Letters
01/01/2000
Software success
In your editorial "Software: Key to the future of semiconductor processing" (Nov., p. 10), you mentioned that "Texas Instruments made an attempt to coordinate the software efforts of toolmakers, getting them all to use the same object-oriented software, but again with little success."
I'm not sure how you measure success, but I think we (Adventa Control Technologies) have made some progress. At the end of the 5-year MMST program in 1993, TI began to commercialize the machine design, processes, sensor technology, and software that had been developed. TI sold the software business unit responsible for this commercialization to the Gore Technology Group in 1998. We are now a stand-alone business and have licensed ControlWORKS, an object-oriented machine and process control software product, to more than 40 of the 60 largest semiconductor equipment OEMs.
By licensing a machine control framework and configuring it to run a particular tool set, our customers may focus on the core competency of their software development group.
Within our customer community, we have more than 200 engineers working in the same OO environment as our product development staff. The benefit is that 40+ companies are all working in and debugging the same code, resulting in short time to market; robust, feature-rich software; more reliable control; and a more productive production tool.
Carl Fiorletta, Director of Marketing
Adventa Control Technologies Inc.
Plano, TX
Some materials have lower surface resistance
We would like to comment on the October article "New material for cleanroom ESD control" (Tech News, p. 30).
The article claims there are products that are "two orders of magnitude lower in surface resistance (108 ohms/sq) than existing electrostatic discharge control technologies." However, my company's Semitron ESd products include materials that have surface resistance in the 104-106 ohms/sq range and are being used in cleanrooms. Semitron ESd 420 has a surface resistivity in the 106-109 range.
For nearly five years, DSM Engineering Plastic Products has been producing static dissipative polymers that are widely used to make static-safe components by many semicon manufacturing and testing equipment manufacturers. Most of the products in our ESd family are also capable of being used to temperatures above 400°F, whereas the materials mentioned in the article are basically limited to room temperature environments where no aggressive chemicals are involved.
Richard W. Campbell
Director of Research
DSM Engineering Plastic Products Reading, PA
Product line clarified
We would like to clarify several references made to AlliedSignal's product offerings in the article "The market for low-k interlayer dielectrics" (Oct., p. 42) by Shiuh-Kao Chiang and Charles L. Lassen.
The article identifies three AlliedSignal low-k dielectric products: FLARE, Nanoglass, and LOSP (also known as T23). Although AlliedSignal does maintain three low-k product platforms, LOSP is not among these. LOSP was taken off the market as of the first quarter of 1999. The correct low-k product offerings are actually FLARE, HOSP, and Nanoglass. FLARE is organic, Nanoglass is inorganic, and HOSP can best be described as a hybrid between a fully organic and inorganic material because it possesses properties of both types.
Also, Figure 2 on p. 44 refers to FLARE as "FLARE 2." In fact, a prior version of FLARE was called "FLARE 2.0." However, the current version is simply referred to as "FLARE." "T23" should be changed to "HOSP" in the same figure.
Lance Chapman
Marketing Communications Manager
AlliedSignal, Sunnyvale, CA
In our Market Watch article for October, we inadvertently refer to AlliedSignal's product LOSP (also known as T23). This product has been replaced by HOSP.
We understand that Flare 2.0 is now known as Flare. Thank you for the opportunity to make these clarifications.
Shiuh-Kao Chiang, Charles L. Lassen
Prismark Partners LLC
Cold Spring Harbor, NY