Irish Xsilence
Peter Conlon, the Chief Executive Officer of Xsil, doesn't like the term Start Up. He prefers New Company as Start Up has implications of new in the game and the people involved in Xsil are not new to the game. The core group responsible for the success of Xsil have all worked together before and have been successful before. In choosing to create a new company the group looked at the industry needs and saw an opportunity and took it. This was despite the new idea involving another technology.
Xsil began as a company in May 2000. The goal was simple. To develop a world-class laser micro-machining tool that would service a wide array of current and future needs for the semiconductor, photonics, biomedical, and MEMS industries. This sort of desire is not uncommon in a new company but Xsil has backed up the initial goal with action. In only two years, Xsil has grown to a team of 120, acquired repeat business from Fortune 500 customers, achieved ISO 9001-2000 certification and has won several awards for innovation. In a short space of time the company has established international recognition and has the tools and the orders to suggest the goal is not just a company mission. The reason for this turns out to have little to do with the luck of the Irish.
This is not Conlon's first venture. Indeed, he and his business partner, Patrick Rainsford have been building successful international technology companies since 1986 when they formed Lightband, a company dedicated to high bandwidth
colour video switching systems for dealing rooms. Since then the pair have began a number of successful and innovative technology companies in a variety of markets.
Core knowledge
Conlon initially trained as an accountant and worked with Ernst & Young in corporate and international tax and accounting. He did not find the work challenging enough after three years and developed new directions. Conlon joined the I.D.A. (Industrial Development Authority of Ireland) as an investment advisor; he spent many years as a project manager in the Enterprise Development Unit advising a large number of substantial start-ups.
Education was also important for Conlon and he was extremely busy at this time. He holds a DBS in business studies, is a Barrister at Law, a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, and a Member of the Institute of Taxation. In addition, he was a director and NED for several companies including Lightband Corporation, Mirabilis, APAX Capital Partners Ireland and MV Technologies (MVT). Conlon is also a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and the Institute of Directors in London.
"We made mistakes in the early days that became our learning curves," says Conlon. "Those early challenges ensured we prepared fully for any new project."
This attitude of preparation has served the business partners well and they have had a variety of businesses at any one time. At present Rainsford is heading up eMuse Corporation, a developer of interactive software for digital television. That company is developing new tools for multimedia whilst Conlon tends to things at Xsil. Strong professional bonds are vital to both men's successes, as the core group of people around each project have often worked on previous ventures.
In Xsil's case it is Adrian Boyle, the Chief Technical Officer, and Brian Farrell, Vice President of Engineering. Both men were involved in Conlon's previous company, MVT, an optical inspection company. MVT came into a strong market as the underdog and sold 400 tools over a five-year period. Both Boyle and Farrell worked for MVT and were vital to the success of the inspection company.
Core Competency
Dr Adrian Boyle, CTO is responsible for the extensive process technology research that is becoming a key to the company's success. Boyle was educated at Trinity College in Dublin. Having completed a BA. in Science of Materials, Boyle went on to complete his Ph.D., specialising in non-linear optical switching, optical wave-guides and high-powered pulsed laser system development. Before joining Xsil, Boyle worked with MVT as a Senior R&D Engineer, and played an instrumental role in developing an all-inclusive automated inspection solution for customers in the SMT industry.
Serving as Xsil's CTO, Boyle is a founding member of the company and in addition to managing the Technology Department, also has extensive interaction with prospective customers. Boyle brings an impressive pedigree in optics, lasers and materials in his responsibilities for R&D, Laser Systems Development, Semiconductor Process Development, and Applications Development. The approach is to explore and push the boundaries of current and new equipment to develop innovative approaches to existing and new challenges.
Brian Farrell is Xsil's VP of Engineering. Born and educated in Ireland, Farrell also attended Trinity College in Dublin. Farrell completed his BA in mathematics in 1987 and his BAI in Mechanical Engineering in 1990. He then successfully completed an MA in Mathematics in 1992 also at Trinity College. In 1996 Farrell completed an MED Masters in Engineering Design at University College Dublin. At MVT Farrell started as a Mechanical Design Engineer, working his way to become the Hardware Engineering Manager, and in 1999 became the VP of Engineering.
In addition to serving as VP of Engineering, Farrell is another founding member of Xsil. He heads up Xsil's substantial Engineering Department and is responsible for growing and managing a team of over 70 people. Having successfully implemented a controlled development environment within Xsil's Engineering Department, he has developed a structured engineering team that supports multiple products in a range of different industries.
Farrell is an intelligent and disciplined man and ensures that these traits form the foundation of the working environment for his team. He encourages his staff to use their initiative and every member of the team is invited to provide input and feedback. One thing that struck me as I visited the company was the enthusiasm of the staff. A commonly appreciated aspect of their jobs, shared with me by a number of engineers, was the ability to explore the areas of their expertise.
The idea for Xsil came about from general discussion with the future founders. MTV had become a success and had been approached for potential take-over. In its five years from start up, MVT became one of the world's leading suppliers of in-line AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) tools and solutions for the electronic assembly and PCB manufacturing industries. With over 400 tools installed worldwide, MVT's customers included Nokia, Motorola, Mitsubishi, Sagem, and several other Fortune 500 companies.
MVT was sold to Agilent Technologies in March 2001 for cash consideration in excess of Û100mn. Agilent has since moved the MVT equipment to a new site and that division has become a centre of excellence.
Xsil is a provider of innovative laser micro-machining systems for high volume manufacturing in the semiconductor, photonics, biomedical and MEMS industries. The micromachining technology provides chip free dicing of thin silicon and the creation of high throughput vias through silicon.
Xsil's capabilities are made possible through extensive R&D into laser material processing, in close collaboration with research institutes, universities, and laser manufacturers. In fact of the 120 staff employed by the company 75 are R&D. There are a number of Ph.D.'s devoting intense research at this early stage. The work has paid off with impressive results.
Knowledge control
Xsil has filed for over 20 patents in the last two years and believe they have technology that is second to none. One of the main issues they have solved is dicing thin silicon and without chipping or cracking. The ability to also reduce street width suggests a potential increase in number of die per wafer and overall yield. The issue of patents is very important to the company demonstrated by the employment of an in-house legal advisor.
"The one link to all the companies I have been involved with is strong IP," explains Conlon. "Setting up any new venture requires careful planning, talented people and a strong product. All of these issues can be dealt with before you start business."
The major focus of Xsil is the use of high-powered diode pumped solid state lasers for micro-machining. The first two areas the company has focused on is dicing and high throughput vias. The current methods are sawing for dicing and etch for vias. Other companies are using lasers but Xsil feels it has the edge due to the sheer number of dedicated hours put toward exploring the boundaries of the technology. This level of research has paid handsome dividends as Xsil has established a number of repeat clients already.
People power
Xsil's laser processing system technology is based on core competencies of optical and laser system design, robotics, vision systems, mechanical and electrical design, software design, and material handling. This approach allows the company to acquire 'off-the-shelf' components and integrate them into a packaged tool. Component manufacturers have developed strong ties with Xsil as they are discovering new levels of tool output they had not experienced.
The Xsil systems are capable of producing previously impossible microstructures and electromechanical systems. As mentioned the early sector focus is on vias and dicing. The Xsil tools have in-house software development that enables a level of control and flexibility unseen before. New structures, thin structures, unusual structures all become a simple proposition. Customers are using Xsil not just for the tools but the expertise the staff provide.
One of the most interesting things notable at the Xsil office is the office layout. An open plan office with rooms around the edge. The difference is that the rooms are for meetings and no one has a separate office. Everybody sits together including the CEO, Peter Conlon. The other impressive thing is the advert they placed in The Irish Times for 50 new positions. That is correct! The company is currently seeking 50 new employees. A fact that speaks for itself.
The staff is the most important asset to the company and the enthusiasm is contagious. The general feeling is positive, as they are able to challenge the current limitations of technology and develop new methods to industry problems.
The via capacity of the micro-machining tool enables vias through Si at high throughput, even for full-thickness wafers. The ability to drill from front and/or back of wafer. A bonus for environmental control is the fact that this dry process does not use water.
Even more impressive is the ability to drill from the front vias at high speed is achieved by two independent laser machining stations with central cassette load station. The tool has full SECS-GEM capability and fully automated processing. The tool requires very low maintenance and set-up time requirements means extremely high uptime in manufacturing. The team has developed a number of innovative methods to deal with vias for 3D packaging, future heatsinking needs and vias for backside contacting of die.
The dicing capacity includes automated tape frame handling from cassette and the impressive ability to dice wafers or packages on tape frame without damaging tape. Thin Si dicing will be a major aspect as the new tool can achieve this with no chipping. The dicing tool offers the smallest street width available, which means more parts per wafer and requires no water. The dicing system has the same software excellence as the via version does and will be able to meet a number of existing and future needs besides the thin Si dicing. These include multiple sized die on the same wafer, dicing multiple layers and materials and the ability to excise any shape die.
The potential applications and the early results show that Xsil currently has a tool set that is beyond the capacity of their competitors. The dimensions and ratios they are achieving have created new possibilities for designers and manufacturers alike.
The initial reason I gave this company the start up award was the research and impressive figures. After visiting the company and meeting the people I feel my decision was more than justified. I look forward to watching Xsil expand at an advanced rate.
