OPTIM Wafer Services offers individually tailored solutions for each customer’s requirements in wafer surface processing, cleaning and handling substrates. The company has been providing wafer processing services offering a local, high quality, reliable, value for money service to customers for over thirty years.
How do you define flexibility, and how is it reflected in the way you serve your clients?
Each customer’s request is reviewed on its technical requirements that OPTIM tries to match to our capabilities and experience. We do not promise what we cannot deliver. We communicate honestly and promptly.
Can you share an example of adapting to a client’s specific or complex need?
We have been working with CERN to reduce the thickness of individual detector chips to <20um. Normal “thin” chips would be in the region of 50um. The process we developed to reach these levels required several iterations and involved considerable engineering time and resources.
What capabilities enable your team to respond quickly to client-specific challenges?
OPTIM has grinding, polishing, CMP and metrology systems as well as state-of-the art cleaning technology. And many years of engineering experience.
How do you balance flexibility with efficiency and cost control while still delivering value?
Optim does have competition in Europe to which we bench mark ourselves. Development costs or one-off requests are by their nature expensive. Once qualified and in production, those natural efficiency gains by running regular volumes will reduce the cost per unit over time.
How adaptable are your solutions to different client needs or industries?
We are very adaptable and will and have considered requests from other industries. However, we do have to consider the health of our staff, environmental laws and the needs of the Semiconductor industry to ensure we do not contaminate their factories. Therefore, each request regardless of the industry is viewed with those restrictions in mind.
How do you collaborate with clients to understand their challenges and deliver results that drive their success?
By having discussions about the ultimate goal(s) & size of the of the opportunity. And the time line they are working to. Alongside that will be the discussions around the technical challenges. There is rarely a controlled specification for processing services, so this would need to be agreed as part of any offer(s).
What technologies or tools help your company stay flexible and client-focused?
- Disco Grinders- Wafer thinning, Die Thinning, Dice Before Grind, Taiko, Edge Trim.
- Disco Dicers – Wafer dicing, MPW Dicing, Wafer re-sizing.
- Single Wafer CMP – CMP of Silicon, Polysilicon, Silicon Dioxide, Ge, GaN, Sapphire, Via reveal, Planarisation, Roughness Improvement, Epi Ready Finish, Bonding Surface preparation. SOI Polishing.
- Wet benches – RCA cleans & Megasonic – Able to reach metallics to <1E11 levels.
- KLA SP1 TBI – Able to defect and control defects to 0.09um levels.
How do you maintain high quality and compliance when offering tailored solutions?
Using our quality system (ISO 9001:2015) to develop the customer specification or agree any sent to us ensuring this specification is part of any proposal prior to accepting a PO.
On accepting a PO, we ensure the key parameters of that specification are written into our work instructions and control plans.
Have you seen a growing demand for flexible, customized solutions to help clients stay competitive?
In short, yes, this is the business model that we base our wafer processing service line on. To offer tailored, high quality engineering services on wafers or substrates. By developing unique solutions that ultimately lead to pre-production or even production level volumes. Al designed to give our customers a competitive advantage.
Looking ahead, how will adaptability and client-focused flexibility shape your strategy for driving success?
It will not greatly change how OPTIM approaches this business as it is how we try to work now. If we are not adaptable and or not focused on the customers’ needs then we will quickly lose reputation and any competitive advantage we may have had compared to our competitors.
For an initial discussion about your wafer or substrate processing requirements. Please get in touch with either, Mark Wells – mwells@optimws.com / Telephone – +44 1743 891 820 & Georges Peyre – Gpeyre@optimws.com / Telephone – +33 442 126 158.