USA

03/01/1999

USA

Applied Materials has completed its acquisition of manufacturing execution systems software supplier Consilium. Under the stock-for-stock merger, roughly valued at $82.4 million, Applied issued approximately 2 million shares of its common stock, after each share of Consilium stock was exchanged for 0.165 share of Applied`s stock. Consilium will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied.

In addition, Applied Materials and ASM International have completed negotiations to restructure an outstanding $65 million note ASM issued to Applied in Nov. 1997 from a settlement of patent litigation suits. ASM paid Applied $20 million on December 23, and will pay $10 million by Nov. 2, 1999, and $35 million by Nov. 2, 2000.

FSI International, Minneapolis, MN, has signed an agreement to acquire YieldUP International Corp., Mountain View, CA, a maker of cleaning equipment. YieldUP shareholders will receive $0.7313 and 0.1567 of a share of FSI common stock for each share of YieldUP stock. The transaction should be completed by late April or early May.

In addition, FSI has sold two POLARIS microlithography clusters to Shipley Co. to be installed in its Fab 2 and 3 R&D facilities in Marlborough, MA. One system will be used for DUV processes, and the other for i-line processes. The systems will aid in developing 193-nm resists and future resist technologies.

In its 4Q and year-end financial report, Intel disclosed capital spending figures for 1999 - down to $3 billion from last year`s actual spending of $4 billion. At the outset of 1998, Intel had forecast spending $5.3 billion, but scaled back the number as the market fell. Initial production of its 0.18-?m process technology has begun, and the first microprocessors made with the process will be seen in 1H99.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has named Karen H. Brown as its new deputy director. Brown was a Distinguished Engineer at IBM Microelectronics in Hopewell Junction, NY, and served as director of lithography for SEMATECH. Brown spent 22 years at IBM, where she concentrated on solving problems in semiconductor lithography and microelectronics, and has proven her ability to move ideas from the laboratory into manufacturing.

Although test silicon wafer supplier UniSil Corp. has filed for bankruptcy, the company is being acquired by investment firm Dimeling, Schreiber & Park, Philadelphia, PA. After the deal, UniSil will focus on beginning the transition to prime wafer work, said VP of operations Pat Curtis. New owner Dimeling will remain in a longer-term background role. UniSil CEO George Fiegl will take on a consultant role after the acquisition, while the rest of the management team and about 400 employees will stay in place.

KLA-Tencor has acquired the assets of Ultrapointe, a laser-based wafer defect analysis toolmaker, from its parent Uniphase Corp. Under the transaction, KLA-Tencor now owns the intellectual property, patents, and inventory for Ultrapointe`s confocal laser review station offering.

In addition, KLA-Tencor is making progress on its SEMATECH-funded development of a 248-nm mask inspection system. The 500-series system, which will be the first to permit at-wavelength inspection of deep ultraviolet (DUV) photomasks, will cost about $100 million to develop. KLA-Tencor expects to have fully operating beta-level tools in its laboratory in the second half of the year.

Under a new collaborative agreement, Semitool and IMEC will jointly develop a new ozonated water cleaning process. Development work will pull from IMEC`s own ozone-based cleaning technology, and focus on extending Semitool`s ozonated water process to include removal of high energy implanted resist. Semitool`s process, dubbed HydrOzone, is capable of removing various types of resists, including resists implanted at 70 KeV and 1014 atoms/cm2.

Motorola will cut 1999 semiconductor capital spending 50% to $900 million, from 1998 levels of $1.8 billion. The company is waiting for clear signs of a chip market upturn before resuming its aggressive investment plans. Part of the savings will be at the firm`s West Creek, VA, facility, construction of which was put on hold last fall. Another major fab project, in Tianjin, China, has also been placed on hold.

Novellus Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, has shipped its SABRE electrofill system to SEMATECH`s Advanced Tool Development Facility in Austin, TX. SEMATECH will use the system to characterize Novellus` Damascus Complete Copper dual damascene deposition solution.

Rockwell has completed the spin-off its Semiconductor Systems business, now called Conexant Systems. Shareholders received one share of Conexant for every share of Rockwell held.

AlliedSignal Specialty Chemicals, Morris Township, NJ, has agreed to purchase Southwest Microelectronic Materials Inc., Chandler, AZ, a privately held maker of high-purity process chemicals used in the semiconductor industry. Southwest, which specializes in formulating proprietary solvents, acids, and etchants, employs 17 people.

Ultratech Stepper Inc., San Jose, CA, a supplier of photolithography systems, has joined the Semiconductor Research Corp., a consortium of North American companies and government agencies engaged in planning and managing long-term university research for the semiconductor industry. Through the alliance, Ultratech will gain access to valuable research and intellectual properties.