World News
03/01/2001
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
Microprocessor giant Intel has earmarked $7.5 billion for capital spending this year, up from $6.7 billion in 2000. The funds will be used to support 0.13µm and 300mm process development. The spending plans mark a 10% increase over 2000 expenditures. The disclosure took most industry pundits by surprise, given the uncertain market outlook for this year.
Semi, San Jose, CA, presented the second-annual Bob Graham Awards for outstanding contributions in semiconductor equipment and materials marketing to Barry Rapozo, president of Tokyo Electron America and James Healy, president of ASAT Inc. Rapozo was selected for his abilities in relationship-building and in cross-cultural business development. Healy was recognized for his leadership in advancing the sales, marketing, and development of test equipment and processes.
Semico Research Corp., Scottsdale, AZ, forecasts wafer demand increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% from 2000 through 2005, staying at 11-12% through 2001, but slowing significantly to 3.3% in 2002. In the year just completed, wafer demand grew 18.8%, higher than the five year average. These data are part of the firm's recent publication titled "Semiconductor Wafer Demand 2000-2005: A Soft Landing in 2002?"
Leading US microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) developers recently launched the MEMS Industry Group (MEMS-IG), a new trade association based in Philadelphia, PA, to represent the growing $2 billion MEMS technology sector. The association's mission is to promote the exchange of information among members, provide data to further the development of MEMS technology, and work toward greater commercial development of MEMS and MEMS-enabled devices. Founding members of the trade association include Corning, Honeywell, Intel, XACTIX, and Xerox.
USA
Entegris, Chaska, MN, said it has formed a new specialized R&D company that will develop "breakthrough product concepts" and create new technology for license or sale to the open market. The new operation, OregonLabs, is based in Portland, OR. Oregon Labs will focus on invention and product development, with an emphasis on materials science. Initially, OregonLabs will concentrate its research efforts on the semiconductor industry, but projects with applications outside the sector are planned.
Corning Inc., Corning, NY, and Tropel Corp., Fairport, NY, have reached an agreement by which Corning will acquire 100% of Tropel's stock in a transaction valued at $190 million. Tropel is a precision optics and metrology instruments manufacturer for the semiconductor industry. Tropel will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning within its Specialty Materials division.
In other news, Corning will invest more than $30 million this year to expand the production of fluoride crystals at its Canton, NY, facility. This investment will double Corning's fluoride crystal capacity. Corning anticipates that 125 new jobs will be created over the next few years through the expansion. Construction is expected to be complete by late 2001.
Thin film deposition system supplier Novellus Systems, San Jose, CA, has completed its acquisition of Gasonics International, San Jose, CA. Gasonics will form the nucleus of a new surface preparation business for Novellus — Novellus Surface Integrity Group — and provide the key building blocks for addressing removal of yield-killing contaminants at 0.13µm and below.
Advanced Energy Industries, Fort Collins, CO, has completed its acquisition of Engineering Measurements Company (EMCO), Longmont, CO, in an all-cash deal worth roughly $30 million. The acquisition of EMCO is part of Advanced Energy's goal to integrate additional process components around process tools. EMCO manufactures electronic and electro-mechanical precision instruments for measuring and controlling the flow of liquids, steam, and gases.
Air Products and Chemicals and DuPont have teamed up to form a new company — DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials LLC — to develop, manufacture, and market colloidal silica-based slurries for electronic precision polishing or planarization applications such as silicon wafer polishing and CMP. The new company, to be known as DA NanoMaterials in the trade, will be headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. The venture will operate a state-of-the-art laboratory in Tempe, AZ, as well as an existing DuPont manufacturing and formulation facility in Ruabon, UK, which has been acquired by the venture.
BTA Technology, San Jose, CA, and Ultima Interconnect Technology Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, have finalized their merger. The new company will be called BTA-Ultima Inc., and will be located at the former BTA Technology headquarters in San Jose, CA. BTA's former president and CEO Zhihong Liu will be president of the new company.
Credence Systems, Fremont, CA, has acquired Dimensions Consulting Inc. (DCI), a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of high-performance ATE board designs and test socket systems. The acquisition will enable Credence to improve its cost of test by integrating previously distinct equipment into a single system that the company believes offers a complete flash memory solution. DCI was established in 1989 and has 15 employees.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said it has selected Applied Materials' Black Diamond CVD low-k film for producing TSMC's latest high-performance 0.13µm copper chips. The two firms are working together to extend the CVD low-k technology to TSMC's 0.10µm devices now in development. TSMC deposits Black Diamond film using Applied's CVD systems for both 200mm and 300mm wafers; Applied shipped additional Producer systems to TSMC in January. TSMC selected Black Diamond after two years of joint development with Applied, resulting in a demonstration on an eight-level copper structure with Black Diamond for all of the dielectric layers. Applied also reported that the CVD material will have a k value below 2.5 for 0.10µm technology, with atomic scale voids lowering the material's dielectric constant.
In a new agreement, Microcosm Technologies, Cary, NC, and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, will bring Sandia's MEMS technology, which represents an investment of over $60 million in the last six years, to the commercial sector. The agreement establishes Microcosm as an engineering resource for commercial MEMS development projects using Sandia MEMS technology. Under the Sandia agreement, Sandia will license a broad base of its MEMS technology to Microcosm and provide prototype manufacturing capability to Microcosm customers at Sandia's 30,000 ft2 Class 1 facility.
A shortage of electricians and clean pipe fitters has caused Intel Corp. to delay the opening of its $1.2 billion manufacturing plant in Colorado. The 120,000 ft2 cleanroom, originally slated to run silicon by Thanksgiving 2000, won't be up and running until later in the first quarter this year, says Chuck Mulloy, spokesman for Intel. While the labor shortage is the main culprit, other delays in retrofitting the building, purchased from Rockwell International last spring, have slowed the completion of the cleanroom. Mulloy says that because of Intel's unique construction methods, this job using the existing building has been a little more complicated.
Fairchild Semiconductor, S. Portland, ME, has signed an agreement to acquire Intersil Corp.'s discrete power business for $338 million in cash, making Fairchild the second largest power MOSFET supplier in the world. The deal is estimated to give Fairchild an approximately 20% share in the MOSFET market and is expected to be finalized during 1Q01.
To meet rising demand for silica glass in the optics industries, Heraeus Quarzglas GmbH & Co. KG has formed Heraeus Optics Inc. The move comes as part of the reorganization of its US subsidiary Heraeus Amersil Inc, Duluth, GA. The new Heraeus Optics subsidiary will provide silica glass used in ultraviolet and infrared optical components for microlithography and other excimer laser applications.
CVD Equipment Corp. has received an order for a custom, automated, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and gas abatement system from the Advanced Materials Laboratory of the Bechtel-Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, West Mifflin, PA. The order is valued at more than $900,000. The CVD system will use a fluidized-bed reaction chamber for the deposition of materials such as C, ZrC, SiC, B4C, Nb, Mo, and NbSi onto substrate materials, such as ZrO2, Mo, TiO2/Al2O3, C, SiC, ZrC, and Nb.
ON Semiconductor, Phoenix, AZ, has unveiled its advanced technology development center, the Broadband Technology Center, located in Phoenix. ON will use the center to develop advanced technologies and processes to introduce new families of ICs designed to help the Internet keep up with demand. The new facility will also serve as home to the company's advanced broadband development teams and new laboratory facilities. Through the center, ON will be able to offer advanced processes that address 10-40 gigabit applications.
JMAR Research Inc. (JRI) has contracted SAL Inc., South Burlington, VT, to build an XRS 2000 NanoPulsar x-ray lithography system. In addition to the JMAR laser plasma x-ray point source, wafer stepper, and supporting hardware, the NanoPulsar system includes a full field point source collimator provided by JRI and developed by X-ray Optical Systems under contract to JRI. The contract, issued under a DARPA-funded program, will be carried out in a series of phases. This initial phase is valued in excess of $1 million. The companies hope the completed system will achieve "better than 300nm resolution."
IBM, East Fishkill, NY, and LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas, CA, have entered into a technology licensing agreement in order to speed up the integration of digital signal processor (DSP) capability into custom chips for networking equipment, wireless handsets, and other advanced communications products. Under the agreement, IBM has licensed LSI Logic's ZSP400 DSP core and software development and design verification tools.
DuPont iTechnologies and Rohm and Haas subsidiary Shipley have signed a joint development agreement to produce fully formulated 157nm photoresists and anti-reflective coatings. The companies expect to bring this technology to market by 2003. As part of the agreement, Shipley becomes the first to license DuPont's proprietary fluoropolymer binder resin technology. Both companies are actively seeking chipmakers to support the development effort.
IBM has licensed Ibis Technology Corp. to manufacture and sell SIMOX-SOI wafers, using IBM's proprietary SIMOX process, to IBM and to all Ibis customers. Under the royalty-bearing license agreement, Ibis may use IBM's process to produce SIMOX-SOI wafers, which Ibis will market as Advantox-MLD. Under the agreement, Ibis grants IBM rights to Ibis patents utilized in its modified low-dose process. Ibis also will grant IBM warrants to purchase Ibis common stock.
Rodel, Phoenix, AZ, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Solution Technology Inc., will sell certain assets held by both companies to EMINESS Technologies Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, as the first phase of Rodel and STI's plan to strengthen service and support capabilities. The second phase of the plan, set for 2Q01, makes EMINESS Technologies the exclusive distributor for Rodel's products.
Lam Research plans to purchase a portfolio of CMP intellectual rights from competitor Strasbaugh, San Luis Obispo, CA. Under the terms of the agreement, Lam will also draw on Strasbaugh's engineering capabilities in a variety of projects. As a result of the deal, Lam will receive a minority interest in Strasbaugh and gains a seat on the company's board of directors. Lam's expenditures under the agreement total $14 million.
Brooks Automation, Chelmsford, MA, has received a multimillion dollar order for its 300mm sorter technology. The sale includes Brooks' MTX2000 and MTX4000 sorting systems for 300mm wafer management for deployment at a fab in Dresden, Germany.
Manufacturing operations and customer support activities at Photronics Inc. have gone into full production at its new facility in Phoenix, AZ. The grand opening ceremony was held recently, marking Photronics' move from its previous location in Mesa, AZ. Investment in the plant and manufacturing systems to date totals more than $30 million. The company expects to employ 130 people at the new facility within the next five years.
The Micron Technology Foundation Inc., San Antonio, TX, as part of Micron Technology Inc., Boise, ID, has established the Micron Science and Technology Program to recognize excellence in academics and leadership, encourage student to pursue high technology careers, and create an increased awareness of high technology careers. Micron will award a $50,000 scholarship to the winner and a total of $200,000 annually in college scholarships to 11 high school seniors.
JAPAN
Tohoku Semiconductor, Sendai, Japan, was expected to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola on April 5. Tohoku Semiconductor was established in 1987 by Motorola and Tokyo-based Toshiba as a DRAM manufacturing base. Toshiba is restructuring and will hand the reins of Tohoku over to Motorola. Motorola recently sold its Aizu-Wakamatsu Plant in Fukushima to ON Semiconductor, and wanted to continue to have Tohoku as its R&D and semiconductor manufacturing base in Japan, sources say.
NEC Electronics and its parent, NEC Corp., are moving ahead with plans first announced in June 1998 to invest $1.4 billion to build a 300mm fab adjacent to the existing NEC Electronics plant in Roseville, CA. The new line is now expected to begin operation in 2003, rather than the original target of 2002. Meanwhile, NEC Corp. is divesting its optical semiconductor as well as its microwave silicon and compound semiconductor operations. The divested operations will form a new company that will launch operations in October. The new company, with paid-in capital of 12 billion yen, is expected to generate first year sales of 120 billion yen with a staff of approximately 500 people. High Purity Chemical, Saitama, Japan, will start to supply cobalt sputtering target for magnetic RAM (MRAM) manufacturing applications. The purity of cobalt is as high as 99.999-99.9999%. Recently, chipmakers IBM and Infineon began to collaborate on development of MRAM devices, which use magnetic rather than electronic charges to store bits of data.
Sony, Tokyo, Japan, will increase production of CCD area image sensors to 3 million chips/month in Sony Kokubu, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu Island, by this month. With this increase, Sony's CCD production lines will be running at full capacity. The company has also disclosed that the firm will start production of CCDs at Sony's 300mm fab, presently under construction in Kumamoto, Kyushu Island, in October 2002 to meet the increasing demand for CCD imagers. Initially, Sony had planned this for 2003.
ASIA PACIFIC
Amkor Technology plans to open a semiconductor assembly and test manufacturing facility in China to provide packaged IC components for the Chinese cell phone, PC, and laptop markets. The factory, located in the Waigaogiao Free Trade Zone in Pudong, Shanghai, is expected to deliver its first products during the third quarter. Amkor will install equipment from its manufacturing facilities in Korea and the Philippines into a newly built shell facility to reach early production goals.
Rohm Co., Kyoto, Japan, will establish a 10 billion yen (US$86 million) discrete semiconductor complex with 21,000 m2 of floor space on a 110,000 m2 tract in Tianjin, China. The first phase of production will cost 6 billion yen and is scheduled to begin this spring. The plant will manufacture diodes, chip LEDs, and semiconductor lasers primarily for PC and digital consumer equipment makers in Asia. Rohm will also consolidate manufacturing from its existing local subsidiary, Rohm Electronics (Taijin), to the new site, to produce glass diodes, LED lamps, and transistors. The firm will be fully operational in spring 2002.
NEC Corp., Tokyo, said it will invest 35 billion yen ($300 million) in Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics in Shanghai, China, a joint chipmaking operation with Shanghai Hua Hong Group. The investment will aid Shanghai Hua Hong's plan to increase production capacity from 20,000 8-in. wafers/month to 30,000 wafers/month.
Nanya Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, has entered into a next-generation DRAM technology agreement with IBM Corp., in which IBM has granted Nanya a license to its 0.14µm and 0.11µm DRAM processes. This is an extension of a DRAM process technology licensing agreement signed by the two companies in 1998. Nanya expects to begin using the 0.14µm technology for commercial production in the fourth quarter, and 0.11µm in early 2003.
A Taiwan-based chipmaker has ordered 46 chemical management systems valued at approximately $13 million from BOC Edwards. The systems will provide uninterrupted delivery of process chemicals to various process points of use in the fab. Shipments began in 4Q00, and will continue into 2Q01 and 3Q01.
Numerical Technologies, San Jose, CA, and UMC, Taiwan, have entered into a licensing agreement whereby UMC will use Numerical's phase-shifting technology in commercial production. UMC plans to produce 0.07µm gate lengths as part of its 0.13µm WorldLogic manufacturing process. This technology will allow UMC to use its current 248nm lithography equipment to produce subwavelength ICs with 70nm gates.
EUROPE
The Microsystems Department of the Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), Malvern, Worcestershire, England, working with Surface Technology Systems, Philips, Olivetti, BCO Technologies, and VTT, has secured a 1.8-million euros ($1.7 million) contract from the European Commission's (EC) Semiconductor Equipment Assessment (SEA) Initiative. The MICROSPECT projects, will evaluate an ASPECT high rate deep dry etch cluster system, developed by Surface Technology Systems, during production of MEMS products designed by DERA and its partners.
PDF Solutions has opened new offices in Japan and Italy. Engineers based at the new office in Kawasaki, Japan, will work with local clients and PDF engineers from around the globe to implement PDF's design-to-silicon yield solutions. The technology center in Desenzano, Italy will focus on design of comprehensive test chips, or characterization vehicles, that will be used to model the impact of front-end-of-line and back-end-of-line process variables on circuit performance, reliability, and signal integrity.
Trikon Technologies, Newport, UK, has received an order for its Sigma fxP PVD system from wireless firm ANADIGICS. The Sigma fxP will be shipped to ANADIGICS with Trikon's cold electrostatic chuck for low-temperature, low-damage lift-off metallization.
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Big fish eat other fish
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A stunning year for merger and acquisitions, 2000 saw more than three dozen tie-ups in the semiconductor equipment industry, and was marked by the $1.8 billion mega-merger of Applied Materials and Etec Systems. While the level of semiconductor capital equipment merger and acquisition activity hit a new high in 2000, firms may tighten their M&A purse strings this year as the industry awaits indicators of a stronger market.
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e-Manufacturing surging ahead
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First, the semiconductor industry created the critical ICs to proliferate the Internet and its worldwide IT infrastructure. Now, chipmakers are on the brink of harnessing the power of this technology for their own manufacturing control. There is industry-wide international support for e-Manufacturing and, more specifically beneficial for equipment manufacturers, e-Diagnostics, where early, albeit cautious, efforts are emerging. For more information on what companies are doing to make this process viable, see "The sudden surge and interest in wafer fab e-Diagnostics" on p. 60.