New controls, light sources, pumps, wafer sizes and endpoint detection for older process tools, so a platform that still does good work keeps running and fits your current line.
You tell us what limits the tool today, such as obsolete parts, wafer size, consumable cost or process control.
Our engineers survey the tool on site or from photos, drawings and logs, and check what the upgrade touches.
We send a written proposal that sets out the scope, the risks, the planned downtime and what changes for your recipes.
We install the upgrade, run it against the agreed checks and update the tool documentation.
Replace obsolete controllers, PCs and storage on older tools, keeping recipes and interlocks.
Learn moreConvert a tool between 100, 150 and 200 mm wafers, or fit carriers for pieces and small wafers.
Learn moreReplace oil-sealed roughing pumps with dry pumps sized to the process and its chemistry.
Learn moreAdd optical emission or laser endpoint detection to older plasma etchers to stop on the film.
Learn moreMany of the tools in university cleanrooms and small fabs are 15–30 years old. The vacuum chambers, RF systems and stages are often still sound, because they were built to run for decades. What fails first is usually something around them: a controller that runs on an obsolete PC and a floppy drive, a mercury lamp that costs money and time every few months, oil-sealed pumps on a corrosive process, a wafer size that no longer matches the rest of the line, or a process with no endpoint signal.
Upgrades target those limits one by one. They let you keep a platform that does good work and remove the reason it is hard to run. The service is for lab managers and process engineers who own an older tool, and for buyers who want an upgrade fitted before a used tool ships.
An upgrade starts with what limits the tool today. We survey it on site or from photos, logs and drawings, then write a proposal with the scope, what the upgrade touches, the risks, the planned downtime and what changes for your recipes.
We do not publish prices. The main cost drivers are:
Before installation we agree the checks that show the upgrade works: base pressure and pump-down for a pump change, intensity and uniformity for a light source, recipe runs for a controller. We run those checks before and after, so the result is measured against where the tool started.
Every upgrade ends with updated documentation: electrical drawings, interlock list and operating notes. Changes to controls, interlocks or power can affect safety documentation; we work to SEMI S2 guidance and can help you document the change.
Obsolete PCs, operating systems, interface cards and storage media are a frequent reason older tools stop. We replace or emulate the failing parts, or rebuild the controls on current hardware, while keeping the interlocks intact. See control system retrofit.
When a lab moves from 100 mm to 150 mm, or a pilot line standardises on 200 mm, tools have to follow. We convert chucks, clamps, cassettes, handlers and alignment so the tool runs the new size, or fit carriers for smaller pieces. See wafer size conversion.
For labs running a contact or proximity aligner on an arc lamp, especially shared teaching tools where users book short slots and nobody wants to wait for warm-up. It makes most sense when lamp spend or mercury rules are a recurring headache and you can set aside time to requalify your resists. See UV-LED conversion.
Worth considering if your technicians spend regular hours on pump oil, or your EHS team treats spent oil as hazardous waste because of what the tool runs. Choose it when the site can supply the N2 purge, cooling and power a dry pump may need, and ideally pair it with other vacuum work. See dry pump conversion.
Suited to plasma etchers shared by many users with films from different sources, where a fixed etch time keeps over- or under-shooting. Choose it when one sensitive step, such as stopping on a thin underlayer, is costing you wafers or rework. See endpoint detection.
Send the manufacturer, model and serial nameplate, what the tool runs today, what limits it and photos of the controller, the subsystem you want to change and the facilities around it. If you already have a service history, that helps us judge whether the rest of the tool is worth the upgrade.
Often, when the process hardware is sound and the limit is a single subsystem such as the controller, the lamp or the pumps. If the chamber, RF and motion systems are all near the end of their life, a different tool is usually the better buy.
Some upgrades do. A UV-LED source or a new controller can shift exposure doses or timing, so we agree requalification checks before the work and run them after.
Yes, and it usually saves downtime and cost because the tool is opened once. We scope both together when you buy a tool from us or send one for refurbishment.
Changes to controls, interlocks or power can affect the tool's safety documentation. We work to the relevant guidance, such as SEMI S2, and can help you document the change for your own safety review. A substantial modification can bring new conformity obligations under the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230; we flag that in the proposal.
Old controllers, discontinued boards and lost manuals retire most legacy tools. How to plan spares, backups and retrofits before a failure forces it.
How the Bosch process alternates etch and passivation to cut deep, vertical features in silicon, what limits it, and what to check on a used DRIE tool.
When a dry pump conversion pays off on an etcher, CVD tool or evaporator, how to size the replacement and what changes in facilities and interlocks.
Tell us the tool and what you need. We scope the work and send a written offer.