Company News
-- Semiconductor International, 4/1/2001
Numerical Technologies Inc. (San Jose) signed a licensing agreement with UMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) that will allow UMC to use Numerical's phase-shifting technology in commercial production. UMC plans to produce 70 nm gate lengths as part of its 0.13 µm WorldLogic manufacturing process.Comdel Inc. (Gloucester, Mass.) broke ground on a 30,000 ft2 addition to its Gloucester manufacturing facility that will enlarge the production area and streamline other areas. The first phase of the project will be completed in May and the second phase in July.
Synetics Solutions Inc. (Portland, Ore.) moved its headquarters to a new 170,000 ft2 campus located in Southshore Corporate Park. Building 1 includes 125,000 ft2 of offices, development labs and clean manufacturing space. Building 2 is 45,000 ft2 and provides sheet metal, precision machining and welding capabilities.
ITS Intertrade Scientific GmbH (Munich, Germany) changed its name to veonis Technologies GmbH. The company has been a sales and service organization in the semiconductor industry since 1972 and was among the founding members of SEMICON Europa.
Lambda Physik AG (Gottingen, Germany) reached an agreement with joint-venture partner Jenoptik AG to acquire an additional 44% stake in MicroLas Lasersystem GmbH (Gottingen). The purchase will give Lambda Physik a majority share in the company. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
ASM International (Bilthoven, Netherlands) entered into non-exclusive supply agreements with Trikon Technologies Inc. The agreements allow Trikon to supply ASM with sputter etch modules, and ASM to supply Trikon with atomic layer CVD modules for integration onto cluster tools.
Microbar Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) was awarded ISO 9001 certification. This independent certification recognizes companies that meet strict criteria for manufacturing standards.
ATMEL Corp. (San Jose) opened an expanded facility in East Kilbride, Scotland. The extension includes a 345 m2 cleanroom for wafer-level testing.
MKS Instruments Inc. (Andover, Mass.) supplied 15 VTS-1B vacuum training systems to five polytechnic institutes and universities in Singapore for use in semiconductor process courses. The schools include Nanyang Technological University; Temasek Polytechnic, School of Engineering; the Institute of Technical Education (ITE Yishun); Ngee Ann Polytechnic; and Nanyang Polytechnic.
Extraction Systems Inc. (Franklin, Mass.) formed a new R&D group to address the protection of optical elements in advanced deep UV lithography systems. Optics contamination and protection issues will be investigated.
BridgePoint Technical Manufacturing (Austin, Texas) selected the Agilent Technologies 93000 SOC series test system. The system will be used to expand its high-speed digital and mixed-signal SOC test capability on semiconductor products.
Unitive Advanced Semiconductor Packaging (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) opened a new bumping facility in Hsinchu Industrial Park (Hsinchu, Taiwan). Unitive Semiconductor Taiwan Corp. (UST), which will operate the facility, completed production qualification and is ramping production for initial orders.
Asymtek (Carlsbad, Calif.) earned ISO 9001 certification. External auditing agency Det Norske Veritas certified the company.
Atomika Instruments (Tempe, Ariz.) installed its SIMS 4500 metrology tool at the Lawrence Semiconductor Research Laboratory Inc. This is the first secondary ion mass spectrometry tool at a SiGe foundry and will be used for research, design and quality maintenance of the SiGe wafer manufacturing process.
Intrinsix Corp. (Westboro, Mass.) opened new design centers in Munich, Germany, and Raanana's Industrial Park, Israel. The centers provide electronic product design services to Europe and the Middle East.
NSK Corp. (Bloomingdale, Ill.) formed a new company, NSK Precision America Inc. (Bloomingdale). The new company is a subsidiary of NSK Americas Inc.
Ultratech Stepper Inc. (San Jose) received its first order for its XLS 7500 i-line stepper from Branchy Technology Co. (Tao Yuan Hsien, Taiwan). The tools will be used to manufacture SAW and MEMS devices and will be shipped after the completion of Branchy's new fab.
Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector (Austin, Texas) successfully completed a copper dual inlaid multilevel interconnect demo with Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, Calif.) and Novellus Systems Inc. (San Jose). The demo used Lam's 300 mm Teres CMP system with linear planarization technology and 300 mm dielectric etch systems.
In addition, Motorola selected ASM America's (Phoenix) Epsilon E2000 as the SiGe epitaxy deposition equipment for its next-generation rf BiCMOS technology.
Brewer Science (Rolla, Mo.) received ISO 14001 certification and QS9000 certification.
Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) received an order for multiple Producer S300 CVD systems from UMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan). The units will be delivered to UMC's new 300 mm Fab 12A in Tainan City, Taiwan, and used to deposit a variety of dielectric films for the production of advanced sub-0.18 µm device applications.
Ultima Inc. (San Jose) has merged with BTA and changed its name to Celestry Design Technologies Inc.
Unaxis Management Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland) acquired SPTec Signal Processing Technologies SA and was renamed Unaxis SPTec SA. The company will be fully integrated into the compound semiconductors strategic business unit of Unaxis Semiconductors.
Aptix Corp. (San Jose) and STMicroectronics (Geneva) signed a joint technology development agreement covering the development and delivery of new technology for SOC design and IP integration. Terms of the agreement and exact technology covered were not disclosed.
Praxair Inc. (Danbury, Conn.) purchased Logistic Supply Co. LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary CSF Technology LLC. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
