repair and calibration as single jobs or under a service contract with agreed response times, planned visits and reporting. Remote support can resolve many faults without a site visit, where your IT policy allows a connection.

Installation without disrupting the line

Installing a tool in an operating fab means working to your access rules, gowning procedures and permit-to-work system. We plan rigging, hook-up and commissioning with your facility team, schedule the noisy and disruptive work into agreed windows, and hand over with acceptance tests against criteria agreed in advance.

Getting a quote

Send us the process, wafer size, required throughput and any existing tools the new one has to match. We will propose tools, a condition grade, upgrades and a spares plan, with each part of the scope priced separately so you can decide what to include.