While standard wafers have a thickness of 700 to 1,000 micrometres (with automatic handling via a vacuum gripper), thin wafers for the next generation of chips have thicknesses of only 50 to 150 micrometres: With chips on a thin-wafer basis, very flat housing forms can be realised, as required for portable devices like mobile phones or MP3 players.

However thin wafers have the disadvantage that they deform when touched by a gripper due to the thinness of the material and can easily break due to the fragility of the material. This makes it necessary to transport a thin wafer on a base (such as an air cushion) instead of with point contact. In addition it is important to know to what extent the wafers are warped before they enter the process.

Therefore in 2004, mechatronic systemtechnik entered a close partnership with Infineon to develop a technology that is unique in the world and that is in a position to transport thin wafers without contact from one process step to the next. The solution that has been developed and patented by mechatronic systemtechnik is based on the Bernoulli vacuum principle and enables handling with special grippers, so-called end effectors, with high throughput rates of 200 wafers per hours, a high figure for chip wafers. Another advantage of this technology is that the wafers are not damaged or contaminated.

The thin wafer technology, which was developed by mechatronic systemtechnik, is at present the only option in the world for automated transport of thin wafers. The development has been financed by Danube Equity, the Austrian Research Promotion Company (FFG), the Carinthian Economic Development Fund (KWF) and from the company's own cash flow.