We design, produce and sell metrology equipment for the characterization of semiconductor and photovoltaic materials, for monitoring the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, flat panel displays and solar cells, and also for R&D purposes in these areas. We offer a variety of measurement techniques; most of them are non-contact and non-destructive. Many of our technologies can be flexibly integrated into different platforms, ranging from simple handheld devices and table-top systems with high resolution mapping capability to fully automated stand-alone production control tools for mid-range and high-level fablines. We also offer in-line measurements for solar cell production lines.
Our strategy is to continuously improve our products, and to offer flexible solutions for our customers’ needs with high-value products for a reasonable price. To accomplish this, we employ 800 people worldwide, including 110 physicists and 90 engineers. We are happy to work together with our customers and partners to find suitable solutions for new challenges, and we also participate in various international R&D projects.
We carry out our work in a responsible way; we provide various benefits to our employees and support important cases such as scientific education.
Our company was founded in 1989 as a spin-off company by a team of scientists from the Research Institute for Technical Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Historically, our first product was the DLTS, and the first carrier lifetime mapper was shipped in 1991. Since then, we have expanded our portfolio with electrical and optical measurement technologies, and our company has grown substantially: we became the market leader in the area of electrical metrology for solar cell manufacturing, and the 5th biggest pure-play semiconductor metrology company.
We accomplished this by an extensive amount of own R&D work and also by acquiring suitable assets and technologies. Semitest Inc. and its technologies for dielectric metrology and epi layer testing were acquired first in 2004, and we continue to develop and sell the products ever since. In 2008, assets of Sopra were purchased. Sopra was a company which produced the first commercially available spectroscopic ellipsometers in the world, and also had an exclusive license covering the technique of ellipsometry-porosimetry. These products are now supplied by Semilab, with a strong R&D base using the past Sopra expertise. The company, well-known for its contact and non-contact methods for epi layer, dielectric and implant characterization, SSM Inc. also joined the Semilab Group in 2008. In that year, QC Solutions was also acquired, with the high-frequency ac-SPV metrology for epi layers and implants. Expansion continued in 2009. Advanced Metrology Systems (AMS) joined and brought high-end technologies, such as model-based infrared reflectometry for 3D structure characterization and surface acoustic wave measurements for metal and low-k layers. Semiconductor Diagnostics Inc. (SDI) also merged with Semilab, bringing the cutting-edge SPV measurements for diffusion length determination and contamination monitoring down to levels as low as 1E8 iron atoms per cubic centimeter, and also micro-sized corona charging and Kelvin probe for on-product dielectric characterization. Technology licensing and acqusitions include ion implant monitoring methods from IBM and Applied Materials, solar cell inspection methods from Basler and more. In 2015, the assets of the Danish maker of atomic force microscopy equipment and related products, DME were acquired with key employees joining Semilab. Semilab continues with supplying of AFM technology and it’s integrating with other metrologies. In 2017, Nanoindentation business was acquired from Fischer-Cripps Laboratories.
Semilab now integrates all this expertise, which enables the development of a high-quality, versatile product portfolio.
Semilab is based in Budapest, Hungary, and has R&D and product centers in the USA (Tampa, FL and Billerica, MA), in Germany and in Denmark. It has direct sales and service offices in all major markets, including the USA, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and a network of representatives all over the world.