Picosun’s batch production ALD system delivered to Sensonor

Espoo Finland, October 27^th, 2010 – Picosun Oy, Finland-based global manufacturer of state-of-the-art Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) systems announced having installed the first of its new series of SUNALE™ P-300B ALD batch systems at Sensonor’s wafer fab in Horten, Norway, where it will be used in the production of microbolometer sensors used for thermal imaging.

Infrared sensors, based on microbolometers, detect objects radiating heat. Imaging infrared radiation makes it possible to see in the dark, or to detect hot spots. It is also easier to see through dust and smoke than with visible light. Applications can be found in several fields, e.g. thermography, security and automotive. A typical automotive application is the detection of pedestrians at night.

Picosun’s customer, Sensonor Technologies focus on products based on MEMS technology (MEMS = Microelectromechanical Systems), and serves the industrial sensor and transducer community with high precision applications. Sensonor's products are used in a variety of industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, maritime, and agriculture.

Sensonor has more than 25 years of first-class experience as pioneer and industry-leader in the global MEMS field. Since 1965 Sensonor has sold more than 200 million pressure sensors, more than 200 million accelerometers and more than 2 million gyroscopes to customers for use in numerous types of applications. A remarkable, less than 0.1 ppm (parts per million) field failure rate proofs the exceptionally successful reach for ultimate quality and trustworthiness of the company's products.

“We required high quality thin films for our specific application, and chose the Picosun SUNALE™ P-300 tool since it seems like a good combination of an R&D and production tool. Uniformity of the films has reached excellent levels and is to the full satisfaction of Sensonor,” says Stian Martinsen, Development Engineer at Sensonor.

Picosun's managing director Juhana Kostamo is all smiles: "Sensonor's experience is rock-solid proof that our concept of batch ALD systems produces exactly what we promised and expected. In the future no one needs to go any further than Picosun to get a full package of production-worthy ALD solutions."

"Sensonor, true to their remarkable tradition of quality and reliability, asked a lot from Picosun, and we are extremely happy to see that we have been able to meet those requirements," Kostamo says.

Picosun Oy is a Finland-based global manufacturer of state-of-the-art ALD systems for micro- and nanotechnology applications. Picosun represents continuity to over three decades of ALD reactor manufacturing in Finland. Picosun is based in Espoo, Finland and has its US headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. SUNALE™ ALD process tools are installed in various universities, research institutes and companies across four continents. Picosun Oy is a part of Stephen Industries Inc Oy.

Additional information:

Picosun Oy, Mr. Juhana Kostamo, Managing Director

Tietotie 3, FI-02150 Espoo, Finland

Tel. +358 50 321 1955;

Fax. +358 20 722 7012;

e-mail: info (at) picosun.com

www.picosun.com