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Government of South Australia - Department of State Development

    Hendon Semiconductors developing innovation in medical devices

    To tackle rapidly shifting global dynamics such as decarbonisation, geopolitical uncertainty, new technologies and disrupted supply chains, South Australia is leveraging our competitive advantages and embracing sovereign manufacturing.

    Innovation is one of six identified growth enablers that will support the development of a globally competitive and productive manufacturing capability, outlined in South Australia’s Advanced Manufacturing Strategy.

    The first manufacturer of semiconductors in the state, and one of only a handful in Australia, Hendon Semiconductors (HSC) has been designing, testing and manufacturing microelectronic products from its facility in Hendon for 65 years.

    Boasting a highly experienced team, the company partners with customers to speed up innovation within the state and Australia-wide, and delivers products to some of South Australia’s key industries, such as defence, medical, rail, power distribution, and the housing market.

    Executive General Manager Brenton Judge said HSC is Australia’s only commercial thick film hybrid facility, designing, manufacturing and testing right here in Adelaide.

    “These thick films are suitable for radio frequency, space, high temperature and heat-generating applications,” Brenton said.

    “But they’re relatively unknown to the current generation of Australian engineers because we’re the only facility in Australia manufacturing them.”

    HSC began its life in 1959 as Philips Semiconductors Australia before the management team bought out the company in 1997. Brenton said that the company has grown over the years to add new capabilities and supply to different industry sectors.

    “We extended our product range to support defence applications, working closely with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation on developing sovereign defence products,” he said.

    “We also added a lot of other applications, including thick film for medical products, as well as PCB assemblies for power supplies for trains, coating thickness measurement equipment, and dimmers and lighting control, to name a few.

    “We view ourselves as technology specialists, not application specialists, and so we work across a broad range of industries.”

    HSC was recently granted $605,561 through the South Australian Government’s $122 million Economic Recovery Fund (ERF).

    $14.8 million in financial assistance was offered through the first round of the ERF to local manufacturers to develop innovative projects.

    Hendon Semiconductors will use the ERF grant for its medical device manufacturing project, including introducing new capabilities:

    • A sterilisation chamber for products that may be implanted or come into contact with bodily fluids.
    • Class 10k Clean room for many classes of medical application, also important for optical component assemblies, and beneficial for die bonding and wire bonding processes.
    • Chip on board (COB) to reduce the size of devices, which is critical to produce miniaturised electronic assemblies.

    “The ERF grant will extend our existing capabilities to give us the ability to do, or offer an alternative for, almost all of the processes – except for fabricating wafers – within the semiconductor supply chain,” Brenton said.

    “The COB capability also gives us the ability to deal with high frequency parts, which are used in both medical contexts and defence.

    “If people need to use packaged parts, it can remove about 75 per cent of the options for high frequency applications, so this has a secondary knock-on to defence as well as medical.”

    There are more than 6,700 manufacturing businesses in South Australia, contributing an estimated 5.8 per cent of the state’s annual output and 20 per cent of business research and development.

    The $122 million Economic Recovery Fund was established to help local businesses and industry in key areas to grow secure, well-paid jobs, improve productivity, increase exports and support innovative, value-adding technologies.

    The ERF Round 2 will be open in August 2024 and will support investments in energy efficient equipment and other improvements in South Australia’s small businesses.