At a glance
| Booth | H0001 |
| Website | s-team.sk |
Company profile
S-TEAM Lab, spol. s.r.o. traces its origins to S-TEAM, founded in 1990 by scientists from the Slovak University of Technology at Bratislava, with headquarters in Bratislava and an initial focus on advanced microwave measurement techniques, software and automated systems. S-TEAM developed into a Slovak microwave consulting laboratory, specialized-software developer and manufacturer of microcomputer-controlled microwave measurement instruments and microwave components, while its focus shifted from communications toward high-power industrial microwave applications. The organization later became two formally independent companies: S-TEAM Export is responsible for sales of new products, while S-TEAM Lab handles design, development, production and customer support including repair, refurbishment, maintenance, recalibration and consulting. S-TEAM Lab develops high-power microwave systems for plasma generation in semiconductor processes such as CVD and plasma etching, with other industrial applications including heating, drying, curing and vulcanization. Its HOMER autotuners provide fast automatic impedance matching under dynamic plasma loads at 900 MHz, 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz ISM bands, supporting continuous and pulsed operation with peak powers up to 100 kW. The company’s microwave product range spans WR975, WR340, WR430, WR284 and WR159 waveguides and includes HOMER Analyzers, bidirectional power meters, directional and bidirectional couplers, detectors, tuners, magnetron launchers, transitions, adapters and custom microwave components. S-TEAM Lab performs design, development, production, manufacturing, testing and calibration in-house, and its customized-component work covers scientific research through final testing. Its engineering tools include CST Microwave Studio electromagnetic simulation, SolidWorks CAD 3D modelling and programming, applied to passive waveguide, coaxial and microstrip components as well as industrial applicators and plasma systems. The company serves global OEMs, fabs and R&D laboratories across the EU, US, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and other markets, with products intended for demanding microwave and plasma environments. Its main technology families cover high-power automatic impedance matching, six-port vector reflectometry, directional power sampling, microwave power measurement and custom component engineering for industrial and semiconductor applications.
Exhibits
The HOMER (HOt MEasuRement) Autotuner combines a HOMER Analyzer with a motorized three-stub tuner, called the HOMER Mototuner, in one compact high-power automatic impedance-analysis and matching unit. The Analyzer section measures magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient together with incident, reflected and absorbed powers and frequency. The Mototuner uses three stepper-motor-driven metallic tuning stubs inserted into a rectangular waveguide, with the stubs spaced at nominally one quarter of the guide wavelength. Using measurement data from the Analyzer, the Mototuner performs fast predictive automatic impedance matching of time-varying loads in microwave heating, semiconductor or FDP fabrication, plasma and other industrial applications. HOMER supports CW, high-ripple Rectified and pulsed generator waveforms, can operate autonomously or through RS232 or CAN Bus control, and can use HomSoft for control, visualization and data logging as well as virtual instruments for LabVIEW integration. A hands-on training course is available for HOMER operation and applications, and listed Autotuner models include STHT 900 on WR975 (R9), STHT 2450 on WR340 (R26), and STHT 5800 on WR159 (R58). For high-power plasma systems, HOMER Autotuner ISM 2450 MHz on WR340 provides fast impedance matching under dynamic plasma loads to reduce reflected power and improve process stability at 2,45 GHz, while the 915 MHz WR975 version provides the same function at 915 MHz. The HOMER Analyzer is a high-power six-port vector-reflectometer-based impedance and power analyzer that measures reflection-coefficient magnitude and phase, incident, reflected and absorbed power, and frequency. HOMER Analyzer operation supports CW, Rectified and pulsed waveforms, external control through RS232 or CAN Bus, HomSoft control and logging on Windows, and virtual instruments for LabVIEW integration. The Analyzer is used to monitor process parameters in microwave heating, semiconductor fabrication and plasma applications, with the stated benefits of reducing manufacturing costs and improving fabrication-process quality. Listed Analyzer models include STH 2450 for WR340 (R26) at 2450 MHz, STH 900 for WR975 (R9) at 900 MHz, and the obsolete STH-C8-26 for a 70.7-ohm 8-26 coaxial transmission line at 2450 MHz. Microwave detector products include Schottky-diode and tunnel-diode coaxial detectors for 900 MHz, 2450 MHz and 5800 MHz, with models DM211, DM212, DM213, DM214, DM311, DM313 and DM314. Power-sensor products include PS112, a microchip-controlled linear temperature-stable coaxial sensor for 10 MHz to 3 GHz, and PMP112, a WR975 waveguide power-meter probe for 900MHz. Bidirectional power meters add microcontrollers for linearization and temperature correction, offer analog 0 to 10 V or 4 to 20 mA outputs together with RS232, RS422 or CAN Bus digital I/O, and measure incident and reflected powers so net delivered power can be derived. BPM112 supports WR340 at 2450 MHz with Pmax up to 30 kW, BPM132 supports WR430 at 2450 MHz with Pmax up to 30 kW, and BPM214 supports WR975 at 900 MHz with Pmax up to 100 kW. The exhibit-specific BPM112 description identifies diagnostics, monitoring and process control for high-power 2.45 GHz WR340 systems up to 30 kW, while BPM214 covers high-power 915 MHz WR975 systems up to 100 kW. A bidirectional detector combines a dual directional coupler with a detector in each coupler output port and can optionally include a DC amplifier in each output port. The resulting detector provides two DC output voltages corresponding ideally to forward incident power and reverse reflected power, although the voltage-power transfer curves can be nonlinear and temperature dependent. Bidirectional detectors simultaneously sample incident and reflected power so their difference represents net power delivered to and dissipated in the load, and a precision parent waveguide can optionally be part of delivery. At 2450 MHz, listed WR340 models include BD111 and BD111B using tunnel diodes and BD112 and BD112B using Schottky diodes, while WR430 models include BD131, BD131B, BD132 and BD132B with Pmax up to 30 kW. For other line types, BD142 is a 2 kW Schottky-diode 7-16 coaxial detector at 2450 MHz, while WR975 models BD211, BD211B, BD214 and BD214B operate at 900 MHz with 10 kW/100 kW ratings. The bidirectional-detector selection guide also covers the 895-925 MHz band across Coax 7-16, WR975, Coax 7/8" EIA, WR430 and WR340 line types, separating Schottky, tunnel-diode and amplified detector options. Manual, motorized and computerized tuners are used for impedance matching; STMT manual tuners use three-stub structures with wheel-and-crank adjustment, while computerized tuners add internal computers, a detachable color-LCD touch panel and RS232, RS422 or CAN Bus control. Model STMT WR975 is a manual three-stub WR975 (R9) tuner for 900 MHz, while STIT WR340 is a computer-controlled three-stub WR340 (R26) tuner for 2450 MHz. Coaxial Magnetron Launchers directly couple standard 2.45-GHz Panasonic or equivalent magnetrons to a 7/8'' EIA coaxial line, avoiding a bulky waveguide-launcher and waveguide-to-coax-adapter combination and using noncontact coupling to address sparking and overheating from imperfect galvanic contact. CMLD is a 2450 MHz coaxial magnetron launcher with an integrated bidirectional detector, while CML is a 2450 MHz launcher without the integrated detector. Waveguide-transition products at 2450 MHz include WTS141 and WTS142 from WR340 to WR430, WTS151 from WR340 to WR284, and the obsolete WTT141 tapered WR340-to-WR430 transition, all listed at 30 kW. Adapter products include WTA161 from WR340 to 7-16f coaxial at 2450 MHz and 500 W, WTB171 and WTL171 from WR340 to 7/8" EIA coaxial at 2450 MHz and 3 kW, plus WTA261, WTB281 and WTB291 for WR975 at 900 MHz with ratings from 1500 W to 20 kW. Customized microwave-component creation covers scientific research, development, design, manufacturing and testing for passive waveguide, coaxial and microstrip components, industrial applicators and plasma applications. Examples of developed custom components include waveguide power splitters, compact coaxial power splitters in 7/8'' EIA, 1 5/8'' EIA and 3 1/8" EIA sizes with defined phase shift in output arms, waveguide matched windows, and applicators for microwave heating and plasma.
Capabilities and products
- high-power microwave systems for semiconductor plasma
- 900 MHz/2.45 GHz/5.8 GHz automatic impedance matching
- pulsed microwave impedance matching up to 100 kW peak
- six-port vector-reflectometer impedance and power analysis
- bidirectional microwave power meter up to 100 kW
- high-power directional/bidirectional microwave couplers
- 900 MHz/2.45 GHz/5.8 GHz microwave detectors
- manual/motorized/computerized three-stub impedance tuners
- 2.45 GHz coaxial magnetron launcher
- custom high-power microwave components