April 24, 2006 – The market for chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) products is expected to see strong growth as chipmakers continue to switch to copper interconnects, according to a new report from Linx Consulting, Boston, MA.

The market for slurries and pads used in CMP operations will reach nearly $1.8 billion by 2009, thanks to continued adoption of copper interconnect in memory devices, and increasing metal levels in logic devices.

The analyst firm projects the number of CMP operations will increase at a 15% compound annual growth rate through 2010, underpinned by production at the 130nm and 90nm nodes this year, and continuing through the ramp of 65nm semiconductor manufacturing processes later in the decade. Slurry and pad market leaders Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials (41% share) and Cabot Microelectronics (28% share) are expected to have the most success in terms of revenues, the report noted.

Mark Thursk, Linx Consulting managing partner, explained that the new report includes forecast models that examine CMP operations by device type, such as DRAM, flash, and logic applications, as well as the number of CMP operations as they pertain to copper, barrier, tungsten, oxide, STI, and polysilicon polishing applications. “For the first time this provides a very clear picture on where the CMP market is headed,” he stated.

The report also notes the impact of new suppliers, such as Cheil Industries, that have made inroads in the slurry market in Korea, and pad makers, including PPG, Praxair, SKC in Korea, and Toray in Japan.