Custom Wet Benches and Wet Process Stations
Modutek wet benches, built around your process
Modutek has designed and built wet process equipment for semiconductor manufacturing in San Jose, California, since 1980. Every bench starts from the customer’s own process sheet and the space it has to fit, and Modutek keeps design and testing at one site. SiSTEM is Modutek’s distributor for the UK and Europe, and our team installs and services the benches here.
Manual wet process stations
The operator moves cassettes between tanks by hand. Standard on every Modutek manual station:
- FM4910 construction for acids and bases, or stainless steel for solvents
- Emergency power off with mushroom button and full safety interlocks
- 1″ lip exhaust on every process tank
- Nitrogen head case purge, with a Photohelic gauge interlocked to the EPO
- PVC safety shields
- Teflon N2 gun and DI water hand spray
- Continuous flow DI water manifold
- Casters and leg levellers
- Overhead deck lighting
- Wiring to NFPA 70 and 79
- One-year warranty on all parts
Manual stations are built to any size and length and suit KOH etching, the RCA clean (SC1 and SC2), buffered oxide etch, megasonic cleaning, plating and prototype development.
Semi-automated wet benches
Robotics on servo motors with encoder feedback move the wafers from bath to bath, while the operator keeps control of the process through a PLC touchscreen. Typical processes are KOH etching, SC1 and SC2, buffered oxide etch, megasonic cleaning and photoresist development. Options include data logging, remote maintenance access, HEPA filtration, an integrated lift station and an extended warranty.
Fully automated wet benches
Modutek writes its robotics and control software in-house and programs recipes for each application. Automated benches run KOH and ozone etching, ozone cleaning, SC1 and SC2 with megasonic cleaning, buffered oxide etch, SPM cleaning and hot phosphoric acid nitride etch, as well as plating, quartz cleaning and precision parts cleaning. They take standard wafer carriers and can be configured for glass substrates and large-format panels. Data logging and resistivity monitoring are options, and so is a dry-to-dry configuration, where wafers enter and leave the bench dry.
Stainless steel solvent benches
Solvent benches are built in 304 stainless steel with integrated fire suppression, for acetone, IPA, EDP and photoresist stripping. See stainless steel solvent wet benches for the full specification and Modutek’s heated solvent baths.
Options
- Rear maintenance access
- HEPA fan filter units
- Integrated lift station
- Dedicated drains to carboys with DOT containment
- Three-colour light tower and counterbalanced safety shields
- Seismic zone 4 structural certification
- Third-party certification to NFPA 70 and 79
- Extended warranty
How a custom bench is specified
It starts with our quotation questionnaire. For each tank you give us the chemical, temperature, recirculation and filtration, and for the bench the substrates, construction material, level of automation, exhaust, voltage, maintenance access and the space available. Modutek’s engineers work that up into a bench layout, and SiSTEM quotes it. Every bench is checked with DI water before it leaves San Jose, and factory acceptance testing against your specification can be arranged. SiSTEM then installs and commissions it on site, and Modutek provides operator training.
More from Modutek
Modutek also builds the equipment around the bench: quartz and Teflon process tanks, quick dump rinsers, IPA vapour dryers, megasonic cleaning, chemical delivery and collection systems, neutralisation systems and acid fume scrubbers. For an overview of wet processing and where each bench type fits, see semiconductor wet benches.
Questions about Modutek wet benches
How do I check that a wet bench supplier can deliver a custom process?
Ask to see the bench laid out against your own process sheet, with each tank’s material matched to its chemistry. Check who writes the control software and whether factory acceptance testing against your specification is offered. Modutek keeps design and testing at one site and writes its own robotics and software.
What’s the difference between a wet bench and a wet process station?
They’re two names for the same equipment. Modutek uses wet process station for its manual benches.
Which solvents can a stainless steel bench take?
Modutek’s stainless steel benches are built for acetone, IPA, EDP and photoresist stripping, with fire suppression integrated.
What warranty comes with a Modutek bench?
Manual stations carry a one-year warranty on all parts, and extended warranties are available.
Buying through SiSTEM
SiSTEM quotes and supplies Modutek wet benches across the UK and Europe, and our UK and European team installs and services them. If a bench goes down, we stay on the fault with Modutek until you confirm it’s working properly again. Get a quote, or send us your process sheet to talk it through.
