Flat screen production - a profitable niche for Swedish high-tech company

PRESS RELEASE
April 25, 1996
Flat screen production proves a
profitable niche for Swedish high-tech
company

High-resolution flat screens for computers and future wall-mounted TVs require high precision when it comes to the template, or pattern negative, used to provide the correct degree of sharpness across the entire screen. The same is true of shadow masks found in every TV and computer cathode ray tube (CRT). A Swedish company, Micronic Laser Systems AB, has grown in a short time to become one of the market leaders in supplying equipment for producing high-precision photolithographic masks. A list of customers includes Goldstar and Samsung in Korea; Hoya, Sony and Toshiba in Japan, and Bosch and Philips in Europe—as well as a number of manufacturers in the U.S.A., Taiwan, and China. What lies behind this success is a combination of the company’s far-sighted thinking and its own high technology.

“For the years 1993 and 1994, company’s sales amounted to about four million US dollars. Our sales for 1995 exceeded 12 million. Our market is skyrocketing, and for 1996 we’re aiming for more than 20 million based on the orders received so far,” says Nils Björk, the president

of the Swedish company that designs and markets laser equipment for the production of photographic masks.
Micronic’s first generation of machines for drawing photographic masks was initially developed for integrated semiconductor circuits. The machines use a special laser technology to draw a high-precision template on a sheet of glass. The glass is then used as one of several photographic masks to transfer the circuit patterns onto the semiconductor surface.
The process has gradually evolved, and, today, the company can offer equipment that will produce masks more than a meter square with better than micrometer precision. The company initially planned to use this technology for the LCD industry (laptop computers with liquid crystal displays), that needed better photolithographic processes in order to manufacture larger screens. However, it was the demands made by the manufacturers of large flat screens that led to a substantial breakthrough.
“At present, our ability to produce large masks having the high precision required has led to orders and pending orders from the leading manufacturers of CRTs and flat TV and computer screens. This doesn’t mean, however, that we are abandoning the semiconductor market,” says Nils Björk.
Nowadays, more and more companies are making use of this Swedish technology. A list of customers includes Goldstar and Samsung in Korea; Hoya, Sony and Toshiba in Japan, and Bosch and Philips in Europe—as well as a number of manufacturers in the U.S.A., Taiwan, and China.
The photographic mask equipment comes in four different formats: 1100 x 1100 mm, 800 x 800 mm, 600 x 600 mm, and 200 x 200 mm. The smaller masks are used in the semiconductor industry.
Micronic Laser Systems AB was founded in 1989 when the employees together with private investors and a Swedish fund for small-sized companies took over the assets their company. Today, the company has 50 employees, twice as many as a year ago. It is estimated that 20 more people will be added to the rolls during 1996./ins

Caption
The Micronic LRS 1100 uses special laser technology to draw a photolithographic mask of high precision on a sheet of glass. The glass is then used as one of several templates to transfer patterns for integrated circuit cards, shadow masks or flat screens.

For more information, please contact
Mr. Nils Björk, President
Micronic Laser Systems AB
P.O. Box 3141
S-183 03 Täby, SWEDEN
Phone +46 8-792 6095
Fax +46 8-792 2480.