As-is, Inspected, Refurbished, Certified or new. What each option actually includes, where the risk sits, and how to match it to your lab.
"Used" covers a lot of ground in semiconductor equipment. The same model can be offered as a crated tool pulled from a closed fab, as a unit that was powered up and checked, as a refurbished system with new seals and a recalibrated controller, or as a tool that has been run on a test process with results on paper. New equipment sits at the other end of the scale.
For a university cleanroom or a pilot line, the right choice depends less on price than on how much risk and integration work your team can absorb. This guide sets out what each option includes and where the hidden work tends to sit.
Sellers use "used" and "refurbished" loosely, so it helps to fix the vocabulary before comparing quotes. We grade every tool on four levels and use these words exactly:
Other sellers may use different scales, which is fine as long as you can map their terms to concrete actions. Ask what was replaced, what was measured, and whether the tool was ever run under vacuum and with gas since it was de-installed. "Fully refurbished" without a parts list or test data is a description, not a specification.
Our how we inspect page shows what goes into each report.
As-is tools carry the most uncertainty. A tool may have been de-installed carefully by the fab's own engineers or cut out in a hurry during a closure. Pumps may have been left with process residue, controllers may have lost their configuration, and accessories often go missing between the cleanroom and the warehouse. As-is makes sense when you have strong in-house engineering, when you are buying for parts, or when the platform is simple enough that you could rebuild it yourself.
Inspected tools remove the biggest unknowns: does it power up, does it pump down, do the subsystems respond. What inspection does not do is replace worn parts. You know what you are getting, and you can plan the remaining work.
Refurbished tools move the work to the seller. Seals, filters, wear parts and consumables are replaced, the chamber is cleaned, and the tool is calibrated back to its original specification. The remaining risk is in process performance, because a tool can meet its hardware specification and still need recipe work in your facility.
Certified tools close that gap by running a defined test process, such as an etch rate and uniformity check or a film thickness map. The result is the closest a used tool gets to a factory acceptance test. Our test and certification service describes how we set up and document these runs.
New tools carry the least hardware risk and come with the manufacturer's warranty, process support and current software. They also come with the longest lead times for many tool types and a price that may sit outside a research budget.
Used tools can often ship within weeks, sometimes faster if they are already refurbished and in stock. That matters when a grant has a spending deadline or a pilot line needs capacity for a customer qualification.
The trade-off is choice. You buy what is available, which may not be the exact configuration you would order new. A used ICP etcher may come with the wrong gas lines, a 150 mm chuck when you need 100 mm, or a different pumping package. Some of this can be changed during refurbishment, but it adds time. For new tools, the configuration is yours, and the lead time is set by the manufacturer's order book.
New tools come with direct manufacturer support. For used tools, support depends on the platform. Widely installed systems tend to have a healthy supply of second-hand and third-party parts and engineers who know them well. Rare or heavily customised tools are harder.
Before buying any used tool, ask three questions:
If the answer to the second question is no, budget for a control-system retrofit or a stock of spare controller hardware.
The purchase price is only one line in the cost of getting a tool into production. Before comparing offers, list the items that sit around the tool:
An As-is tool can look attractive until these lines are added and the refurbishment you end up doing yourself is counted. A Refurbished or Certified tool usually costs more up front but moves much of this work, and the risk, onto the seller. We do not publish prices, because they depend heavily on configuration and condition, but we quote these lines separately so you can see where the money goes.
A few patterns hold for most buyers:
It is also common to mix options: a new deposition tool where the process is novel, alongside refurbished lithography and metrology where the process is well known.
We sell tools at all four grades and say clearly which grade each listing has. If you are weighing a used tool against a new one, we can scope the refurbishment work needed to bring a specific tool up to your requirements and set out what a Certified test run would cover. Browse current etch and deposition equipment, or send us your process and we will suggest which grade makes sense.
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Tell us the process, wafer size and facilities. We shortlist tools that fit and send an inspection report with every offer.