Communicant Semiconductor Technologies

03/01/2001

Communicant Semiconductor Technologies
Communicant Semiconductor Technologies AG recently announced its launch, with Intel and Innovations for High Performance microelectronics (IHP) as strategic investors. Communicant will be a "pure play" IC foundry, serving the wireless, broadband, and high-performance markets. It has concluded technology-licensing agreements with Intel and IHP; both companies will take equity positions in Communicant. A state-of-the-art facility, costing $1.5 billion, will be constructed in Frankfurt (Oder), about 50 miles east of Berlin in the German state of Brandenburg.

IHP, a microelectronics R&D center in Frankfurt, will provide a proprietary, high-performance silicon-germanium-carbon (SiGe:C) technology; Intel will provide a high-preformance 0.18-micron CMOS technology. These technologies, together with key intellectual property, will enable Communicant to provide modular, high-performance SiGe:C BiCMOS and CMOS processes for the fast-growing communications market.

The Communicant fab will be operational in 3Q02, with production-start planned for 1Q03. At full capacity, the facility will produce 30,000 200mm wafers/month. Prototyping services will be available as early as 3Q01, and "copy exact" procedures will give customers a seamless transfer to Communicant's volume production.

"The agreements with IHP and Intel are key competitive advantages," said Klaus Wiemer, Communicant CEO. "Our proprietary technologies and IP [intellectual property] will position Communicant as the world's leading communication-focused foundry serving fabless design and system houses, as well as the integrated device manufacturing community. Communicant's focus on silicon-germanium-carbon technology uniquely positions the new company to serve the growing high-performance communications semiconductor market segment."

ASML enjoys jump in growth and productivity
The booming lithography market sent revenues of ASM Lithography Holding N.V. soaring 82% in 2000, up to $2.02 billion. The company sold 70% more units — 264 scanners and 104 steppers, for a total of 368 systems. That compares with 217 systems in 1999, 152 scanners and 65 steppers. Those totals include sales of used and refurbished equipment, which jumped from 22 systems in 1999 to 38 in 2000. Also, the company received more for each unit: average selling price increased by about 7%.

"ASML is definitely gaining market share," says VLSI Research VP of operations, Risto Puhakka. "They have the highest growth rate of all the lithography companies. They're in the hot markets in Asia and the US, and they've been able to deliver the leading-edge technology with the least problems to the customer."

Earnings soared as well. Net income quadrupled, to $321 million, for a 15% margin on revenues, thanks to cost control measures and more production volume and experience. Gross margins on new equipment sales reached 42.9% in 2000, up from 33.1% in 1999. Overall gross margin, including that on service and on used equipment, was 41.4%, compared to 33.4% in the previous year.

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EURO BRIEFS

Trikon Technologies Inc., Newport, UK, has signed non-exclusive commercial supply agreements with ASM International NV. Under the agreement, Trikon will supply ASM with sputter etch modules and ASM will supply Trikon with atomic layer chemical vapor deposition modules to be integrated onto Trikon's cluster tools.

SOITEC, of Bernin in France, and Seiko Epson have announced a successful development by Seiko Epson to manufacture new circuits made on SOI (silicon-on-insulator) UNIBOND material. The new circuits on SOI will be used in the new model of Seiko's SPRING Drive watch, a wristwatch with SPRING Drive mechanism.

Infineon Technologies, of Munich in Germany, has joined the Industrial Affiliation Programs of IMEC (Leuven, Belgium) to collaborate in microelectronics technology and design- and system-oriented research. The companies will work on advanced CMOS process steps and modules, high k gates, low k materials and copper, and shallow junction formation. Infineon and IMEC will also enter into a joint lithography program focused on the sub-100nm region and deep-UV lithography processes with 157nm optical wavelength.

STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland) will purchase the assets of the Consumer Electronics (CE) business of RAVISENT Technologies Inc., a digital audio, video software and Internet appliance technology provider. ST will invest $55 million to acquire CE's assets, including the intellectual property of CE's CineMaster CE DVD technology software.

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Check out SST's April issue for a special section on European technology, including recent developments and new products.