Tem-Tech Lab of the azbil Group is pleased to announce that it has started shipping the microprocessor-equipped ATM-300 automatic leak checker. This new product offers enhanced safety and confidence in daily operations and maintenance work at semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The ATM-300 will be on display at SEMICON Japan 2008 to be held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, December 3-5.

One of the core strengths of Tem-Tech Lab lies in the market for production equipment used in the front-end wafer processing stage of semiconductor manufacture. The company enjoys considerable brand power thanks to a product range that includes pressure sensors for high-purity special gases and pressure sensors for corrosive fluids (liquids and vapors). Based on the concept of "being your company's R&D lab,″ Tem-Tech Lab is pursuing a business strategy that quickly delivers those advanced technologies that are in high demand among its customers in the semiconductor market –attentively monitoring their requirements by keeping in close contact, and rapidly developing new products.

The newly launched ATM-300 is capable of detecting minute leaks in gas lines. During the wafer processing stage of semiconductor manufacture, toxic gases that can affect the human body even at low concentrations –such as silane and arsine –are employed in the production process. Consequently, any leakage of these toxic gases can lead to a serious accident, and for that reason it is essential to inspect pipes during installation to check that they are gastight and without the slightest leak. Previously, such checks were conducted by monitoring pressure fluctuations; however, a gas inside a sealed vessel or pipe will expand and contract in response to fluctuations in the temperature around the vessel/pipe, and thus it is difficult to detect minute leaks simply from changes in internal pressure.

What the ATM-300 does is to detect changes in pressure resulting from fluctuations in gas temperature and then automatically correct the pressure readout based on Boyle-Charles' law.This means that it can detect leaks so small that they would not be spotted using the conventional technique of applying gas leak detection fluid and looking for foam formation. Also, recorded trend data can be transferred to a computer via USB link.

The ATM-300 is priced at ¥600,000 per unit. Tem-Tech Lab has set a target of 100 units per year, focusing on sales to semiconductor engineering companies.

Furthermore, Tem-Tech Lab has launched two other products that will be exhibited at SEMICON Japan 2008: a 4-20mA signal generator suitable for 2-wire configurations, and a portable air speed/volume indicator for placing inside a pipe to monitor, for example, the performance of a local exhaust ventilation system. Like the ATM-300, these are intended to offer enhanced safety and confidence in daily operations and maintenance work at semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

Guided by the azbil Group philosophy of "human-centered automation,″ Tem-Tech Lab will continue to make use of the Yamatake sales network, aiming to create new business opportunities with total solutions for semiconductor manufacturing facilities, ranging from on-site instruments through to pressure sensors and vacuum gauges used in semiconductor production.

Courtesy of Azbil