North East foundry to offer ALD service

Cenamps, a national centre for emerging technologies, is joining forces with Oxford Instruments to establish an open access foundry service in Newcastle. This service will employ Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to build thin films on surfaces one atomic layer at a time. ALD is an emerging technology that is rapidly being adopted in high tech industries including electronics and communications. According to the partners, ALD films will allow electronics manufacturers to make computers and mobile phones which are smaller, faster and use less power – even move towards a new era of plastic electronics. Dr David Robbins, Cenamps’ CTO, said: “ALD is an extremely specialised technique requiring complex equipment and very clean conditions. The coatings can be accurately controlled down to a thickness of 1nm and this holds exciting possibilities for a range of industries – from electronics to food packaging. Cenamps is installing the FlexAL ALD tool manufactured by Oxford Instruments in a specially designed cleanroom in Newcastle. “FlexAL is ideal for our foundry service because its versatile design allows us to offer a wide range of ALD coatings to our customers,” Dr Robbins added.