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Partnering February, 2020
Agnitron Partners with Beckhoff to Create Dual-Use MOCVD System
By James Figy, Senior Content Specialist, Beckhoff Automation T
he semiconductor compound gallium oxide promises signifi- cant benefits across the elec-
tronics industry, improving the de- sign and production of high-voltage switches. However, the capabilities of this ultra-wide bandgap compound must first be proven by researchers, one of whom is Dr. Driram Krish- namoorthy, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Utah. “A required large-scale research
effort is now beginning in the U.S.,” says Krishnamoorthy. “The Universi- ty of Utah and Washington State University are part of the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research
(AFOSR) and the Multidisciplinary Research Program within the Uni- versity Research Initiative (MURI) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. These collaborative organi- zations examine the fundamentals of doping and defects in gallium oxide.” One limitation for this kind of re-
search is the quality of available metal organic chemical vapor deposi- tion (MOCVD) machines. While ex- ploring new systems, Krishnamoorthy discovered the Agilis platform from Agnitron. Since the design process began in 2015, the goal for Agilis has been to support customizable hard- ware and control through the Imperi- um-MOCVD™ software from Agni-
tron, but the company recently re- leased an unprecedented dual-use machine that can grow multiple semi- conductor material types. With minor adjustments over a few days, the dual-use Agilis can switch from growing beta gallium oxide to III-nitride materials. “If clients in R&D re-
quire funding, they can now pursue grants on more than one material system as a re- sult of the dual-use system,” says Ivan Yunchyk, director of controls and automation, Agnitron.
Customizable Systems The challenges of creat-
closed by the user or is interrupted for any reason. The Imperium recipe and routines execution runs outside the Imperium software itself and is controlled by the TwinCAT kernel, as
Under pressure to find a reliable and open control solution, Agni-
tron experts visited the U.S. head- quarters of Beckhoff in Savage, Minnesota. “The similar philoso- phies of the companies, with re-
gards to innovation through flexi- ble technologies, made Beckhoff and Agnitron an obvious match...”
ing a dual-use MOCVD platform and refurbishing legacy systems are simi- lar. While cost and reliability are key, the design process begins and ends with modularity. From software to in- dividual components, the machines must easily adapt to customer require- ments, whether that means additional HMI features, increased I/O count or enhanced processing power. The machine must communi-
cate in real time with existing sys- tems in a lab or production facility. For Agnitron, this includes enabling development-reactor and shower- head designs for high-quality materi- al production and rapid growth rates. Under pressure to find a reliable
wire stripper MIRA 340 The programmable Mira 340 is designed for
universal use while maintaining maximum precision. It is perfect for processing wires and insulation material with demanding requirements. The Mira 340 is fitted with a rotary head with 4X-blades and offers unique functions designed to reduce production time and increase quality. Thanks to sequential processing, multi-conductor cables and multi-layer insulation material can be processed quickly, thereby saving time and increasing productivity.
and open control solution, Agnitron ex- perts visited the U.S. headquarters of Beckhoff in Savage, Minnesota. “The similar philosophies of the companies, with regards to innovation through flexible technologies, made Beckhoff and Agnitron an obvious match,” says Dennis Sowada, regional sales manag- er, Beckhoff. The final selling point was the free technical support provid- ed by Beckhoff engineers over the phone and in person. In an industry where many ma-
chines still use separate PLCs and PCs, PC-based controllers provided key competitive advantages for Agni- tron. With modularity in mind, the Ag- ilis system offers two distinct solutions — the Beckhoff CX2042 embedded PC with a quad-core, 2.2 GHz Intel® Xeon® processor and the CX2040 em- bedded PC with a quad-core, 2.1 GHz Intel® Core™ i7 processor. Agnitron Imperium control soft-
komaxgroup.com See at IPC APEX, Booth 3852
ware takes full advantage of Twin- CAT 3 automation software from Beckhoff and the real-time Windows kernel. The time-critical diagnostic, safety and process control tasks are executed by the TwinCAT kernel with the tasks assigned to different cores of a multicore Intel Xeon processor. These tasks continue to execute even if the Imperium software is
it would be in a typical hardware PLC system. The speed, reliability and multicore capabilities of the modern Intel processors enable excel- lent real-time cycle times and per- formance. Two product offerings are avail-
able. First is a complete portfolio of OEM MOCVD solutions, designed and manufactured for various mate- rials and processes. Second is a standalone upgrade control package for a variety of legacy machines that run outdated and unsupported hard- ware and software. With combined technologies
from Agnitron and Beckhoff, the up- graded controls for legacy equipment support both analog and digital de- vices simultaneously and provide seamless control software reconfigu- ration to reflect the upgraded hard- ware, such as digital mass flow con- trollers (MFCs), pressure controllers, pressure transducers, and pneumatic valve actuators.
Maximizing Modularity Agnitron continues to produce
modular systems with competitive pricing and increased reliability, through its strategic choice of au- tomation and control technology. “The Agilis provides the highest
MOCVD mobility and aluminum in- corporation, and its record-setting low background concentration is crit- ical for low-doped drift layers for high-voltage power electronics,” says Krishnamoorthy. “No single platform currently offers this. In fact, I have pending proposals to explore III-ni- tride and gallium oxide integration for very high-voltage vertical device applications, and this platform will provide an affordable option for my research and projects at many other
institutions.” Contact: Beckhoff Automation,
13130 Dakota Avenue, Savage, MN 55378 % 952-428-7321 E-mail:
j.figy@
beckhoff.com Web:
www.beckhoffautomation.com r
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