With over 130 years of industry-leading experience, along with innovation from top advanced materials experts including SiO2, SiN, AlN, and SiC, Hardinge is proud to offer an all-in-one pioneering solution for SiC manufacturing.
Introducing the brand-new BoulePro 200, a revolutionary machine designed to directly address the problems faced by the expanding SiC manufacturing industry:
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In response to accelerating demand for semiconductors globally, Hardinge has combined the latest CNC control, measurement, mechanical, and machining technology into one platform by developing the BoulePro 200. This machine offers an avenue for SiC manufacturers to streamline their boule fabrication process in order to meet the accelerating demand for high quality and lower cost SiC. Most producers are expanding as quickly as they can to meet this downstream demand and require a means to optimize all aspects of their SiC production facility.
With up to 70% reduction in total boule processing cost, the BoulePro 200 is establishing a new cost-basis for boule-to-puck conversion: We have extensive experience in machining SiC material for semiconductor applications and have successfully executed all major boule to puck process steps for 150mm and 200mm material including OD, XRD to determine crystal structure, flat and notch application, as well as dome/seed side removal. By integrating and perfecting these steps, we have optimized the SiC manufacturing process into a single machine design to provide crystal producers with the most efficient and lowest cost solution to machine boules.
NEW REVOLUTIONARY SMART MANUFACTURING CONCEPTS DEVELOPED BY HARDINGE
85% reduction in labor cost 80% reduction in manufacturing footprint One machine tool accomplishes all required steps The fully automated process is completed in two-three hours Advanced degree of automation provides improved process repeatability Total cost (CapEx, OpEx, consumables) reduction of nearly 70%
BoulePro is the Answer
Years of experience in machining SiC, quartz, and other advanced materials allow us to achieve:
Improved part velocity
Reduced manpower
Condensed manufacturing footprint
Superior process repeatability
Reduction in consumables required
Special design per customer’s request Fully automatic machine(s) Very low production tolerances High surface quality Simple operation Low cycle times High repeatability & throughput Less number of machines, smaller facility area Uptime as per SEMI E10: 97% Durable machines with long life expectancy Extensive technological support starting at project phase
Hardinge's Charged for SiC Growth
The Hardinge Advantage
The typical boule to puck processing typically takes around 12-24 hours and involves the following:
Gluing / de-gluing the boule to fixtures required to support various processing steps
Manual intervention to remove a boule from one tool, prepare it for the next step, and install it into other tools for subsequent steps
Non-optimized processing steps
Hardinge’s Solution:
Automates all processing steps eliminating the need for manual intervention
World class machining capabilities ensure the processing steps are done as efficiently as possible with the optimized tool for the job
Results in part velocity of 2-3 hours – significantly increases tool throughput
The boule process typically requires operators to support multiple steps of the boule to puck process that include:
Installing multiple tools
Fixturing boule into various configurations needed for processing steps
Install and remove the boule at several points of the process
Hardinge’s Solution:
Requires an operator to install the boule into the tool and remove the puck from the tool at the completion of the process
Results in a reduction of manpower required of up to 85%
Typical SiC crystal growth facility utilizes several tools to accomplish the individual boule to puck processing steps – i.e. grinders, cutting wheels, cropping saws, X-ray diffraction
Hardinge’s Solution:
Performs all required steps in a single tool eliminating the need for multiple tools and excessive facility space required
Reduces the required footprint for post growth processing by as much as 80%
The typical process introduces final product variations including:
The use of multiple tool sets
Manual intervention at several stages of the process
Hardinge’s Solution:
Improves process repeatability
Utilizes process automation
Operates through the use of a single tool
Requires no manual intervention between processing steps
Consumables like grinding wheels, cutoff wheels, and diamond wire are a significant contributor to boule processing costs and can make up ~50% of the cost to process a boule to a puck.
Hardinge’s Solution:
Developed for optimized processing speeds, angles, and tool types that are geared specifically to SiC
Based on extensive experience with a variety of different boule geometries and stress levels
Based on technology from over 130 years of industry-leading experience
Meet the Future of Silicon Carbide Manufacturing
The Brand-New BoulePro 200
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