Advanced Energy Debuts Centra Smart Hub for Wafer Temperature Control
Advanced Energy launched the Centra Smart Hub and Remote Smart Sensors at SEMICON West for wafer-temperature measurement and real-time control in lamp-heated Si and SiC processes. The company says the system improves accuracy by up to 40% at 3.3 µm or 5.2 µm and temperatures up to 1700°C, helping address interference from infrared lamps that can saturate traditional pyrometers. The hub-and-spoke architecture includes embedded ECAT and Ethernet protocols for integration into semiconductor processing systems.
Advanced Energy introduced the Centra Smart Hub at SEMICON West in San Francisco. Paired with its Remote Smart Sensors, the platform targets temperature measurement and live control in lamp-heated silicon and silicon carbide thermal steps, including rapid thermal annealing and epitaxial growth.
The design separates a rack-mounted hub from chamber-mounted sensors, which can take several readings across a wafer in ambient conditions up to 60°C. It supports ECAT and Ethernet integration. The company reports accuracy gains as high as 40% at 3.3 µm or 5.2 µm and temperatures reaching 1700°C, while avoiding near-IR pyrometer saturation caused by infrared lamps.
Improved wafer-temperature control could help semiconductor manufacturers raise yield and process consistency, especially for silicon and silicon carbide thermal steps. Equipment integrators and fabs may benefit first through easier system integration and tighter repeatability. Over time, downstream chip users could see effects in device reliability or supply stability, though the scale of any societal benefit may depend on adoption, cost, and deployment speed across production lines.