In the microscopic world of semiconductor manufacturing, every movement of a wafer is a precise dance. When the chip manufacturing process enters the nanometer era, traditional mechanical handling methods can no longer meet the increasingly strict precision requirements. Pulim Semiconductor Co., LTD., located in Huzhou, China, is rewriting the industry standard of wafer handling manipulators with its independently developed air flotation rotating shaft technology and innovative design of ceramic chip forks. This enterprise, which was established only five years ago, has quietly emerged as a dark horse in the domestic semiconductor equipment field. Its product yield rate is as high as 99.99%, serving leading customers such as SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor.

The breakthrough application of air flotation technology has enabled Prim's mechanical hand to break free from the constraints of traditional contact friction. Through precisely controlled high-pressure gas, a stable gas film is formed between the rotating shaft and the supporting surface, reducing the coefficient of friction to nearly zero. This technology, which originated from the aerospace field, has been miniaturized in the hands of Prim engineers and successfully applied to the wafer handling scenario with a diameter of only 300mm. The measured data shows that the air flotation rotating shaft can control the positioning accuracy within ±0.001°, and the repeat positioning accuracy reaches ±0.0005°, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the traditional servo motor scheme. Even more astonishingly, the air flotation system almost eliminates mechanical wear, extending the equipment's lifespan to over 100,000 hours and significantly reducing the maintenance costs for semiconductor manufacturers.

In the field of materials science, Prim's innovation in ceramic plate forks is equally remarkable. In response to the industry pain points of electrostatic adsorption and particle contamination during wafer handling, the company's R&D team has developed a composite ceramic material with aluminum nitride (AlN) as the matrix. This material not only has excellent insulation performance (volume resistivity >10¹⁴Ω·cm), but also features high thermal conductivity (thermal conductivity 200W/m·K) and low coefficient of thermal expansion (4.5×10⁻⁶/℃), perfectly matching the thermal management requirements of wafers. Through a special surface treatment process, the surface roughness Ra value of the ceramic chip fork is less than 0.1μm. Combined with nanoscale coating technology, the particle contamination on the wafer surface can be reduced to less than 0.1 particles per chip. In the actual test conducted by a well-known memory chip manufacturer, the mechanical hand using Pulm ceramic chip forks increased the product yield by 0.2%. Calculated based on an annual production capacity of 1 million pieces, it is equivalent to creating an economic value of several million yuan.

The technological advantages of Huzhou Pumu Semiconductor Co., Ltd. stem from its unique R&D system. Dr. Zhang Mingyuan, the founder and CTO of the company, once served as the chief engineer of precision machinery at Tokyo Electron in Japan, leading his team to overcome numerous industry challenges. After returning to China, he formed a research and development team composed of experts from multiple disciplines such as mechanical design, materials science, and automatic control, and established the first dedicated laboratory for semiconductor handling equipment in the country. Here, every new product has to undergo an extreme test of continuous operation for 72 hours, as well as reliability verification under simulated extreme temperature (from -40℃ to 150℃) and humidity (10%RH to 95%RH) environments. This almost exacted R&D standard ensures that Prim products always maintain a technological leading position in international competition.

Market performance confirms the value of technological innovation. With its core technologies of air flotation rotating shafts and ceramic disc forks, Pumu successfully entered the mid-to-high-end market. In 20XX, it achieved a revenue of 320 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 180%, and maintained a gross profit margin of over 45%. What is more worthy of attention is that the company's products have entered the third-generation semiconductor field, providing dedicated handling solutions for the manufacturing of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) chips. With the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle and 5G communication markets, this layout will bring new growth poles to Prim.

Standing at the historical opportunity period of domestic substitution of semiconductor equipment, Huzhou Pumu is accelerating the advancement of its globalization strategy. The company has established a joint laboratory in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany to jointly develop the next-generation magnetic levitation transportation technology. Establish a technical service center in Yokohama, Japan, to closely meet the needs of international customers; At the same time, expand the intelligent manufacturing base in China and increase the annual production capacity to 500 sets. Chairman Li Wei said in a recent interview, "Our goal is to become one of the top three in the global wafer handling equipment field within five years, and to have Chinese-made precision machinery serve the birth of every chip in the world."

When the precision race in semiconductor manufacturing entered the sub-micron era, Pram Semiconductor wrote the answer to China's innovation with air flotation rotating shafts and ceramic disc forks. This low-key and pragmatic enterprise has proved that continuous investment in basic materials and precision machinery can also open up a path to the global technological peak. In Huzhou, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, a silent revolution in precision manufacturing is unfolding. Each of its technological iterations is laying a microscopic foundation for humanity's more powerful computing capabilities.