Jan. 23, 2002 – Tokyo, Japan – Furukawa Co. is set to launch a chipmaking equipment business, aiming for sales of one billion yen in the initial year.
The company enjoys the world’s top market share in high-purity arsenic metal, a material used for semiconductor compounds, reported the Financial Times.
The Furukawa group’s core company will produce equipment for metal organic chemical vapor deposition, as part of a line for thin film manufacturing.
Furukawa will install a demonstration system in March at its research center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, to promote sales.
In FY02, it expects to sell five to seven models.
Furukawa is also considering starting a business to recycle waste arsenic produced in the process of making semiconductor compounds.