Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

February 6, 2009: Evident Technologies Inc. has been awarded a U.S. patent covering the ability to synthesize a semiconductor nanocrystal structure with a metal layer, which dramatically enhances the brightness and stability of the semiconductor nanocrystal complex.

Patent No. 7,482,059 “represents another major advance of semiconductor materials science and further enhances the breadth of the company’s expansive intellectual property portfolio,” the company announced in a news release.

“The issuance of this key patent highlights Evident Technologies’ position as a leader in the development of proprietary semiconductor nanocrystal technologies and provides Evident with broad protection in a rapidly growing segment of the market,” Clint Ballinger, Evident’s CEO, said in the news release.

“In response to growing industry demand, our scientists have worked diligently over the past several years to develop new bright, stable semiconductor nanocrystals.”

February 6, 2009: A new market news review, 2008 Nanoparticle News Review from BCC Research, provides a comprehensive overview of the global nanoparticle industry, offering detailed insight into current and emerging technologies and markets, the company announced in a news release.

BCC’s bi-monthly newsletter Nanoparticle News examines all major market segments within the area being researched, and provides an analysis of market drivers, major players, patent activity and other key market factors that are influencing or will influence market growth over the next four to 10 years.

Topics highlighted in this review include: progress in nanotechnology; processing and characterization of nanoparticles; applications in electronics, optics and optoelectronics; energy and environment issues; biotechnology and drug delivery; and carbon nanostructures.

A detailed market assessment reveals that the global market for nanotechnology will increase from $11.6 billion in 2007 to an estimated $12.7 billion by the end of 2008. It should reach $27 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3 percent, according to BCC.

February 6, 2009: Rice University materials scientists have put a new “twist” on carbon nanotube growth. The researchers found the highly touted nanomaterials grow like tiny molecular tapestries, woven from twisting, single-atom threads.

Carbon nanotubes are hollow tubes of pure carbon that measure about one nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter, in diameter. In molecular diagrams, they look like rolled-up sheets of chicken wire. And just like a roll of wire or gift-wrapping paper, nanotubes can be rolled at an odd angle with excess hanging off the end.

Though nanotubes are much-studied, their growth is poorly understood. They grow by “self assembly,” forming spontaneously from gaseous carbon feedstock under precise catalytic circumstances. The new research, which appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds a direct relationship between a nanotube’s “chiral” angle — the amount it’s twisted — and how fast it grows.

“Our study offers some clues about this intimate ‘self assembly’ process,” said Rice’s Boris Yakobson, professor in mechanical engineering and materials science and of chemistry. New theory suggests that each tube is ‘woven’ from many twisting threads. Each grows independently, with new atoms attaching themselves to the exposed thread ends. The more threads there are, the faster the whole tapestry grows.


Nanotubes grow like tiny molecular tapestries, woven from twisting, single-atom threads. (Image courtesy of Rice University)

Yakobson, the lead researcher on the project, said the new formula’s predictions have been borne out by a number of laboratory reports. For example, the formula predicts that nanotubes with the largest chiral angle will grow fastest because they have the most exposed threads — something that’s been shown in several experiments.

“Chirality is one of the primary determinants of a nanotube’s properties,” said Yakobson. “Our approach reveals quantitatively the role that chirality plays in growth, which is of great interest to all who hope to incorporate nanotubes into new technologies.”

The study was co-authored by former Rice research scientist Feng Ding, now assistant professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Avetik Harutyunyan of the Honda Research Institute USA in Columbus, Ohio. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Welch Foundation and the Department of Defense.

Feb. 4, 2009 – SEMI has released a “guidance document” for a photovoltaic standards roadmap that lists dozens of standards and guidelines it says are applicable to PV manufacturing to save costs and spark innovation.

PV manufacturing is being hotly pursued by many semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers as the next big growth engine, but the segment “has a highly specialized and unique set of needs,” notes Dan Martin, EVP of PV business development and global standards for SEMI, in a statement.

Key areas of focus in the standards document, which was put together by “industry stakeholders” including equipment and materials suppliers, cell and module manufacturers, and safety experts, initially include areas such as: wafer carriers and physical interfaces, chemical and gas purity, device tracking, equipment metrics, facilities, safety guidelines, silicon specifications, and process controls.

The “Global Photovoltaic Standards Roadmap Guidance Document” also describes planned collaborations with other standards development organizations, including ASTM International and IEEE, as well as increased participation with research laboratories such as NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) in the US.

The Roadmap’s next development phase, Martin noted, will identify and establish timelines for top priority areas in PV manufacturing where new specifications, test methods, and safety guidelines can be developed to further reduce costs within cell and module manufacturing.

Feb. 3, 2009 – As expected, initial financial results from semiconductor equipment for the December quarter are ugly, but what’s got analysts more concerned isn’t the depth of the low marks, but how long it’ll last. Bottom line: 2H09 should get better, but real recovery might take much longer.

Here’s a quick snapshot of early filings and postings from the past week or two, with analysts’ take on the numbers and exec’s commentary.

Applied Materials (AMAT)

Summary (prelim):
Fiscal 1Q09: Revenues $1.33B (-35% Q-Q, low end of -25% to -35% outlook), net loss -$0.09 to -$0.11/EPS (vs. outlook of $0.00-$0.04 profit)
Fiscal 2Q09 projected: N/A

Applied will announce official 1Q09 results on Feb. 10. Profits were hit by ~$200M in charges: $133M for “restructuring,” $48M “for doubtful accounts receivable,” and $20M for inventory writedowns. Look for more shutdowns and restructuring activities, as yet unspecified. Wall Street had been expecting sales of $1.43B and a profit of $0.02, per AMAT’s earlier guidance.

Analyst take:
Deutsche Bank’s Stephen O’Rourke acknowledges that other semiconductor equipment suppliers have already come out with their own lousy numbers, so AMAT’s bad news isn’t too surprising, though things are weaker than expected after a widening loss and an extended shutdown over the holidays. Blame is shared among the FPD sector (customer pushouts and cancellations), “already weak silicon revenue,” and lower-margin solar PV business. “We do not believe Applied’s more diverse business segment exposure will offer much respite in the present environment,” he writes. Adding larger investments in the lower-margin solar PV business (SunFab) “may conspire to make the coming quarters even tougher.”

FormFactor (FORM)

Summary:
Fiscal 4Q08: Sales $39.9M (-24% Q-Q, -67% Y-Y, EPS -$0.54 (n/i stock-based compensation), shipments $226M (-34% Q-Q)
Fiscal 1Q09 projected: Sales “in the low $30Ms,” non-GAAP gross margins ± a few percentage points.

Results were in line with reduced guidance announced earlier in the quarter (a recurring theme in the industry), though EPS was a bit below the Street’s -$0.45 EPS expectation. Outlook for 1Q, though, is well below the Street’s $39M projections. CEO Mario Ruscev indicated in the analyst call there was a weeklong shutdown in 4Q, there will be a week’s shutdown and maybe another in 1Q09.

Analyst take:
Mehdi Hosseini of FBR Research is “encouraged” by FormFactor’s commitment to reduce breakeven by 15%-20% over the next four quarters (to $50M-$55M) to limit further losses, but expectations of a business uptick from recent design wins cause hesitancy to trim much more (after announcing 22% layoffs just a few weeks ago). Despite market share gains vs. Japanese competitor MJC, though, “fundamentals have deteriorated so much that share gains are not enough to limit erosions in bookings/revenues,” he writes. Bottom line: new design wins have yet to turn into volume orders.

KLA-Tencor (KLAC)

Summary (prelim):
Fiscal 2Q09: Revenues $397M (-25% Q-Q, -38% Y-Y), net loss -$434M (vs. +$19M Q-Q, $84M Y-Y), EPS -$2.57 (vs. $0.11 Q-Q and $0.45 Y-Y), bookings $243M (*-25% Q-Q), shipments $327M (-22% Q-Q).
Fiscal 3Q09 projected: Revenues (Q-Q), Revenues $280M-$320M, non-GAAP EPS -$0.20 to -$0.35, orders flat to +20% vs. 2Q09.

Results included a $435M charge for goodwill impairment and intangible assets, without which profits would be basically breakeven. Wall Street had already taken this into account but was expecting a -$0.06 to -$0.07 loss.

Analyst take:
It’s not exactly optimism, but Deutsche Bank’s Stephen O’Rourke interprets less negativity for KLAC, saying its outlook is lousy “but not as weak as peers.” Aggressive cost-cutting (opex reduced to $140M-$145M/breakeven $300M-$325M quarterly sales, from midquarter plans of $165M-$170M/$350M-$400M, speak to expectations about the duration of this downturn,” he points out.

Lam Research (LRCX)

Summary:
Fiscal 2Q09 (Dec. 2008): Sales $283.4M (-35% Q-Q, -61% Y-Y, EPS -$0.19, shipments $226M (-34% Q-Q)
Fiscal 3Q09 projected (Mar. 2009): Sales $160M-$190M (-38% Q-Q, -71% Y-Y).

Lam actually beat Wall Street’s expectations for 2Q revenues by about 2%, though a -$0.09 operating profit was nearly double the Street’s -$0.05 projections. Gross margins fell to 38.5% from 42.3% in the prior quarter. The outlook for fiscal 3Q, with sales midpoint of $175M ±$15M, is well below the Street’s initial hopes of $244.4M. Gross margins are seen slumping to 23%-25%, with an operating loss of $70M-$90M and EPS plummeting to -$0.60 to -$0.80 — the Street had projected just -$0.16.

Reducing spend rate by $15M-$20M in Nov. won’t be enough in the current “Category 5 storm,” noted CEO Steve Newberry in the analyst conference call, so more cost reductions are coming for the March quarter, on top of a weeklong shutdown in February and salary reductions (up to 17% for himself). He’s also more bearish than most on 2009 fab equipment spending, predicting a -50% decline (vs. 40%-ish from recent analysts). “Companies that clearly are planning to do technology related buys are almost on a weekly basis saying yes then no, yes then no,” he said. “Literally just two days ago, $10 million of what we were scheduled to ship in this quarter were stopped at June.”

Analyst take:
No real surprises in the 2Q results, but Lam’s startlingly poor long-term outlook for an extended slowdown — 6-8 quarters, meaning 2H10, with profitability maybe two years out — sounds alarms across the semiconductor equipment sector, notes Stephen O’Rourke of Deutsche Bank.

Semitool (SMTL)

Summary:
Fiscal 1Q09: Revenues $33.1M (-45% Q-Q, -32% Y-Y), net loss -$7.4M (vs. $1.2M Q-Q, -$0.8M Y-Y), EPS -$0.19 (vs. $0.04 Q-Q, -$0.02 Y-Y)
Fiscal 2Q09 projected: Revenues $32M-$35M, shipments $33M-$36M, EPS -$0.02 to -$0.07 (incl. -$0.03 for restructuring costs)

Gross margins dipped to 43% vs. 52% in 4Q08 and 50% in 1Q08. Bookings were $22.1M; revenue backlog was $57.1M ($12.2M deferred revenue, $44.9M backlog); shipments were $31.7M. The quarter included a $3.5M writedown of receivables attributed to a “customer’s insolvency filing in a German court,” i.e. Qimonda. The company’s breakeven point has been lowered to about $33M, with another $6M in cost reductions in fiscal 1Q; added to previous efforts SMTL has reduced quarterly expenses by $50M-$60M/year.

Teradyne (TER)

Summary:
Fiscal 4Q08: Revenues $195M (-34% Q-Q, -25% Y-Y), 40% gross margins (vs. 43% in 3Q), net loss -$55.3M/EPS -$0.33 (vs. $16.7M/$0.10 EPS profit in 4Q07)
Fiscal 1Q09 projected: Revenues $125M-$145M, gross margins 33%-37%, non-GAAP EPS -$0.31 to -$0.38 excluding intangibles/restructuring/special items.

EPS would have been -$0.19 without “special items.” EBITDA breakeven reduced about 30% through 2009 to $165M. New cost-saving moves include a 14% layoff and 10% salary cutbacks in 1Q, reducing expenses by about $140M on an annualized basis.

Analyst take:
FBR’s Mehdi Hosseini warns against being too optimistic about TER’s cost reductions and outlook, suggesting that they won’t be enough to offset soft end-market demand. M&A activity (i.e., NexTest and Eagle Test) has helped gain share in semiconductor test equipment and hard-disc drives, but “the size of the pie is not getting big enough, soon enough.” Specifically to DRAM test, he writes, “we are still not convinced that, other than lower ASPs, there is any real differentiation to help meaningfully displace Advantest, the market share leader (with a 50%-plus share).” Bottom line, he advises, is to not look too soon for a recovery. “Although some of our peers may argue that the time is ripe for getting aggressive because ‘it cannot get much worse,’ we argue, counter to that, that ‘it cannot get much better, either, any time soon.'”

Varian Semi. Equip. Assoc. (VSEA)

Summary (prelim):
Fiscal 1Q09: Revenues $107.4M (-40% Q-Q, -58% Y-Y), EPS -$0.19 (vs. $0.57 Y-Y).
Fiscal 2Q09 projected: Revenues $60M-$70M (-35% to -45% Q-Q), pretax loss -$21M to -$25M

1Q sales basically met Wall Street’s lowered expectations of $107.9M, but not the Street’s expectation of a -$0.12 EPS loss. For fiscal 2Q analysts had been hoping for sales of $91M.

Analyst take:
The outlook is “frustratingly negative,” though VSEA is still dominant in its sector of implant, and sales declines are entirely indicative of the overall capex environment and not marketshare losses (in fact it’s actually making inroads into the high-energy segment), notes Deutsche Bank’s Stephen O’Rourke. Though like everyone else VSEA is suffering in the current climate, he thinks the company is “the best play on an industry recovery” — when it finally occurs in late 2010, or maybe later.

JANUARY 16, 2009–ROME, NY–The Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Association now offers all standards, selected technical and advisory reports, and the ESD TR20.20 Handbook electronically in PDF format.

All ESDA documents can be purchased by submitting an online order form or by faxing/mailing a printable form. Both forms and the current Press Catalog are available on the organization’s web site at www.esda.org. Orders may also be placed by phone at (315) 339-6937.

To contact ESDA, send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (315) 339-6937.

Source: ESD Association

January 29, 2009: Bayer MaterialScience is building a new facility in Germany that could churn out up to 200 tons of carbon nanotubes a year, making it the largest nanotube factory in the world, according to a company news release.

The company said it will invest around $29 million on the project, which should create about 20 jobs.

“We are investing in a key technology of the future that will open up a broad range of new applications for us,” said Bayer AG board member Wolfgang Plischke. According to the company, the global market for carbon nanotubes will grow by 25% a year. In 10 years, Bayer said, annual carbon nanotube sales are expected to reach $2 billion.

In December, the US Environmental Protection Agency gave Bayer MaterialScience regulatory approval to sell its multiwall carbon nanotubes — what it calls Baytubes — in the United States. The approval covered Baytubes C 150 P and HP grades, produced in a plant in Laufenburg, Germany with an annual capacity of 60 metric tons.

Baytubes can be added to polymer matrices or metal systems as a modifier or filler to improve their mechanical strength and/or antistatic properties, and are already used in epoxy, thermoplastic and coating systems, according to the company.


Bayer board member Wolfgang Plischke and German research minister Thomas Rachel pose with a model and a sample of carbon nanotubes. (Photo courtesy of Bayer MaterialScience)

Jan. 27, 2009 — Seeing no more synergies with its now-core technical and strategic areas, Germany’s Oerlikon says it has sold its Esec unit to Dutch firm BE Semiconductor.

Esec — which was acquired in 2000 (by what was then Oerlikon-Buehrle), later renamed as Unaxis and renamed back to Oerlikon in the fall of 2006 — makes die attach tools (bonders, flip-chip) and wire bonding products. Now, Oerlikon says these technologies are not synergistic with the group’s “core technological competences in the coating/thin-film sector,” in its press release that it would incur about 8% share dilution…with roughly 33.7M total BESI shares outstanding priced at €1.43/share (before the deal was announced), that calculates out to around €3.86M.

In addition to the Esec divestiture, Oerlikon says its etch business will be spun out via management buyout (though the wording suggested final terms are yet to be agreed upon), in a bid to narrow the focus of its Systems business on core PVD processes, serving semiconductor and optical disc sectors, while expanding into “clean technologies” and “advanced nanotechnology.”

Jan. 27, 2009 – Seeing no more synergies with its now-core technical and strategic areas, Germany’s Oerlikon says it has sold its Esec unit to Dutch firm BE Semiconductor, and expects a management buyout of its etch business.

Esec — which was acquired in 2000 (by what was then Oerlikon-Buehrle), later renamed as Unaxis and renamed back to Oerlikon in the fall of 2006 — makes die attach tools (bonders, flip-chip) and wire bonding products, and Oerlikon now says this “does not provide any synergies with the group’s core technological competences in the coating/thin-film sector,” it said in a statement. BE Semi, meanwhile, is already an “established player” in semiconductor assembly and die bonding systems. About 70 workers in Oerlikon Esec’s main site in Cham, Switzerland (out of 280) will be impacted by the sale, plus another 80 worldwide; another 70 employees will see extended reduction in hours.

Oerlikon didn’t indicate a pricetag on the sale, but BE Semi in a PR noted that it would incur about 8% share dilution; with roughly 33.7M total BESI shares outstanding priced at €1.43/share (before the deal was announced), that calculates out to around €3.86M. An analyst quoted by Reuters speculated Esec’s sales would have been US ~$86M-$130M with a $17M-$25M EBITDA loss in 2009.

Simultaneously, Oerlikon says its etch business will be spun out via management buyout (though the wording suggested final terms are yet to be agreed upon), in a bid to narrow the focus of its Systems business on core PVD processes, serving semiconductor and optical disc sectors, while expanding into “clean technologies” and “advanced nanotechnology.”

by Debra Vogler, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology

Jan. 26, 2009 – In a former life within the semiconductor standards and reliability engineering community, I advocated for the adoption of well-known reliability and maintainability engineering practices that have been used for decades in the aerospace and defense sectors. Only in the last few years, though, have some of these principles developed legs in the semiconductor equipment community — e.g., greater use of standard parts and commonality of designs, conducting FMEA/FMECA (failure modes and effects analysis/failure modes, effects, and criticality analysis) and using HALT (highly accelerated life testing) and HASS (highly accelerated stress screening). While not the only company adopting these principles, Crossing Automation’s entry into the ring comes at one of the most challenging of economic times for the industry and it was willing to provide supporting data to back up its claims of a comprehensive reliability program. Some of that data is cited below.

The company recently launched its ExpressConnect family of what it calls modular building blocks of automation components for vacuum wafer handling systems. Touting its approach as “configuration neutral,” the company says the system provides a 20%-70% smaller footprint with a throughput of up to 250wph.

The product family consists of five building blocks:

– Trans-Center (wafer load-lock),
– Multi-Wafer Buffer (a 4-wafer transfer module),
– Dual Wafer Load-Lock,
– Shuttle-Lock (to manage all wafer transfers in a system), and
– SEC-1000 (a common controller to drive the other sub-systems).

These modules can be connected together in different configurations to achieve specific system-level requirements; end users retain control over proprietary configurations that enable market differentiation on the basis of process.

Larry Dulmage, VP of marketing at Crossing Automation, told SST that HALT is conducted on critical mechanical sub-systems via highly accelerated duty cycles and motion profiles; these tests are conducted in vacuum and replicate the loads. “Electrical components (e.g., the controller) are subjected first to a HAST (highly accelerated stress test), including accelerated thermal cycles to demonstrate the forecasted MTBF [per the Coffin Mason criterion],” he explained (Figure 1). In addition, the controller was subjected to combined progressive thermal and vibration shock to determine the destruct limits (Figure 2). Long term reliability testing is still being conducted with mechanical cycling beyond HALT to mechanism wear-out.


Objective 1: Demonstrate 100k hours MBTF via thermal cycling. According to Coffin-Manson method, 26 cycles are needed to demonstrate and MTBF of 100k hours. The low temperature for the thermal cycle is 5C and the high temperature is 45C. Each temperature dwell cycle is 3 hours. This means 26 cycles in approximately 3 days. (Temperature measurements at 11 locations in the controller) (Source: Crossing Automation)
CLICK HERE for larger version

Reliability and maintainability must be designed into a product as well as maintained throughout the manufacturing process and field deployment, so the company conducts FMEA/FMECA as a part of its design for reliability methodology. “The focus is on all critical modules that have significant reliability risks associated,” Dulmage said. “The analysis is conducted early in the design process, critical design reviews are used to lower the risk priority of the identified failure modes.” Additionally, reliability risk for non-critical subsystems is done through vendor data and selected engineering analyses to verify overall structural integrity.


Objectives 2-3-4: Lower and upper temperature limits and rapid thermal cycling (temperature measurements at 11 locations in the controller). (Source: Crossing Automation)
CLICK HERE for larger version

According to Dulmage, the common fab practice of using the latest tools for critical applications and the older tools for non-critical applications has worked in the past, but it’s also expensive. Another model the company wants the industry to consider is shifting non-critical tools to less expensive applications. Some of the critical tools could be put toward other solutions that are more productive and cheaper to build than circular cluster tools. “Out of a very few parts, you can build lots of different solutions…building a process-specific tool, including the automation, that hits not only a throughput number, but also a cost number and a results-on-wafer capability,” said Dulmage (Figure 3).


Examples of system configurations using the standard building blocks. (Source: Crossing Automation)
CLICK HERE for larger version

The company also offers a cost-effective way to repair a system — and enhance cost-of-ownership — by exchanging parts. “By decoupling all the mechanisms, we make it much simpler from a repair perspective,” Dulmage told SST. The company has an exchange program for three primary components (the equipment controller, the z-theta mechanism, and the extension mechanism). Dulmage says that the company will provide replacements within 24hrs.

All manufactured parts, including the refurbished ones, undergo a detailed manufacturing characterization testing, which includes an accelerated burn-in testing (equivalent to HASS). “Data from manufacturing testing and refurbished parts is stored to drive reliability improvement programs and derive reliability estimates of field replaceable units [FRU],” said Dulmage. Replacement of the FRU is based on the number of cycles accumulated and on the measurement signatures acquired via the automated test capability of Crossing Automation’s remote client GUI. — D.V.