μsprint on the Road to Success in Production

One year after the takeover from Siemens, the μsprint technology
(formerly SISCAN) is fully integrated at NanoFocus AG. Business with
the ultrafast 3D-inline-inspection system has been so profitable that the
acquisition costs are already amortized. The equipment order of an
Asian international innovation leader of semiconductor components
shows that the non-contact μsprint inspection systems are superior in
this promising market to conventional techniques. NanoFocus has
already developed the first business solutions and made improvements
in terms of resolution and speed. The μsprint sensors are perfectly
equipped to comply with future advances in the semiconductor
industry, medical technology and the solar industry.

Integration successfully completed
Next to the μsurf- and μscan-technologies, μsprint is the third and more
manufacturing support related product line of NanoFocus. The new
technology has been successfully integrated in all levels of the company.
Both in terms of space and personnel, the developer and manufacturer of
industrial measuring technology has expanded capacities in R&D, production,
consultation and service. In order to provide service to existing customers,
particularly in the Southern German region, NanoFocus has opened an
additional representative office with service and consultation staff in the
Munich Technology Center.

For NanoFocus, the acquisition and integration of the μsprint series, which is
based on confocal technology, means a major step into the direction of production and inline-control, an emerging trend in measuring technology. With the costs for the acquisition already recovered, partner management for μsprint is now being intensified. Cooperation agreements in the medical technology sector have already been signed, and further negotiations of possible collaborations are taking place with partners that are each technologically leading in their particular niche markets. Additionally, the first business solutions, μsprint solar (solar industry) and μsprint semicon (semiconductors), have been developed in cooperation with key customers.

Focus on semiconductors, medical technology and solar industry
The μsprint technology meets great international interest. It has proven to be an optimal solution for the inspection of micro weld joints, edge inspection on solar or semiconductor wafers, or bump inspection in the electronics sector. An equipment order from a renowned Asian electronics company for their production shows that the product μsprint is the first choice of manufacturers in the booming semiconductor market because of its high resolution and speed. In the electronics sector, with ever more complex multimedia applications, the packaging density of electronic components is rapidly increasing through so-called flip-chip assembly or 3D-packaging. The superiority of the μsprint technology compared to classical measuring methods like photogrammetry, fringe projection or triangulation is most evident here. NanoFocus offers an excellent product for future applications in the semiconductor sector which are bound to become more challenging.

20-step-roadmap for further development of μsprint sensors
On the basis of a target-actual list NanoFocus has developed a 20-step-roadmap,
in cooperation with key customers, for the further development of
the μsprint technology. Behind every advance stands a specific customer
need with corresponding sales potential. “We are making significant further
developments of the μsprint sensors today, in order to account for the needs
of our customers and their markets in the future,” explains Jürgen Valentin,
Chief Technological Officer and management board spokesman. “In particular
the increases of resolution and speed are crucial points in further expanding
our technological leadership in growing future markets like semiconductors,
the solar industry, and medical technology.”

NanoFocus AG
The Management Board

NanoFocus AG is a pioneer and technology leader of a new generation of highprecision
optical 3D surface analysis tools for laboratory and production use. With its
user-friendly, robust and economical instruments, the company revolutionises the
surface analysis market and enables users in the scientific and industrial sectors to
achieve three-dimensional imaging and inspection of surfaces with structures in the
micrometer and nanometer ranges.
http://www.nanofocus.com

NanoFocus AG
Lindnerstr. 98
46149 Oberhausen
0208 - 62 000-0
info@nanofocus.de
www.nanofocus.com

Press Contact:
Nina Stegmann-Matthews
0208 - 62 000-53
presse@nanofocus.de

This release was published on openPR.