Issue



Europe


12/01/1997







Europe

Under a new contract, Siemens Semiconductor, Munich, will deliver 50% of its DRAM output from its newly opened North Tyneside, England, plant to Mosel-Vitelic, Taipei. The agreement, to be carried out over a 10-year period, is based on a monthly manufacturing capacity of 20,000, 200-mm wafers. Deliveries began with 16-Mbit DRAMs, and next year will be switched to 0.25-?m-based 64-Mbit products. The deal also includes test and assembly licensing.

X-Tronix Ltd., Cham, Switzerland, has sold a Riber MBE 49 molecular beam epitaxy system to Uniphase Laser Enterprise AG for delivery in 1Q98. Uniphase is a new production entity comprising a team of scientists and engineers recently employed at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory. The Riber MBE 49 is intended for multiwafer, high throughput production.

Balzers Instruments, Liechtenstein, has received an order from ASAT Ltd., Hong Kong, for additional chip carrier cleaners. The units will be installed in ASAT France, ASAT Wales, and ASAT Hong Kong, where a number of chip carrier cleaners are already in use.

HMReinraum-Technik GmbH, Donaueschingen, Germany, has received an order from DuPont Photomasks, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, for chemical distribution systems (CDS). HMR is the sole supplier of CDS for DuPont, which is building a new photomask fab.

Leica`s business unit Microtechnology, Wetzlar, Germany, has nearly doubled its cleanroom space in its German-Weilburg factory. Designed and built by Meissner + Wurst, the cleanroom is identical in concept, airflow, and raised floor design to the advanced international semiconductor fabs. The cleanroom will allow Leica the assembly and test of systems to meet the cleanliness requirements of 0.25- and 0.18-?m technologies on 200- and 300-mm wafers.

ATOMIKA Instruments GmbH is expanding its North American operations. The SIMS and total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF) tool supplier will offer sales, marketing, and customer support services to the US market. With headquarters in Oberschleissheim/Munich, the company has representatives in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan