Gigaphoton inc./About Us/State-of-the-Art Factory

State-of-the-Art Factory

Gigaphoton’s laser light sources are manufactured at a state-of-the-art factory on the premises of its Oyama office. The Manufacturing Division at Gigaphoton has combined leading-edge information technology with the most advanced production technology, while promoting aggressive "Kaizen" Quality Control (QC) activities with the full participation of all employees. The result is high productivity of the most advanced excimer laser units. Moreover, the Manufacturing Division has focused on achieving environmentally-conscious manufacturing to ensure that employees as well as the local community can live healthy and high-quality lives.

[Factory Overview] [High Quality] [High Productivity] [Environmental Consciousness]

Factory Overview

Three features of Gigaphoton’s factory

High quality
High productivity
A high level of environmental consciousness

Our excimer laser light sources are manufactured at a dedicated cleanroom factory consisting cleanrooms of Class 5 through Class 8 (ISO 14644-1 cleanroom standards)/ Class 100 through Class 100,000 (US FED STD 209E cleanroom standards). The work flow of the Manufacturing Division encompasses sections devoted to Parts Management, Assembly, and Inspection.

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Parts Management Section

The Parts Management Section receives, inspects, stores, selects, delivers, and cleans the parts:

Selects and delivers the parts in a timely manner to the Assembly Section, based on instructions from the Production Management System.
Maintains online communication between the production management system and the automated warehouse in order to exchange information on the parts to be delivered and ensure efficient parts delivery.
Uses the most advanced measuring instruments, such as full-automatic 3D measuring instruments with the AI functions and high-precision interferometers, to completely inspect all received parts and ensure their quality.

Full-automatic 3D measuring
instrument with AI functions

Small-parts warehouse

Large-parts warehouse

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Assembly Section

At the Assembly Section, we ensure the proper use the cell production method₁₎and line production method₂₎corresponding to the characteristics of each module.

Frames are assembled on two lines for KrF and ArF lasers.
Chambers are assembled at high-cleanroom-grade booths in a cleanroom.
Optical modules are assembled in a down-flow cleanroom.
All assembly work is performed by experienced professionals in accordance with precise electronic manuals to ensure high quality.
All critical management indices are recorded in the Quality Management System.

Frame assembly

Booth dedicated to
chamber assembly

Assembly of optical modules

Cell production is a production method in which one or more worker stake charge of all the processes of parts mounting, assembly, machining, and inspection at a work bench called a “cell.” This method is best suited to high-mix, low-volume production.
Line production is a production method used to manufacture a large volume of a single product in a specified period of time. This system and best suited to the mass production of a product.

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Inspection Section

Post-assembly inspection is conducted by the cell production method, with a single staff member in charge of multiple cells. The use of automated inspection equipment allows automatic inspection on a 7x24 basis, thus shortening the manufacturing lead-time and enhancing productivity.

At Gigaphoton’s Manufacturing Division, all staff members participated in various “Kaizen” activities and make every effort for complete quality management. This ensures timely delivery of our world-highest-quality laser light sources to our customers worldwide.

Inspection cell

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