Integrated micron level precision motion systems
If your semiconductor, laser, or general automation process requires very precise placement of your points of interest, you’ll often need a precision motion system (or ‘stage’). AIR works with a global range of OEM stage suppliers that often have a baseline motion system design that can be customized for your specific application. We’ll work with your application requirements and turn that into a motion system/stage specification for an OEM supplier. We’ll then integrate that stage into your system, making sure it meets your system-level requirements, including system takt, vibration isolation, and load/unload requirements.
Capabilities
Selecting the right type of precision motion system for your application
AIR helps customers select the optimal stage technology and supplier for their specific application. Having worked with all the major motion system manufacturers serving the semiconductor and precision automation industries, we understand the performance, reliability, and integration trade-offs that drive successful system designs. Our experience enables us to recommend the right solution for your application with confidence. AIR has extensive experience specifying:
- Iron core/ironless linear motors
- Air bearings, recirculating ball bearings, crossed roller bearings
- Repeatability, accuracy, acceleration, velocity ripple, straightness, flatness, stroke
- Optical encoders, interferometers, thermocouples/RTDS
- Preventive maintenance: lubrication, cable management
- Materials of construction: SST, AL, granite, alumina, graphite
- Ambient requirements: cleanroom, vacuum chamber
- Interferometer compensation mapping
- Repeatability <5 µm
- Velocity >2m/s
Approach
For systems that need precision motion, the stage is priority
Stage selection is our top priority for high precision systems. Early in our customer engagement, AIR focuses on understanding your process requirements so that an appropriate partner for the stage can be identified and a comprehensive specification can be developed. These are some of the aspects we investigate during our initial discussions with you:
- Challenge and vet process requirements to determine what degrees of freedom and precision are required for a high-volume manufacturing (HVM) system, versus the flexibility required for a lab/R&D development platform
- Determine system takt requirements to make sure stage accelerations and velocities can achieve the final goal
- Align on program timelines to determine if there is time for a more optimized custom stage, or if an off-the-shelf option is required to meet delivery dates
- Understand service and maintenance requirements of customer technology to consider how the stage will have access for service/maintenance
Impact
Work with global leaders in precision motion systems
Because AIR is vendor-independent, we provide objective recommendations based solely on your application’s technical requirements. We carefully evaluate every specification to ensure the selected stage delivers the optimal balance of performance, precision, reliability, and cost for your system, optimizing:
- System architecture
- Process performance
- System takt
- Reliability/uptime
- Serviceability
- Lead time
- Cost
Case studies
A medical device manufacturer was facing low yields and high rework costs on a catheter product line. Applying sealant adhesive to multiple radio marker rings within tight tolerances was difficult to perform…
Backside contamination inspection and other process advancements require wafers to be loaded into process or inspection chambers in a 90° or 180° flipped orientation. Adding a wrist to a robot can meet…
The OEM needed a macro defect inspection module that integrated seamlessly with their wafer sorter. The module had to enable front- and back-side visual inspection under uniform illumination, meet stringent…