Dubbed the Swagelok® ALD7, the innovation can be integrated into either new tools or legacy equipment to provide improved flow capacity in the same 1.5inch footprint as existing valves.
With the launch, Swagelok said it hopes to help fabricators keep up with the strong global demand for semiconductor chips that power advanced technology.
Compared to the ALD6, the new innovation offers better flow consistency, flow capacity and actuator speed. It can also perform at high temperatures necessary to allow chip fabricators to overcome limitations in currently production processes and keep up with demand.
This cones at a time when the the US Department of Commerce predicts that demand for semiconductors in the US was as much as 17% higher in 2021 than it was in 2019.
Ben Olechnowicz, Product Manager at Swagelok, said, “Since developing the industry’s first fit for purpose ALD valve nearly 20 years ago, we have worked with semiconductor customers to better understand the levels of performance needed from our UHP valves as chip manufacturers continue shrinking process nodes and maximising chip yields.”
“This has resulted in pursuing innovative thinking and developing valves to actuate faster, perform in more extreme conditions and allow higher coefficients of flow in demanding atomic layer processes.”
“We designed the ALD7 as a reliable round-the-clock production valve that checks all the boxes, giving our customers the consistency of performance necessary to stay ahead in an industry that is seemingly always changing and demanding more from manufacturers.”
Source: Swagelok