New Cluster Reactor to Deliver a Total Solution for PLD Manufacturing of Thin Films for 5G Technology

Project Information

5G-TRAIN

Grant agreement ID: 969418

DOI

10.3030/969418

Project terminated on 15 February 2022

EC signature date 26 February 2021

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 1 071 087,50

EU contribution

€ 749 761,25

Coordinated by

SOLMATES BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - 5G-TRAIN (New Cluster Reactor to Deliver a Total Solution for PLD Manufacturing of Thin Films for 5G Technology)

Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2022-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The demand for advanced Radio Frequency (RF) components for 5G and basestations is rapidly increasing. Over the next 6 years there is a need for more than 100 billion Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) filter devices for 5G mobile. This translates in a >€100 million market opportunity for Solmates’ PLD equipment in 2025. In addition, due to increased technical requirements such as new frequencies, there is a need for improved deposition technology for this emerging market. With PLD, Solmates has demonstrated over the last 2 years that these requirements can be met. However, it became also evident that High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) customers require a total solution in the form of a cluster tool at TRL8-9. To support this customer and market need, Solmates must expand and increase the functionality of its current single reactor PLD tool. 5G-TRAIN aims to deliver this total solution PLD cluster to the 200mm HVM market. The time to market is significantly lowered due to existing and new engagements with worldwide customers. The result of 5G-TRAIN will be a disruption of the 5G component manufacturing sector by realizing (for the first time) advanced thin film piezo materials at a commercially viable cost and scale.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During this reporting period the 5G-TRAIN project has been delivered in line with the Annex 1 to the Grant Agreement. Work has been undertaken to deliver the eight objectives detailed in section 1.1 of the DoA which has included:
1. Update business plan for entry
2. Wide dissemination of project results achieved within 5G industry
3. Achieve market penetration
4. Develop the subsystems necessary for creating a cluster platform
5. Realize prototype of high-volume manufacturing PLD cluster
6. Demonstration of 5G-TRAIN cluster tool at customer location
7. Reach projected market volumes and geographic target markets
8. Achieve/exceed forecast company growth.
Obviously, as a result of the termination, most of the objectives are not or partly met. Work performed until month 11 has been structured in line with the Work Packages detailed within Annex 1.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

It is well known that Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a very flexible and versatile technique allowing fast optimisation of complex oxide thin films . The technique uses a pulsed laser that is focussed on a target material in a reactor chamber (see Figure 5). The local heat generates a plasma that is collected by a silicon wafer on which the thin (piezoelectric) material condenses. PLD has been mainly known as lab equipment for fundamental research.

In 2012 Solmates introduced the wafer based PLD equipment that allows uniform thin film deposition up to 200 mm diameter with high reproducibility. Since then highly respected institutes and companies have purchased equipment of Solmates for research and application development. They recognise the potential of PLD processing and have demonstrated and published new processes. The below publications report on the development of Radio Frequency (RF) components based on advanced piezoelectric materials:

• Low-loss Lead Zirconate Titanate in GHz frequency regime by Imec
• CMOS compatible Lead Zirconate Titanate processing by Robert Bosch GmbH
• Ultra-low power optical phase shifters for 5G data communication by Lionix International
• Tuneable RF phase shifters based on Vanadium Dioxide by EPFL

Solmates is the only PLD equipment vendor with upscaled PLD equipment for higher TRL’s beyond fundamental research. The customers of Solmates have demonstrated that these materials can be integrated into functional RF devices. To enable commercialisation of these devices the equipment of Solmates need to be ready for mass production as a complete cluster. This represents a business opportunity with a large potential for growth, expanding Europe's strength in high-tech equipment and materials

Solmates Cluster Platform Vision