EV Group (EVG), a leader in wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology, and semiconductor markets, is helping PMT manufacture advanced memory wafer probe cards.

EVG announced today that it has received a supply contract for its LITHOSCALE® maskless exposure system from PROTEC MEMS Technology Co., Ltd., a leading global semiconductor wafer probe card company in Korea.

Under this agreement, EVG’s LITHOSCALE system will be installed at PMT’s headquarters in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, to manufacture next-generation MEMS-based probe cards for wafer-level testing of advanced NAND, DRAM, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) devices.

“Fine-pitch probe cards are manufactured through repetitive lithography patterning processes, so it is necessary to minimize increases in manufacturing costs,” said Cho Yong-ho, CEO of PMT. “By replacing the existing lithography process using a mask aligner with EVG’s maskless exposure equipment, LITHOSCALE, we can reduce manufacturing costs, dramatically shorten the process development speed, and improve process performance.” We expect to continue our collaboration with EVG in the future, not only through LITHOSCALE but also through various process solutions for advanced probe card manufacturing and development,” he said.

LITHOSCALE, powered by EVG’s Maskless Exposure™ (MLE™) technology, addresses the lithography needs of markets and applications that require a high level of flexibility or product diversity.

LITHOSCALE addresses the bottlenecks of conventional lithography methods by combining powerful digital processing capabilities that enable real-time data transmission and instantaneous exposure with high structural resolution and production throughput scalability.

EVG’s LITHOSCALE is an ideal solution for rapid prototyping, enabling faster turnaround times and R&D cycles.

MEMS manufacturing has high process difficulty, especially due to the complexity of the micro-process, and as a result, there is an unavoidable limit to the increase in mask manufacturing costs.

LITHOSCALE, which does not use a mask, ensures high depth of focus and high resolution (2m level L/S (Lines & Spaces)), enabling high-density redistribution layers (RDL) and via connections, which are key technologies for fine-pitch probe cards, without using a mask.

“We are excited to help PMT expand its product portfolio and reduce its development time,” said Youngsik Yoon, President of EVG Korea. “Wafer-level test using probe cards is an essential process for increasing device production yields and reducing the overall test cost per die. “LITHOSCALE is a unique solution that combines high resolution, great flexibility to handle a wide range of product designs, and low cost of ownership, making it ideal for fine-pitch wafer probe card manufacturing,” he said.