PMT enters cluster tool systems market

Electronic News, June 8, 1992 by Dan Cray

CHATSWORTH, CALIF.--Plasma & Materials Technologies Inc. is set to unveil its Pinnacle 8000 cluster tool at Semicon/West, marking the start of a business gamble that means PMT will now be selling its technology at both the component and systems levels.

Capable of etching up to 25 silicon wafers per run, the Pinnacle 8000 uses PMT's MORI plasma etch technology, which PMT touts as a low-pressure, helicon-wave plasma source that delivers high-density plasma with a high degree of uniformity over the entire wafer surface.

MORI, an acronym for "Mode equals O Resonance Induction," is PMT's bread-and-butter technology, a plasma source which has enabled the firm to strike multimillion-dollar licensing deals with Alcan-Tech Inc. ( a division of Canon) and Anelva Corp. to incorporate MORI technology in etch systems already on the market in Japan.

With the arrival of the Pinnacle 8000, which PMT intends to sell worldwide, the company will now essentially be competing with its own technology for a share of the international market.

"We've been using the two Japanese equipment manufacturers to promote our MORI plasma sources in the Japanese market, but now we're going in with our own tool, so there will be a competitive element involved here," says Michael McCann, vice president of marketing and sales for PMT.

Mr. McCann said PMT's agreements with Anelva and Alcan-Tech permit entry into the Japanese market "whenever we choose," and that neither of the Japanese firms has any financial investment in the Pinnacle 8000. Originally, PMT had planned to begin shipping to Japan during 1993 but, according to Mr. McCann, that target date has now been moved up to late this year because of promising response to MORI technology in Japan.

Pricing for the Pinnacle 8000 will begin at $1.5 million, which gives the customer the basic set-up only: two MORI MESC-compatible etch modules, each containing a MORI plasma generator, with the entire tool encased in a 10.4 foot wide by 7.75 foot deep exterior. For additional applications, up to two extra modules can be added.

"The beauty of our cluster tool is we've taken it as a building block," said Gregor Campbell, president of PMT. "If you want to do metal etch, the standard system would be two modules. If you wanted to add photoresist strip, in order to get the resist off, you could add a third module. What the customer wants is going to determine the final price."

PMT has yet to land any buyers for the Pinnacle 8000, although Mr. McCann maintains that the firm has intentionally been waiting for completion of work on the first model before beginning any serious marketing efforts.

"Basically, you sell a process technology," Mr. McCann said. "The equipment tends to be a vehicle for the technology, and we will intentionally wait until the show before we release the floodgates and talk bread with the customer base."

Mr. McCann says PMT will specifically target the top 10 U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, as well as many of the larger manufacturers in the Pacific Rim.

PMT is currently constructing two Pinnacle 8000 cluster tools, one for display at Semicon/West and the other for the company's new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chatsworth. Both tools will be up for immediate sale and shipping. Delivery time for ordering an unconstructed Pinnacle 8000 is set for roughly eight weeks after receipt of order, including shipping and installation time.

PMT's staff will be expanding from its present level of 32 employees to 60 by the end of the year, primarily so the firm can facilitate its ambitious plans to construct four Pinnacle 8000 tools each month. Analysts say PMT, which reportedly generated $3.5 million in revenues during 1991, will need to successfully sell all of the 48 tools it plans to produce annually just to keep its business afloat.

"In this day and age, with the sophistication of the customers, if you don't get beyond 50 to 60 million (dollars) in a year, you're not going to survive," says Jerry Hutcheson, chief executive of VLSI Research Inc. in San Jose, Calif. "The net effect is, PMT will either hit the $75 million they're shooting for right away or they'll flop altogether."

If the Pinnacle 8000 arrives at Semicon/West as per schedule, it would mean PMT was able to take the cluster tool from the design and development stages to functioning machine in a relatively rapid time of just eight months.

In part, PMT was able to pull the feat off because it incorporated the subassemblies and modules of other suppliers into its own architecture. Brooks Automation, for example, supplied the robotic platform, Leybold the vaccuum system components and MKS Instruments the port controllers.

Still, development speed aside, what most in the industry will be watching is the sales figures. PMT's Mr. Campbell isn't worried. "We're ready to get directly to the customers with an end-use piece of equipment," he said. "The new paradigm in plasma etching is high-density plasma, so our goal is to have the highest density, highest performing plasma source available, and we believe we've achieved that."