March 5th, 2008
Picosun hires additional key personnel
HELSINKI, Finland – March 5, 2008 - Picosun Oy, Finland, an international manufacturer of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) equipment announces hiring new key personnel.
Technician (dipl.) Hannu Tervo has been appointed as Senior Mechanical Engineer. He has more than 20 years of experience in CAD-based mechanics design work with leading Finnish and international companies, including experience with thin film process module design. Mr. Tervo joins Picosun’s research and development team.
B.Sc. (engineering) Olli Vuolanto has been appointed as Facility Manager. He has extensive experience in designing and managing the building of advanced clean room microelectronics production facilities and production equipment. Mr. Vuolanto is responsible for creating an ALD reactor production and laboratory facility for Picosun.
M.Sc. (technology) Otto Laitinen has been appointed as Marketing Manager. Mr. Laitinen has several years of experience in ALD and other thin film deposition methods in international companies in Finland and abroad. Mr. Laitinen has joined Picosun in August 2006, initially as an ALD Technology Specialist. He is responsible for Picosun’s marketing operations.
Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Pekka Reinikainen of Picosun’s parent Stephen Industries Inc Oy has taken over responsibilities as Chief Communications Officer of Picosun Oy. Mr. Reinikainen has extensive international communication experience, including having worked as Head of Public Information for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Kosovo, and with the International Red Cross, where his latest appointment was in Geneva, Switzerland as project manager responsible for marketing communication activities supporting the organization’s 400 million Swiss Franc annual appeal for international assistance.
Picosun Oy develops and manufactures Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) tools for nanotechnology. ALD method was invented in Finland by Dr. Tuomo Suntola in 1974. Dr. Suntola continues as Executive Advisor for Picosun. With his help Picosun has succeeded in developing highly efficient ALD tools for research and development. The easy scalability of Picosun’s reactors also provides our partners with an effective pathway from R&D to production. Picosun is a part of Stephen Industries Inc Oy.
Atomic Layer Deposition is used to fabricate ultrathin and conformal thin film structures for many semiconductor and thin film device applications. ALD uses sequential self-limiting surface reactions to achieve control of film growth in the monolayer or sub-monolayer thickness regime. ALD is receiving attention for its potential applications in advanced high-k gate oxides, capacitor dielectrics and copper diffusion barriers in advanced electronic devices. It is also of interest in magnetic head gap fill, MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, also known as micro machines), and any advanced application that benefits from control of film structure in the nanometer or sub-nanometer scale.
Picosun’s mission is to provide its customers with user-friendly, reliable and affordable ALD tools. Picosun’s SUNALE™ ALD reactors can be easily scaled up from R&D to production. The wide range of reactor options and the ability to customize the tools up to end user qualifications makes Picosun the ultimate partner in ALD.
Picosun’s versatile reactor design enables conformal and uniform deposition of oxides, nitrides and metals on 3-dimensional objects, porous substrates and wafers from 2 to 8 inches in diameter. The reactor can be modified or later upgraded with a larger reaction chamber for minibatches or larger wafers, extra (liquid, gaseous or solid) precursor sources and various substrate loader options. With more than 30 years of continuous experience in ALD, the skilled experts and wide research network provide working solutions to Picosun’s customers.
Additional information:
Chief Executive Officer Kustaa Poutiainen or Managing Director Juhana Kostamo, Picosun Oy, Tietotie 3, FI-02150 Espoo, Finland, Tel. +358 50 321 1955,
Download the English press release here.
Download the Finnish press release here.
