Obducat has, after long and purposeful work reached a goal: being a provider of NIL technology for industrial production purposes. Today Obducat has delivered machines to some of the world’s largest electronics companies, and products made by the use of technology contributed by Obducat are dispersed on the market. A new and just as demanding challenge is now starting: proceeding from newcomer to the industrial market to becoming an established and natural part of it. An important step on the way there is assisting Sindre®400 customers by providing service and support, and to utilise the experience gained for further development of the Sindre® platform.

In addition to the active interest among existing customers, concentrated research and development work is taking place in Obducat’s laboratory. However, the number of projects that can be conducted in parallel is limited, requiring Obducat to make a selection.

Due to the great demand from the market, Obducat is focusing on optimising processes with a broad spectrum of applications, utilising feasible synergies. In general it is also a question of finding the right time to step into new application areas as they become commercially relevant.

New markets call for new patenting

Obducat’s portfolio comprises 275 patent applications pertaining to 49 inventions. 156 of the current patent applications have been granted. Seeing that minimal differences in technology and choice of process can determine the success of a product, working with patents is a natural part of day-to-day tasks. Creating robust protection of its proprietary technology forms part of Obducat’s strategy which has resulted in a strong and broad patent portfolio for the Company’s inventions and key technologies. The customer can thus rest assured that the machine delivered contains technology covered by Obducat’s patent, which consequently constitutes another competitive advantage compared to alternative providers. The patent work is continuously in progress and a patent application is submitted for each new technology and for the market in question.

Standardisation useful for all

Supporting the standardisation work conducted within the industry is a self-evident strategy for Obducat. Among other things Obducat is active in the SEMI industry organisation, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International. Uniting such a broad spectrum of producers – semiconductor components, optoelectronics, hard disks, CDs, optical disks, etc – is difficult, while at the same time all parties stand to gain by standardisation, making the work important to many. Intermediate goals of importance to Obducat are a common standard for defining stamps, substrate sizes, how to measure and analyse structures, and defining the relevant parameters.

EU project

Teramagstor
Since February 2009, Obducat is taking part in TERAMAGSTOR, an EU funded project aimed at developing the technology platform for the next generation magnetic storage media with a memory density larger than 1 terabit per square inch (1Tbit/in2). Other participants include STMicroelectronics and FHR Anlagenbau as well as a number of universities. The project extends over three years with a budget of Euro 5 million.

Smash
Since the spring of 2009, Obducat is also taking part in the SMASH project, with the purpose of creating new materials solutions and process technologies for the production of cost-effective, power-efficient, white LED light sources for the general lighting market. The project is co-ordinated by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH and brings together expertise from across Europe. 14 partners from large industry, small and medium sized enterprises, research institutions and universities are taking part in SMASH. The project extends over three years with a budget of Euro 11,5 million.

Obducat products – a comprehensive solution

Having solutions in EB as well as NIL allows Obducat to offer a complete imprint system, which also comprises stamp production technology and analysis systems from the same provider. In practice the customer is allowed full control of the production of both original and replication – stamps and substrates. Seeing that the EB and NIL technologies provided by Obducat are jointly developed and adapted to suit each another, the customer value is indisputable. Lead times are reduced and the ability to meet the customer’s specific needs is optimised. The combination of Obducat’s service and tailored production solutions help customers retain their competitiveness.