Powerful processing portal

FREMONT, Calif.-Mattson Technology (www.mattson.com), a supplier of semiconductor wafer processing equipment, will collaborate with Asyst Technologies (www.asyst.com), combining Asyst’s Spartan Portal-an automated atmospheric equipment front-end module (EFEM)-with Mattson’s advanced manufacturing equipment. The combination seeks to provide chipmakers with reliable, low-cost-of-ownership solutions. As an integrated system, Spartan Portal is designed to provide higher throughput and reduced particle levels, is easy to integrate into 300-mm automated fabs, and claims to be more energy-efficient than other functionally equivalent systems.

Wiping the world

CHICOPEE, Mass.-Cleanroom wiper manufacturer Lymtech Scientific (www.lymtech.com) has opened a European warehouse in Ghent, Belgium. The company says its European customers are now receiving shipments in days rather than weeks. In addition to stocking polyester cellulose wipers and polyester knits, Lymtech also offers presaturated wipers.

Clear copolyester cannula

KINGSPORT, Tenn.-Smith & Nephew Endoscopy (www.endo.smith-nephew.com) has developed the Clear-Trac cannula system for use in arthroscopic surgery, using Eastman’s Eastar copolyester-a clear plastic that helps provide surgeons with an unobstructed view of the instruments and suture inside them, as well as the soft tissue that surrounds the surgery site. During arthroscopic procedures, cannulae provide sterile pathways to the joint that surgeons will treat. Each cannula in the Clear-Trac system features a cap or dam that prevents fluid from escaping during the procedure. The cap can be removed, letting surgeons clear small pieces of bone or soft tissue from the treatment area without having to remove the cannula from the incision.

New nanos are near

CLEVELAND, Ohio-A recent study by The Freedonia Group Inc. (www.freedoniagroup.com) indicates that nanomaterials (particle sizes between 1 and 100 nm) are beginning to establish a commercial presence in U.S. markets. By 2008, the report says, the market is expected to reach $1.4 billion, and exceed $30 billion by 2020. Early growth will come from niche applications, including semiconductor wafer polishing abrasives and improved diagnostic aids for medical uses. Healthcare and electronics are predicted to comprise nearly two-thirds of the market by 2020, and pharmaceuticals alone are expected to account for about 40 percent of overall nanomaterial demand.

Water for the weary

EAST HILLS, N.Y.-Pall Corp. (www.pall.com) has donated a water filtration system for the tsunami relief efforts which is capable of providing safe drinking water to 60,000 people a day. The system will replace a water treatment system that was destroyed in the Aceh province of Sumatra, Indonesia. The reverse osmosis system converts poor quality water into potable water in a single step. In addition, Pall has provided technical training to Technisches Hilfswerk, the German governmental disaster relief organization, which will operate the mobile system.

Moving to medical manufacturing

FLUSHING, N.Y.-Interplex Industries (www.interplex.com), a provider of metal stamped, plated, and plastic molded components, has established Interplex Medical-a full service contract manufacturer of medical devices. The new division provides product design and development services, prototyping, and manufacturing services to medical device OEMs. Product development, design and prototyping are performed at a facility in Milford, Ohio, that includes a Class 100,000 cleanroom for device manufacturing. Component manufacturing is performed at Interplex’s manufacturing facilities worldwide.

Containment company construction

AIKEN, S.C.-Global Containment Systems, developer of high-end containment products for government, commercial critical environments and isolation barrier systems, plans to build a 400,000-square-foot facility here to help alleviate what the company says is a significant backlog of containment and isolation barrier systems work. The Aiken plant will provide space for in-house engineering, design, manufacturing, in-place testing, integration, and process control verification.

Immense immersion innovation

HSINCHU, Taiwan-Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (www.tsmc.com) says it has used immersion lithography tools to produce fully functional 90-nm devices-an indication that immersion-based systems are nearing production-ready status. TSMC says it fabricated electrically functioning 90-nm SRAM chips using a 90-nm-node-capable prototype immersion scanner from ASML Hsinchu (www.asml.com). The wafer batch was split at ASML for both immersion and dry exposures at critical layer before metal. After developing the resist image, the wafers were sent back to TSMC to complete the fabrication steps. The company says yield, device characteristics and defect levels were comparable for both dry and wet scanners, and that the yield-related depth of focus of the immersion scanner is almost twice that of the dry scanner.

Agilent in array analysis acquisition

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Agilent Technologies Inc. (www.agilent.com) has acquired Computational Biology Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.), a biotech pioneer in ChIP-on-chip-a microarray-based technique for understanding gene regulation in disease. The acquisition gives Agilent exclusive access to critical patent and intellectual property for ChIP-on-chip analysis, enabling the company to provide proprietary microarray solutions for disease research, drug discovery, and drug development.

Improved inspections

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-An automated wafer inspection system developed by August Technology Corp. (www.augusttech.com) has been designed to improve throughputs at higher magnification levels, enabling device manufacturers to find smaller defects faster. Compared to its previous system, the company’s AXi-935 inspects wafers at throughputs 250 percent faster at 2-µm resolution. “The AXi-935’s resolution throughput detects killer defects two microns and larger at throughputs significantly greater than traditional micro inspection tools,” claims product manager Kip Boie. “This can provide significant value by allowing process engineers the opportunity to use a common advanced macro defect inspection platform across the litho, CMP, etch and deposition applications.”

Antibody analysis agreement

NEWARK, Del.-Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (www.sdix.com), a provider of antibody products and analytical test kits for food safety and water quality markets, has signed an agreement with MicroBioTests Inc. (MBT), a European supplier of complementary test kits, to serve as exclusive North American distributor for MBT’s Toxkit product lines. Strategic Diagnostics says the MBT products offer customers requiring cultural methods an alternative to expensive and labor-intensive protocols.

Clinic construction on campus

LEXINGTON, Ky.-The University of Kentucky will construct a 20,000-square-foot clinical manufacturing facility for sterile-fill products at its Coldstream Research Park here. The Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology (CPST) will be designed as a contract manufacturing facility to handle multiple product runs, including cancer-fighting cytotoxic drugs. It will include barrier isolation with cleanroom core, plus quality assurance/quality control facilities.

Leader for life science subsidiaries

CARROLLTON, Texas-John E. Lee, with 29 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and consulting industries, has been named director and chief operating officer of Dallas Metro Group’s Shotwell & Carr and Cardiovascular On-Call Specialists subsidiaries. Shotwell & Carr is a life sciences consulting firm devoted to providing governmental regulatory consulting services to pharmaceutical, medical products, and device companies. Cardiovascular On-Call Specialists supplies state-of-the-art portable ultrasound, echocardiography, and diagnostic equipment, along with trained technicians, to physicians, hospitals and nursing facilities.

Filtration FYI and FAQ

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-An upgrade to the American Filtration & Separations Society’s Web page (www.afssociety.org) includes functions for locating educational activities and finding current filtration information. The site’s “Ask the Expert” section lets visitors pose questions that will be distributed to and answered by industry experts. An AFS monthly e-mail newsletter includes One Minute Filtration, which is a concise educational summary of filtration technology trends. The Society also plans to introduce monthly Web seminars where visitors can register to attend a one-hour session on topics ranging from filtration basics to advanced classes for industry professionals.

Moving toward MEMS microfabrication

NORWOOD, Mass.-The MEMS Division of Apogee Technology Inc. (www.apogeeddx.com) will team with the research foundation of the State University of New York at Stony Book and the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (Sensor CAT) to develop technologies designed to produce a generation of ultrasensitive, micro-sized sensors. The research will focus on combining nanocomposite materials and silicon-based microfabrication processes to produce sensors for the industrial, automotive, medical, military and homeland security markets. The group hopes to develop technology that will increase the performance and reduce the cost of micro-sized sensors used in mechanical and environmental monitoring.

Funding for fuel filtration

EAST HILLS, N.Y.-The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Pall Corp. (www.pall.com) a $2.4 million grant that will further the company’s hydrogen separation membrane technology designed to enable low-cost, large-scale production of purified hydrogen-a renewable and pollution-free energy source that can be used to power fuel cells. Pall will work in a collaborative research effort with ChevronTexaco, the Colorado School of Mines, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the advanced membrane technology. The goal is to separate hydrogen from hydrocarbons and other compounds to create an energy source for hydrogen-powered automobiles. The partnership will deploy Pall’s AccuSep inorganic membranes as an enabling technology, serving as the substrate for a palladium alloy membrane structure that allows only hydrogen atoms to pass through it.

Filtration for food safety facility

WICHITA, Kans.-Air filtration systems design and equipment company Filter Technologies is supplying biological containment systems and high-purity air filtration systems for the Kansas State University Biosecurity Research Institute, under construction on the Manhattan campus. The institute will serve as an R&D facility for food safety and security studies, and has been created by the Kansas Legislature to provide facilities for bioscience research in the state. III