Park Systems Corporation Expands Optical Metrology Portfolio with Lyncée Tec Acquisition
Park Systems Corporation, a leader in high-quality atomic force microscope (AFM) solutions, has made a significant move by acquiring Lyncée Tec SA, a pioneering Swiss company known for its advancements in digital holographic microscopy (DHM®). This acquisition, announced on January 6, 2025, marks a crucial step for Park Systems in their pursuit to broaden their portfolio in optical metrology and semiconductor equipment solutions.
Founded in 2003 by researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lyncée Tec has been at the forefront of developing and commercializing DHM®. This innovative technology harnesses holographic principles to capture 3D information from samples across the entire field of view without requiring the traditional scanning methods, resulting in imaging speeds that surpass conventional optical profiling techniques based on interferometry by over a hundred times.
The acquisition follows Park Systems’ earlier procurement of Accurion GmbH, another major player in spectroscopic imaging ellipsometry, which signifies Park's commitment to becoming a comprehensive provider of measurement solutions tailored for the semiconductor industry. After the completion of this acquisition, Park Systems aims to integrate the capabilities of Lyncée Tec's DHM technology within its AFM platform. This will culminate in the development of a fully automated DHM system, customized for various applications in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly advanced packaging processes.
According to Dr. Sang-il Park, the founder and CEO of Park Systems, this acquisition is pivotal in their journey towards offering a more extensive array of solutions for semiconductor processes. Alongside this, Dr. Yves Emery, founder and CEO of Lyncée Tec, expressed excitement about the merger, highlighting that it combines expertise from two leaders in the fields of AFM and DHM, which could redefine the potential of nanometric scale metrology.
With over two decades of expertise in holographic imaging, Lyncée Tec has earned a well-deserved reputation for delivering reliable and high-performance instruments, balancing the demands of precision in both research and industrial production.
The team at Lyncée Tec has built a robust suite of applications that extends to material science, life sciences, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and manufacturing. This legacy of innovation is expected to be further enhanced through Park Systems' global reach and operational capabilities, thereby facilitating significant advancements in the usage of DHM technology.
Dr. Etienne Cuche, the inventor of DHM® and the co-founder and CTO of Lyncée Tec, noted that the global coverage of Park Systems is anticipated to result in substantial advancements due to enhanced visibility and operational proficiency in collaboration with a multitude of clients around the world.
Park Systems Corp. operates from its headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, with regional offices across America, Europe, and Asia, focusing on engaging with researchers and engineers in various scientific disciplines. The company's mission is to cultivate innovation at the nanoscale, driving progress in scientific discoveries across different sectors, including semiconductor companies and research institutions globally.
In summary, the acquisition of Lyncée Tec by Park Systems represents a strategic expansion designed to bolster their optical metrology capabilities, potentially transforming the landscape of nanometric measurements and semiconductor processing solutions. Lyncée Tec, backed by its strong foundational technology, is poised to thrive as part of Park Systems, ensuring that its groundbreaking DHM technology achieves its rightful recognition in the scientific community. Through synergistic collaboration, these two entities look forward to setting new benchmarks in the metrology domain, enhancing the efficacy and efficiency of advanced imaging solutions.