Mask aligner and exposure-masking system:

sous-nom du produit: 
the UV-KUB range

The UV KUB range, equipment for soft lithography, is composed of 3 UV exposure-masking systems for photolithography and 1 UV curing adhesive system, all based on UV-LED light source:

UV-LED masker UV-KUB 2 with open drawer and some examples of applications

UV-LED exposure-masking system: UV-KUB 2

The UV-KUB 2 tools are soft lithography equipment proceeding by masking technique equipped of a UV-LED light-based source, which emits at 365nm +/-5nm.

Learn more: UV-KUB 2

A monochromatic cold UV-LED source

This exposure-masking system is equipped of a UV-LED light-based source, almost monochromatic at 365nm, which constitutes a cold UV source, strongly recommended for patterns in thick layer resins as it is often the case for microfluidics applications.

The LED lifetime is much longer than the traditional mercury lamp one and a lot less polluting. The UV-KUB 2 source is no longer to be considered as a consumable because it will never have to be replaced during the equipment lifetime over more than 15 years.

High quality collimation

The collimation quality means you can benefit from a divergence angle below 2°, which offers the possibility to work in masking mode on thick layers without altering the rendering of edges of the patterns.

This high-quality collimation allows to reach resolution down to the micrometre scale without needing a vacuum contact mode, which is often a source of damage for the photolithographic masks.

The exposure system

This soft lithography equipment comes in two versions, the 4-inch and the 6-inch versions:

  • the 4-inch version works in standard with 5-inch chrome photomasks
  • the 6-inch version works in standard with 7-inch photomasks.

Naturally, samples with smaller dimensions can be processed without minimum limitations. Photomasks with inferior dimensions may also be used, thanks to masks adaptors that can be supplied by Kloe.

A user-friendly equipment

The UV-KUB 2 is fitted with touch-screen that ensure a very intuitive use of the equipment.

The user of this machine is guided in the menu to configure the required exposure parameters. He can then adjust:

  • the power density,
  • the exposure duration to UV,
  • the curing mode either in continuous or by pulsed mode.

He can then end by adjusting the distance between the sample and the photomask, in hard or soft contact. All these parameters can be saved to avoid retyping them for each use.

This extremely small system 26x26x26cm3, is in fact the most compact one on the market. Totally enclosed while working, it assures utmost security to the user who is at no time exposed to the high UV power density and thus doesn’t need to be installed in a clean room.

Fields of application of the UV-LED masker UV-KUB 2

Its price very competitive makes it the ideal soft lithography tool for microfluidics researchers’ application for which the UV-KUB 2 was initially created. It is also popular for MEMS applications, as well as for microtechnology teaching with students.

Finally, it may be used as a spare mask aligner for the creation of first level masking. Thus, the mask aligner remains solely for mask alignment.

See the testimony of François NADAL, from Loughbourough University about our UV-KUB 2

New generation of mask aligner: UV-KUB 3

The UV-KUB 3 makes up a new generation of mask aligners and totally revolutionizes photolithography by masking process. This technology is accessible to everyone. It is fast and easy to set up without the need for tedious training.

Learn more: UV-KUB 3

A 10000 hours lifetime UV-LED source

The UV-KUB 3 is a mask aligner that works following the same principle as UV-KUB 2. It is equipped with the same UV-LED source, with the improved collimation quality, offering the possibility to obtain < 1µm resolution and even submicronic resolution without needing for a vacuum contact function, too often responsible from the damage of chrome photomasks.

A compact and easy-to-use system

It is also fitted with an intuitive and user-friendly touch-screen for the introduction of curing parameters. The UV-KUB 3 is without doubt the most compact mask aligner and the most cost effective on the market, offering comparable performances and even better than other more traditional mask aligners technologies. Thus, by owning a UV-KUB 3, you can access advanced of mask alignment technology.

The UV-KUB 3 mask aligner is extremely compact (475x480x515mm in the two 4 and 6-inch versions) and thus uses minimum space in the cleanroom. It is totally closed ensuring maximum safety to the user and does not need for a systematic installation in a cleanroom. For example, it can be simply set up in a laboratory under an excavator with a laminar flow or into a glovebox.

It benefits from a removable photomask holder, which enables you to change the substrate as often as you want without touching the photomask. It is both a time saver and a way to preserve the fragile masks by limiting their handling.

Alignment and pre-alignment made easier, thanks to CCD cameras and joypad

The mask aligner UV-KUB 3 is equipped with two CCD cameras instead of the traditional binoculars considered as too fragile and tiresome by numerous users. The images from the two cameras are simultaneously projected onto the touchscreen enabling the two alignments points to be viewable at the same time. The alignment procedure is thus easy.

The alignment within a 1µm precision can thus be obtained in a few minutes with the help of the PAD, PlayStation type, easy to use and very well-known by the young generation.

This mask aligner is fitted with an on-board PC that can:

  • capture images,
  • do the metrology,
  • record the alignment coordinates points of several masks.

Consequently, when the photolithography mask is being introduced into the system, the two high-resolution cameras position themselves automatically at the location registered in the on-board PC. This step is totally transparent for the user, constitutes a pre-alignment that allows the user to save a lot of time for this too often tedious search of the alignment marks with more traditional technologies.

See the testimony of Sébastien TEYCHENE, from ENSIACET Toulouse about our UV-KUB 3

Mask aligner UV-KUB 3 with joypad and some examples of applications
UV lamp UV-KUB 9 with open drawer and one example of application

High-power density UV lamp: UV-KUB 9

The UV-KUB 9 is UV-LED exposure system delivering a high-power density at 365nm, adjustable up to 200mW/cm². It is a homogenous exposure system dedicated to surfaces as large as 9 inches diameter, equipped with a non-collimated source.

Learn more: UV-KUB 9

A user-friendly equipment piloted by touch-screen

In balance with the UV-KUB concept, the system is piloted by a touch-screen and the curing sequence is only launched when the drawer is closed to assure maximum safety to the user. UV-KUB 9 is an equipment dedicated to wafer bounding and to the inhibition of the adherence blue tapes films used for automatic dicing systems for microelectronics.

This table-top equipment is very compact and doesn’t require installation in a cleanroom as well all other maskers or mask aligners from the UV-KUB range.

UV-LED curing adhesive system: K-ILU 2

UV-LED system on small surfaces

Learn more: K ILU 2

The adhesive curing system, the K-ILU 2 is an UV-LED adhesive curing, touchscreen controlled, offering continuous or flashing programmable curing modes, ideal on small surfaces

See the testimony of Henri PORTE, from IXBlue about our K-ILU

UV-LED system K-ILU 2 and some examples of applications