According to Joel Galliher, semiconductor industry manager, Bosch Rexroth Corp., the semiconductor industry is moving away from its focus of perfecting microelectronic processes. As wafers become larger and feature smaller widths, issues like productivity, throughput, reliability, and automation have gained importance. Moving wafers into and out of a fabrication tool, positioning and repositioning them within…
Selecting Step Motors for Semiconductor Applications
Mindy Lin Ching,Application Engineering Specialist – Lin EngineeringStep motors are often used in semiconductor applications. But selecting the right one frequently involves tradeoffs in performance. A small but accurate step motor will help keep the overall machine small, but torque might be an issue. On the other hand, a bigger, more powerful motor might not…
Cleanroom Framing Solutions
Buchanan, MI — Bosch Rexroth offers a series of modular aluminum framing components specifically designed for cleanroom applications and other contaminant-sensitive environments. As an alternative to welded steel components, the modular aluminum cleanroom profile product line saves time and money in configuration. The system uses easy-to-assemble, bolt-together construction for maximum configurability using only simple hand…
Global Semicon Automation Partnership
Pleasanton, CA — The Bosch Rexroth Corporation announced it will provide precision linear motion solutions for a leading semiconductor automation company located in Fremont, CA, with manufacturing in Asia. Under the agreement implemented from its Technology Center West in Pleasanton, CA, Bosch Rexroth will supply Ball Rail linear motion guides with cleanroom greases. Also in…
Danaher Motion Launches SQIO SynqNet® I/O Modules
WOOD DALE, IL — Danaher Motion introduces SQIO SynqNet I/O interface boards available that allow high volume machine builders to seamlessly integrate their custom analog and/or digital I/O hardware with complex, high performance motion into a single network architecture. SQIO maximizes machine performance by providing real-time I/O and remote motion performance diagnostics via SynqNet for…
A visible LED lab makes evaluating LED assemblies easy
Converting an existing halogen lamp into an LED assembly is not simple. However, for Richard Saffa, vice president of Optek Technology’s Visible LED Business Unit, it is. His in-house visible LED laboratory has a variety of equipment to assess products from single LEDs to complex power LED assemblies. Thus, when a customer came with these…
Flexible circuit material cools components on curved surfaces
When MH&W International developed a new way to mount LEDs and other hot components onto surfaces, it pulled them off the printed circuit board. Traditionally, LEDs attach to FR4s and MCPCBs, which mount only onto linear surfaces because of their rigidity. The company’s engineers added a twist to traditional mounting technology when they developed Keratherm…
Bal Seal Launches Global Website
Foothill Ranch, CA – Bal Seal Engineering recently rolled out a comprehensive re-design of their website. The purpose of this re-design is to create a website that allows users to obtain information about products and engineering solutions in a more efficient and user-friendly manner. Enhanced new areas include solutions by industry, product menu selections, and…
Small Wonders
Elma, a leading backplane chassis vendor, and MicroBlade, a developer of AMC and MicroTCA products, have partnered to develop MicroTCA products and system solutions. Their goal is to provide the most innovative MicroTCA system solutions and best overall value available today. MicroTCA is a modular, low-cost backplane specification that reduces the cost of telecommunications, industrial,…
Metal Oxide Resistors
CMO Series commercial grade metal oxide resistors come in both standard and miniature sizes, with power ratings from 0.25 W to 9 W at 70° C, and a maximum operating temperature of 240° C. The resistors have a flame retardant coating and are specified for industrial and power electronics applications requiring stable performance in rugged,…
Accu-Vue Fiber Optic Amplifiers from Pepperl+Fuchs
Accu-Vue Fiber Optic Amplifiers suit applications such as sensing parts presence, label detection, error proofing, and thread detection. They come with NPN or PNP outputs and have a dual 4-digit display, one-touch auto-teach, and built-in timer functions with a range from 250 microseconds to 20 seconds. About Pepperl+Fuchs Pepperl+Fuchs is a world leader in the…
High-Speed Digital Termination Networks
CHC Series high-speed digital termination networks come in miniature surface mount BGA packages for applications with reduced printed circuit board space. The networks are planar and have no vias, which eliminates large parasitic inductances and significant overshoot from via inductance. The networks are characterized to 40 GHz and rise times to 25 ps. VSWR is…
Thin Film Thermoelectric Enables New Markets
Researchers can now consistently achieve temperature differentials of 55-60º C with miniature embedded thermoelectric component (eTEC) material at room temperature. Nextreme's enhancements to eTEC technology are already getting attention. With eTEC, the materials are only 5-15 micrometers thick, about 100 times thinner than the typical 1 mm thick pellets used in conventional thermoelectric devices. “It…
Photoelectric Line Sensor
The BOL 27K advanced measuring line sensor detects product width, edge detection, hole location, and web loop tension. With both discrete and analog outputs, this retroreflective photoelectric sensor projects a measuring line of light onto a strip of special reflective tape, which it then uses to measure and locate key attributes of an object. The…
Magnetic Cylinder Sensor
The MZ2Q magnetic cylinder sensor has two programmable switching points, rapid piston movements, two-fold final position detection of pneumatic cylinders, and precise detection of different gripper positions. It can be taught to detect beginning stroke (retracted) and end stroke (extended) positions over a 2 in. (50 mm) stroke size. The sensor comes in 2 m…
Speed Controller for Brushless DC Motors
The DEC 24/3 is a 1-quadrant amplifier range for brushless DC motors. The open board is ready-to-use with 5 to 24 V operating voltage and maximum output power of 3 A (intermittently to 6A). It can operate as a digital and open loop speed controller because it has flexibility for use with various voltage sources…
Direct Drive Rotary Servomotors
CARTRIDGE DDR direct drive rotary servomotors eliminate mechanical transmission parts. They use pre-engineered components, an integrated, factory-aligned high-resolution feedback device, and operate without bearings. They now come in five frame sizes from 4.25 in. square to 13.78 in. square with four stack lengths per frame. CE marked and UL listed for global application, the motors…
Dual Cooling System for Large Enclosures
A new Dual Cabinet Cooler System protects sensitive electronics by keeping electrical enclosures cool. It cools to 20° F and has a cooling capacity from 4,000 to 5,600 Btu/hr. Models with lower cooling capacity are available. The system is suitable for large electrical enclosures and high heat loads. The system cools ordinary compressed air using…
Compact Encoder from BEI
BEI’s compact L15 incremental encoder measures 1.5 in. in diameter and gives up to 40,640 cycles per turn. Internal, electric multiplication increases output resolution up to 16 times without degrading overall encoder accuracy. By using the standard quadrature detection option available on most PLC’s, counters, and controllers, a maximum of 162,560 counts is available. Ideal…
Intel Core 2 Duo Industrial Motherboard
The AIMB-554 industrial micro ATX motherboard supports the latest Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core Duo, and Intel Core Solo processors with 400/533/667 MHz FSB. When combined with Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 processor, the motherboard combines dual-core processing with a 4MB L2 cache and advanced power management. The Intel 945GM Express chipset includes the…
Laser Displacement Sensors
The VDM35 Series Laser Displacement Sensors come in 6 m diffused and 30 m retro-reflective modes. They have fully scaleable 4-20 mA analog outputs and dual discrete PNP switch points, with simple push-button programming. Also included are an eye-safe Class 1 infrared laser for sensing, a built-in Class 2 visible red laser for alignment, and…
Plant To Produce Larger Solar Panels
Photovoltaic electric power may light up homes sooner than once believed. Moser Baer India Ltd., selected Applied Materials, Inc., to develop and install the world’s first generation (Gen) 8.5 Thin Film Solar Module Production Line in New Delhi, India. Its expected completion is in the second half of calendar 2007. The line will manufacture photovoltaic…
New Mask Works With Ultralow K Dielectrics
Patterning materials and processes are increasingly vital to high performance logic and memory devices. Traditional photoresists have been replaced by systems that allow for a five times thinner patterning stack, with thickness uniformity and defect levels compatible with 32 nm manufacturing. The Applied Endura Metal Hardmask system with Versa TTN PVD technology delivers TiN1 hardmask…
PCB-Mount Power Supplies
Small, lightweight, single-output 5- to 15-W AC-DC power supplies mount directly on a printed circuit board (PCB). Units come in three power levels and package sizes from 1.38 x 2.17 x 0.79 in. (5Wmodels) to 1.89 x 2.75 x 0.91 in. (15Wmodels). They are available in all commonly used output voltages from 3.3 to 24…
Moving Magnet Voice Coil Actuators
Moving magnet voice coil linear actuators have acceleration to 20 gs, zero cogging, resolution to 8.3 µm/m (0.0001 in. /ft), repeatability to 5 µm (0.0002 in.), and long life. Ideal applications include mirror tilt and focusing, laser beam steering, position control, and Z axis for pick-and-place equipment. Other suitable applications are robotics, testing, medical diagnostic…