When an old tool controller, PC or storage drive fails and spares run out, we replace, emulate or rebuild the controls on current hardware and keep your recipes and interlocks.
On most older process tools the chamber, RF and vacuum hardware outlast the controls. A 1990s etcher or furnace may run on an industrial PC with an old operating system, ISA interface cards, a floppy or small hard drive holding the tool software, or a PLC family the supplier stopped making years ago. Some Applied Materials platforms of that generation, such as the Precision 5000, used light-pen CRT terminals that are now hard to source.
None of this is a problem until a part fails. Then a tool that is otherwise healthy can stand still for weeks while someone searches for a working card or drive. A control system retrofit removes that risk, and it can also give you recipe storage, data logging and network backups that the original controller never had.
We usually propose one of three routes, chosen after an audit of the tool:
The right choice depends on what still works, whether the software can be backed up and licensed, and how long you plan to keep the tool.
Where we can, the software and recipes are backed up before anything else is touched, so a failure during the audit does not cost you the tool's configuration. The audit itself records software versions and wiring notes with photos, not only the I/O list.
For emulation and rebuilds, bench testing against the I/O list means the tool is only down for installation and verification. Gas, RF, high voltage, door, water flow and vacuum interlocks stay hardwired and are not moved into software, whichever route you choose.
A like-for-like swap of a PC or storage drive can often be done within a short planned stop. Emulation and full rebuilds take longer, mainly for installation, interlock testing and recipe comparison; bench testing in advance keeps that window as short as we can make it. The proposal states the planned downtime for the chosen route.
You receive the I/O and interlock lists, the installed system with backups, the signed interlock test record, the recipe comparison and updated drawings. We work to SEMI S2 guidance for the safety aspects and can help you document the change for your own review. This upgrade suits multi-chamber platforms such as the Applied Materials Precision 5000 and on furnaces in thermal processing. For the wider picture, see keeping legacy tools running.
Our engineers document the existing controller, I/O, software, recipes and every interlock.
We propose a like-for-like replacement, an emulation or a full rebuild, with the risks of each.
We build and test the new control hardware and software against the I/O list before touching the tool.
We install on the tool, prove every interlock and run your recipes against the original results.
200 mm (8 in) · Late 1980s–2000s
200 mm (8 in) · 1990s–2020s
Because the failure, when it comes, often takes weeks to fix if the PC, interface card or storage drive is no longer made. Backing up the software and planning the retrofit while the tool runs avoids an unplanned stop.
Not if we can read them. Part of the audit is extracting recipes and parameters from the existing controller, and they are translated or carried over to the new system and checked with comparison runs.
Yes. Hardwired interlocks for gases, RF, high voltage, doors and water stay hardwired, and every interlock is proved on the tool after the retrofit.
Often yes. Replacing a failing PC, display or storage drive while keeping the original tool software is the least invasive route, when the software runs on the replacement.
Old controllers, discontinued boards and lost manuals retire most legacy tools. How to plan spares, backups and retrofits before a failure forces it.
Tell us the tool and what you need. We scope the work and send a written offer.