View our short video to see the benefits of our patented EtchDefender™ Technology

Conax Technologies’ patented EtchDefender™ Technology extends the life of quartz thermocouple sheaths used in some reactors. Available exclusively from Conax, quartz thermocouples coated with EtchDefender™ can last up to 3X longer than uncoated TCs.

Watch our 90-second video for a demo.

Our proven solution provides the following unique advantages over uncoated quartz thermocouples:

• No particulation– EtchDefender™ coating is well adhered and will not flake from the quartz substrate, which can cause particle contamination to the wafer.
• Durability– The coating does not decompose, out-gas, or sublimate under vacuum at high temperature.
• Slower devitrification– The coating greatly slows the typical devitrification process
  by retarding the loss of oxygen from the SiO₂ quartz sheath at temperatures more than 900 °C.
• Slower erosion – The coating greatly retards the erosion process caused by hot corrosive gases flowing at high concentrations and velocities. This is most relevant in extending the life of the Center Thermocouple.
• Significantly longer life– The coating will allow quartz sheaths to last up to three times longer.

Increased yield. Decreased cost of ownership

Using TCs coated with EtchDefender™ allows a tool to run continuously and reduces maintenance cycles, resulting in:

• Increased process uptime
• Reduced process variation – more wafers can be produced per tool with higher consistency
• Reduced labor and increased safety
• Decreased risk of technicians igniting pyrophoric deposits, because of reduced maintenance requirements
• Decreased exposure of the chamber to oxygen, resulting in less time needed to purge the oxygen from all surfaces

Download our EtchDefender™ white paper. And learn more about our many innovative solutions for the semiconductor industry, including Conax LeakDefender™ Brand Thermocouples that enable real-time gas monitoring to minimize wafer loss and maximize thermocouple life.

SEMI^® expects capacity to top 30 million *wafers per month (wpm) this year

In its latest quarterly World Fab Forecast report, SEMI announced that global semiconductor capacity is expected to increase 6.4% to top the 30 million wpm mark. In 2023, capacity rose 5.5% to 29.6 wpm.

According to SEMI, “The 2024 growth will be driven by capacity increases in leading-edge logic and foundry, applications including generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC), and the recovery in end-demand for chips.”

Despite slowed capacity expansion in 2023 due to softening demand and the resulting inventory correction, SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha stated, “Resurgent market demand and increased government incentives worldwide are powering an upsurge in fab investments in key chipmaking regions and the projected 6.4% rise in global capacity for 2024. The heightened global attention on the strategic importance of semiconductor manufacturing to national and economic security is a key catalyst of these trends.”

The World Fab Forecast report covers years 2022 to 2024 and shows that the global semiconductor industry plans to begin operation of 82 new volume fabs in those three years, with the majority of those (a total of 42 fabs) coming in 2024.

Source: SEMI World Fab Forecast, Q4 2023 update

According to its website, “SEMI^® connects 3,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics design and manufacturing.” Read more about the World Fab Forecast at semi.org.

Click here to learn more about Conax Technologies’ unique and innovative solutions for the semiconductor industry.

*200mm equivalent

Visit us at Booth #2727 at POWERGEN International

Conax Technologies will be attending POWERGEN International in New Orleans January 23-25.

For over 70 years, Conax has been designing and manufacturing compression seal fittings, temperature sensors and cable and harness assemblies for a broad range of Power Generation industry applications.

Visit us at Booth #2727 to talk about our standard and custom-designed solutions, including:

• Patented Spring Loaded Exhaust Gas Sensors that eliminate premature sensor failures in 7F and 9F turbines
• Exhaust gas sensors for large frame and aeroderivative ground-based turbines
• OEM thermocouples with enhanced design features
• Air inlet thermocouples
• Wheelspace, disc cavity and compressor discharge thermocouples
• Flashback thermocouples, blade path thermocouples and rake assemblies
• Bearing sensors and seals

If you’re heading to POWERGEN International, be sure to stop and see us. If not, visit our power industry page, download our brochure, or send us a contact form to find out more.

Conax Technologies was added as a voting member for the Nadcap^® program during the annual meetings in October. A member of the Conax team was also invited to join the P-R-I Electronics Task Group that develops the Nadcap audit criteria and checklists for accreditations.

Additionally, Conax has been awarded Nadcap^® Merit status in recognition of superior performance and commitment to continual improvement in aerospace quality. Nadcap accreditation is globally recognized as a hallmark of quality and is a major accomplishment. By achieving Merit status, Conax has gone a step beyond.

The Nadcap program is universally recognized as the place for aerospace critical process experts to work together, putting quality above competition. Managed by industry representatives for the benefit of all, the Nadcap program adds value to its stakeholders through its integral role in assuring end product quality. In an industry where quality is mission critical, Nadcap works closely with the best of the best toward a mutual goal of making the flying public safer.

Nadcap is an industry-managed program. The Nadcap Management Council (NMC) is made up of Senior Quality Leaders and Managers from aerospace prime contractors (Subscribers) and Suppliers. The audit and accreditation process is overseen and managed by industry. For each critical process, product or system audited by Nadcap, there is a Task Group made up of technical experts from Nadcap-subscribing aerospace prime contractors (Subscribers) and Suppliers.

Conax is proud of its reputation for maintaining the highest industry standards, and we’re gratified to play an important role in conformity assessment along with technical experts from both the aerospace industry and government.

UK startup believes semiconductors made in space may be 10 – 100X more efficient than those made on Earth

UK startup company, Space Forge, is preparing to send a satellite into space to manufacture new semiconductor materials that can be used on Earth.

According to a recent article at space.com, the newest Space Forge satellite, ForgeStar-1, will soon ship to the US in anticipation of a launch at the end of this year or in early 2024.

Space Forge recently signed a collaboration agreement with US aerospace giant Northrop Grumman to provide space-made semiconductor substrates to be further developed in Northrop’s own foundries.

Manufacturing semiconductor materials is costly and energy intensive on Earth, but the vacuum and microgravity conditions of space could be conducive to developing completely new semiconductor materials more efficiently, according to Space Forge CEO and founder Josh Western.

“Producing compound semiconductors is a very intense and very slow process; they are literally grown by atoms,” said Western. “And so gravity has a profound effect, basically shifting the bonds between those atoms. In space you’re able to overcome that barrier, because there’s an absence of gravity.”

Western added that space also provides a perfect vacuum, which is necessary to protect the sensitive material from contamination. In factories here on Earth, this vacuum has to be created by industrial machines. The combination of the microgravity and vacuum of space can enable researchers to create semiconductors that are “10 to 100 times more efficient semiconductors than you have on Earth,” according to Western.

Read the full article here.

Conax has been the leader in the design and manufacture of compression seal fittings, temperature sensors and cable and harness assemblies for a broad range of applications across the semiconductor industry for more than 70 years. Our expertise has helped us develop custom solutions for our customers, as well as ground-breaking innovations like our patented  EtchDefender™ Technology and our LeakDefender™ brand thermocouples.

For more than 70 years, customers in the aerospace industry have counted on Conax Technologies to provide standard and customized solutions to their most complex challenges.

Our summary aerospace solutions brochure provides an overview of Conax Technologies’ custom-designed cable and harness assemblies, as well as our temperature sensors specifically manufactured for aerospace applications. Download our aerospace brochure.

Engineering expertise to solve your most complex challenges

Conax works directly with industry leaders to custom design, build, test, and deliver high-quality solutions for a wide variety of engines and applications, including:

Cable and harness assemblies

• Vibration cables for the CF6 80 Series engine
• Mineral insulated cable
• Cables for NEO 320 engines
• Cable assemblies for large Frame ground-based turbines

Temperature sensors

• Brake temperature system thermocouples
• Cabin/Fuselage Thermistor temperature sensors
• Combination Compressor temperature and pressure pickup sensors
• Exhaust gas temperature probes for CFM-56 engines
• APU air inlet RTDs
• Inner turbine temperature sensors

Our commitment to quality

• AS9100 with ISO 9001:2015 certification assures documented process control as we build partsfor a wide variety of critical aerospace components, including engines, airplane brakes/landing gear, and cabin/fuselage applications.
• Nadcap (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) accreditation, signifying our operations meet AC7121 audit criteria for electronics in the manufacture of cable and harness assemblies.
• ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited and AMS 2750F compliant calibration lab signifying Conax is fully competent to produce valid and reliable temperature calibration results.

View all Conax certifications and accreditations.

Find out more

Visit our aerospace page to learn more about Conax Technologies’ customized aerospace solutions. And be sure to view our video to learn about our proud heritage in the aerospace industry.

Search and rescue crews responded and safely rescued the pilot. Two devices designed and developed by Conax Corporation decades ago may have helped to save the pilot’s life, and Conax Technologies continues to machine products used in these devices.

The Conax Aid-Pak automatic inflator, which has been approved for field service use and qualified by the U.S. Navy, automatically inflates the pilot’s life vest even if the wearer loses consciousness or is otherwise incapacitated.

The Seawars parachute release system is activated upon entry into seawater to separate the parachute from the wearer’s harness. If the parachute isn’t detached, it could drag the downed pilot across the water, or the wearer could become entangled in the shroud lines and be pulled under the water.

Conax Technologies is proud of our lineage in the development of these products, as well as our ongoing role in their production. And we thank the brave men and women in our armed forces who serve our country so honorably.

According to a recent ElectronicsWeekly.com article, at the end of last year, there were 167 semiconductor fabs processing 300mm wafers for the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs) – including CMOS image sensors – and non-IC products, such as power discretes. By the end of 2023, the total number of fabs will grow to 180, and an additional 32 are scheduled to open by the end of 2025.

The 13 new fabs that will be brought online this year are primarily for the production of power transistors, advanced logic, and foundry services. Currently, 15 300mm fabs are scheduled to be brought online in 2024, and a record number 17 fabs are expected to open in 2025. According to projections made in Knometa’s Global Wafer Capacity 2023 report, the number of 300mm fabs in operation should exceed 230 by 2027.

Of the 13 300mm wafer fabs opening in 2023, five are focused on the production of non-IC products. Three of these will be located in China and two in Japan.

Two-thirds of the new fabs opening this year are for foundry services, with four of them wholly dedicated to the service of fabricating semiconductors for other companies on a foundry basis.

Read the full article here.

Learn more about Conax Technologies’ solutions for the semiconductor industry.