Profile: FSI International Inc (FSII.O)

FSI International, Inc. (FSI) designs, manufactures, markets and supports equipment used in the fabrication of microelectronics, such as advanced semiconductor devices. During the fiscal year ended August 29, 2009 (fiscal 2009), the Company provided surface conditioning technology solutions and microlithography systems and support services to worldwide manufacturers of integrated circuits. FSI manufactures, markets and supports surface conditioning equipment that uses wet, cryogenic and other chemistry techniques to clean, strip or etch the surfaces of silicon wafers and supplies refurbished microlithography products that are used to deposit and develop light sensitive films. FSI directly sells and services its products in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, except for Japan. In Japan, its products are sold and serviced through Apprecia Technology, Inc. (Apprecia), a company in which FSI maintains a 20% equity ownership.

Systems

The Company’s surface conditioning products perform etching and cleaning operations for: front-end-of-line (FEOL) fabrication steps, where integrated circuits or transistors are formed in and on the substrate during the manufacturing process; back-end-of-line (BEOL) fabrication steps, where metal wiring levels are formed on the surface of the wafer and are connected to the transistors, and wafer-level packaging surface preparation, including cleaning, etching and stripping functions necessary to fabricate solder bumps or other terminal structures needed to connect the chip to the circuit board. FSI offers a range of technologies, including batch and single wafer spray, batch immersion and single wafer cryogenic aerosol.

FSI’s batch spray processing systems, which include the ZETA and MERCURY Spray Cleaning Systems, are surface conditioning systems that remove unwanted films and contaminants from the surface of semiconductor wafers at various stages in the microelectronic device fabrication process. The Company’s control system and chemical mixing manifold allow the user to define, control and monitor a variety of chemical mixtures, temperatures and sequences. This enables the user to develop new processes and utilize the systems for multiple applications. The ZETA System is a fully-automated batch spray processor currently available in configurations for both 200 and 300 millimeter wafers. The MERCURY System is a semi-automated batch spray processor designed for wafer sizes up to 200 millimeter in diameter and process technologies through the 90 nanometer node.

The Company’s platform, the ORION Single Wafer Cleaning System, is for cleaning 300 millimeter semiconductor wafers in a closed chamber, single wafer environment. The ORION platform uses FSI’s technologies, including ViPR technology, in-line chemical blending, energetic aerosol chemical and water delivery, recipe driven process flexibility and closed chamber environmental control.

The Company’s ANTARES CryoKinetic Cleaning System is an automated, single-wafer cleaning platform designed for 200 and 300 millimeter wafers. The ANTARES system uses an all-dry non-chemically reactive method for removing defects from all surface types from the beginning to the end of the device manufacturing process.

Immersion cleaning systems are used to clean silicon wafers by immersing wafers in multiple tanks filled with process chemicals. These systems enable the implementation of high performance isopropyl alcohol (IPA) assisted drying to meet the critical cleaning requirements for 90, 65, and 45 nanometer technology nodes. FSI’s MAGELLAN Immersion Cleaning System is a fully automated immersion cleaning system designed for either 200 or 300 millimeter wafers at advanced technology nodes and is capable of multiple cleans, including critical clean, resist strip and etch. The MAGELLAN System is qualified for several processes, including FEOL critical clean, FEOL photoresist strip and post-ash clean, as well as oxide etch and nitride etch.

The Company’s POLARIS Microlithography System is used to deposit polyimide resist and photoresist, light-sensitive, etch-resistant materials used to transfer an image to the surface of a silicon wafer, or similar material wafer, and then bake, chill and develop the deposited material after exposure. The Company is focused on providing solutions to its existing base of POLARIS system customers and for specialized markets, including wafer level packaging, MEMS, and thin film media storage devices. Through its POLARIS Refresh Program, in which customers can purchase pre-owned, certified POLARIS clusters (an integrated environmentally isolated manufacturing system consisting of process, transport, and cassette modules mechanically linked together) made of both new and/or re-manufactured modules.

Spare Parts and Service

The Company offers system upgrade packages, spare part kits, individual spare part components, robot refurbishment and replacement, and support services that provide product and process enhancements to extend the life of previously purchased and installed systems. FSI’s customer service and process engineers assist and train customers worldwide to perform preventive maintenance on, and to service, its equipment. The Company sells a variety of process, service and maintenance programs.

FSI competes with DaiNippon Screen Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Semitool, Inc., Lam Research, SEMES Co. LTD and Tokyo Electron Ltd.