Electroforming is an advanced Additive Manufacturing process that “builds up” high-precision metal parts atom by atom. Microprecision metal components have been produced using this extremely accurate manufacturing technique in a variety of industries, including Electronics, Medical equipment, and Renewable Energy. In recent years, Electroforming has emerged as the preferred technology for the semiconductor industry to manufacture crucial components due to its capacity to create high-precision, micro-scale features efficiently and cost-effectively. This blog overviews the Electroforming technology, compares its technical advantages to alternative manufacturing methods, and introduces typical applications in the semiconductor industry.
Electroforming technology overview
Electroforming is a manufacturing process for the production of high-precision metal components. With precision down to 1 micron, this additive manufacturing process enables the production of metal components with complex designs and unmatched accuracy. Veco, the industry leader in Electroforming technology, was the first to use cutting-edge Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) technology in the production of very precise metal parts. With the help of LDI and our industry-leading Advanced Lithographic Electroforming technology, we have been able to further push the boundaries of the industry, giving our customers higher-quality, more affordable, and faster-turnaround high-precision metal components.
In addition to its precision and design flexibility, Electroforming technology enables the creation of complex features and 3D structures through multi-layer deposition. With Electroforming process, additional layers can be “grown” in specific directions, resulting in complex 3D or 2.5D geometries. This capacity creates new opportunities for delicate product design and is especially useful for semiconductor applications that need for the reinforcement of thin parts or delicate structures.
Electroforming for Semiconductor industry
In contrast to conventional machining techniques such as milling, etching, and EDM, Electroforming provides greater capabilities for producing micro-scale features with exceptional accuracy. With Electroforming technology, complex designs with delicate features which traditional machining finds challenging can be easily transformed into high-quality components. Additionally, the approach produces a lot less waste and is more economical from rapid prototyping to large-scale manufacturing. Compared to other high-precision processes such as silicon MEMS, Electroforming offers a wide variety of materials such as nickel, copper, gold, silver, and other alloys (learn more about material possibilities with Electroforming). Electroformed metals also provide mechanical functionalities that are difficult or impossible to achieve with silicon MEMS. For example, metals used in Electroforming are more ductile and elastic than silicon, which is crucial for Semiconductor applications like contact probes, micro-springs, and flexures.
Electroforming technology is a crucial production technique in the semiconductor sector, providing benefits in terms of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and technical capability. The technology's ability to produce complex, precise components makes it a key enabler for semiconductor manufacturing and next-generation research and design.
applications in the Semiconductor industry benefiting from Electroforming technology
Semiconductor testing and inspection equipment benefit greatly from Electroforming technology. Take MEMS probe as an example, MEMS probes are used to evaluate the performance of electrical devices during the front-end fabrication and wafer testing. Electroforming enables the creation of high-quality MEMS probes with complex requirements. Electroformed vertical probes can provide a highly stable contact resistance as well as outstanding mechanical and electrical properties.
Another critical application of Electroforming in the semiconductor industry is the test socket pin. These pins serve as the link between the Device under test (DUT) and the testing equipment, where high precision and durability is a must. For a high-performance test socket, the contactors, the pins in the socket, play a very important role in transferring the signal between the device under test (DUT) and the system with the least amount of signal attenuation or degradation. Electroformed test socket pins provide enhanced mechanical and electrical stability, which leads to longer lifespans and better performance. Additionally, different types of test sockets are needed for different testing processes with specialized electrical and mechanical parameters. Design flexibility of Electroforming technology allows for high level of customization and co-development for engineers to tailor to specific testing needs.
In semiconductor process equipment, Electroforming technology is also employed to create high-precision parts such as gas distribution plates for deposition systems. These components require precise hole patterns and uniform gas flow characteristics to ensure optimal process performance. The accurate dimensional control of Electroforming makes it an ideal choice. As semiconductor devices continue evolving and downsizing, the use of Electroforming in the production and innovation of vital components is anticipated to increase.
Co-developing with Veco
When it comes to “tailor-made” solutions for semiconductor applications, Veco's expertise in Electroforming technology and collaborative co-development approach make us the partner of industry leaders. Our application engineering and R&D teams work closely with customers to create next-generation products, combining our knowledge and experience to design, prototype, and scale up to industrial production. Veco's Electroforming technology allows for highly flexible, efficient, and economical development, enabling the creation of several variations of a component in a single run. This experimental design approach is particularly valuable for customers in the design and development phase, as it allows them to compare and test different iterations of a part without incurring significant time and cost. By working with Veco, semiconductor manufacturers can leverage our expertise in precision engineering to bring innovative solutions to market faster and more efficiently.
