USA

07/01/1997

USA

Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, and Novellus Systems, San Jose, CA, have called an end to their ongoing patent litigation battles, with Novellus agreeing to pay out some $80 million in damages to its rival. Novellus will also pay Applied a royalty for all future shipments of its TEOS-based systems. The settlement also brings an end to all outstanding patent lawsuits between the two competitors, including counterclaims and appeals filed by Novellus, and separate claims filed by Applied alleging that Novellus` blanket tungsten interconnect process infringes its own tungsten CVD process.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has made a $182 million set of purchases from Applied Materials. Most of the buy came in 2Q, with some in 1Q and 3Q. Delivery, to TSMC`s new Fab V and other facilities, will take place over the rest of the fiscal year. The order includes CMP tools, etchers for metal, oxide, and silicon; a high-temperature film system, and a variety of CVD tools including tungsten deposition systems. Also included are aluminum and barrier PVD tools, multiple xR80 ion implanters, and RTP systems. About a quarter of the tooling will be used by TSMC for DRAM production.

Novellus Systems, San Jose, CA, has entered a $150 million cash deal to purchase all assets of Varian Associates Inc.`s Thin-Film Systems unit. Novellus plans to expand its CVD business with a strategic move into the PVD market. All 450 people employed by the Varian unit will become employees of Novellus. In addition, Varian will purchase the remainder of its 60%-owned Korean semiconductor equipment joint venture Varian Korea Ltd.

The United States Display Consortium (USDC), San Jose, CA, has awarded photomask manufacturer Photronics Inc., Brookfield, CT, a contract for upgrading its manufacturing equipment for 1? lithography used in flat panel display manufacturing. The new equipment is scheduled to be in place at Photronics` facility in Colorado Springs, CO, by the end of this year. The USDC will provide $1.9 million of the $3.8 million contract, with Photronics matching the remaining funds.

In addition, the USDC has awarded a contract valued at $3.6 million to vacuum tool manufacturer Display Technology Systems (DTS), St. Paul, MN, to develop equipment to clean, align, and seal both FEDs and plasma display panels in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. The USDC and DTS are each providing $1.8 million in funding. The new equipment, which will be capable of aligning and sealing 1100-mm diagonal displays, is scheduled for installation at a beta site during 2Q98.

Operations of KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments have been integrated into a metrology and process monitoring company. Under a $1.3 billion, one-for-one stock swap deal, KLA-Tencor Corp., San Jose, CA, began operations on May 1. The new company is expected to have annual revenues of more than $1 billion. Under KLA-Tencor, there will be two business groups - one dedicated to the wafer inspection area and another dedicated to the metrology sector.

Suss Advanced Lithography Inc. (SAL), Waterbury Center, VT, has subcontracted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology`s NanoStructures Laboratory to develop an interferometric broad band imaging (IBBI) alignment and gap setting system. The system is expected to improve the performance of SAL`s x-ray stepper.

The flat panel display subsidiary of Telegen Corp., Redwood City, CA, Telegen Display Laboratories (TDL), expects to begin selling commercial TDL-FPDs next year. At its prototype facility in Redwood City, the company recently completed its first production-line integration of the unit processes needed for volume production of FPDs, and said the integration is an "internal milestone" in the commercialization of the TDL`s proprietary high gain emissive display technology.

Texas Instruments` selloff of its Software Business Unit will have no effect on its wafer fab operation and monitoring software groups, said a company spokesman. Sterling Software is purchasing TI`s applications development software business for $165 million, but the TI spokesman said only commercial businesses are included, with wafer fab software development being handled by an internal organization. There should be no change in marketing or distribution of TI`s Control Works fab software, which is commonly used to link wafer handlers to fab-wide networks.

Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI) won a round in its ongoing patent dispute with View Engineering over the use of 3-D sensors for IC lead inspection. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington overturned a March 1996 ruling by a Federal judge in California that had invalidated an RVSI patent. Now, the lower court will take up the case again, with the possibility of a trial at a later date.

Claiming unfair competition and patent misuse, CMP slurry maker Moyco Technologies Inc., Montgomeryville, PA, is suing competitor Cabot Corp., Aurora, IL, in Eastern Pennsylvania`s US District court. Moyco believes Cabot intentionally attempted to break an existing agreement between Moyco and Nanophase Technologies, Burr Ridge, IL. The suit, which requests declaratory judgment against Cabot, is in response to a patent infringement suit recently filed by Cabot in California. Moyco has filed a motion to have Cabot`s patent case moved to Pennsylvania; if successful, the two legal actions will be consolidated.

Advanced Technology Materials Inc. (ATMI), Danbury, CT, will acquire Lawrence Semiconductor Laboratories and related entities in a stock swap valued at $78 million. ATMI`s Epitronics business will be combined with Lawrence, which will become a subsidiary of ATMI.

Mass flow controller supplier Unit Instruments, Yorba Linda, CA, has formed a new business group to take its Z-Bloc modular gas delivery systems commercial, with plans to ramp up to full production levels in the next six months. The company has already shipped the first Z-Bloc gas systems

to Japan.

Applied Science and Technology Inc. (ASTeX), Woburn, MA, is expanding operations with a $6.35 million acquisition of Converter Power Inc. (CPI), Beverly, MA, a producer of switching power supplies. Under the deal, ASTeX has acquired all assets of CPI, and will incorporate the business into its operation as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The purchase amount includes some 45,000 shares of ASTeX common stock.

Equipe Technologies, Sunnyvale, CA, is searching for new cleanroom space, and has added three engineers as it strives to boost its monthly production capacity beyond the current 10-12 systems. The bulk of that business is in 200-mm front-end handling systems, although Equipe has started shipping 200-mm cluster tool robots and has several in development at customer sites.

Chip packager Tessera, backed by $40 million in equity investments, plans to expand its manufacturing lines in San Jose, CA, and start up a new operation in Singapore. The company recently received a $30 million equity investment from Investor AB, Stockholm, Sweden, and some $10 million in investments from several other of its investors. The proceeds from the investment will also be used for R&D work on batch, or wafer-level, processing of Micro BGA package.

Veeco Instruments Inc., Plainview, NY, has entered into a strategic marketing and manufacturing agreement with Edwards High Vacuum International, a division of the BOC Group. Veeco will manufacture the new Edwards Spectron 600T and 600D portable helium mass spectrometer leak detectors. Edwards will provide marketing, sales, and technical support for the detectors.

OnTrak Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, and Rippey Corp. have entered a joint agreement to develop Rippey PVA brush rollers. The first phase will focus on establishing a process performance baseline for current Rippey PVA brush with OnTrak cleaning systems. The intent is to improve the capabilities of the brush roller and demonstrate removal of particles for next-generation cleaning processes. The majority of the research for the program will take place at OnTrak`s R&D facility in Milpitas, CA.

Amkor/Anam, Chandler, AZ, and Flip Chip Technologies (FCT) have formed a strategic alliance to adopt bumped die for IC packages. Amkor will provide the volume IC package manufacturing, and FCT will provide the flip-chip technologies and applications. In addition, Amkor/Anam has entered into an agreement for an additional 12-month Managed Uptime program from Kulicke & Soffa Industries for its new ball grid array factory in Manila, The Philippines. The program covers more than 100 automatic wire bonders.

Advanced Silicon Materials Inc. has selected Praxair Inc., Danbury, CT, to supply hydrogen, nitrogen, and compressed dry air to its new polysilicon manufacturing facility in Butte, MT. Praxair will build and operate its on-site hydrogen generation system and an onsite nitrogen plant. In addition, Praxair has signed a contract with Samsung for a long-term supply of high-purity helium gases. Samsung uses the helium to produce optical fiber cable.

Hitachi America Ltd., Brisbane, CA, has signed a distribution agreement with Insight Electronics Inc., which will offer Hitachi`s customers product lines including microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory, ASICs, optoelectronic devices, hard disk drive ICs, and wireless communications components.

Solvay Interox Inc., Houston, TX, is forming a new semiconductor business unit that will produce ultra-high purity hydrogen peroxide. The unit is a consolidation of the company`s semiconductor grade hydrogen peroxide business, with sales, marketing, laboratory, and other operations incorporated into the business. The move is part of an on-going capital expenditure program at the company`s Deer Park, TX, plant, and follows a facility expansion that tripled the company`s semiconductor grade capacity.

Under a beta test agreement, photomask supplier Photronics Inc. will purchase an advanced Etec Systems Inc. laser imaging system. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The tool will be placed in Photronics` new photomask manufacturing facility in Austin, TX, where it will be evaluated through rigorous testing methods. The system is capable of imaging photomask substrates as large as 9 in. on a side, and could provide up to a 50% improvement in measured imaging placement accuracy and integrity performance over previous systems.

SEMATECH has purchased from CVC, Rochester, NY, an advanced copper interconnect deposition cluster tool. The consortium will focus on various uses of copper as the interconnect solution starting at 0.25-?m geometry in a pilot line that includes CVC`s CONNEXION cluster tool. In addition, SEMATECH has purchased a DEKTAK SXM critical dimension atomic force microscope from Veeco Surface Metrology, and has contracted with Veeco to develop the CD-AFM`s ability to measure and load photomasks into 300-mm compatible lithography systems.

Crysteco Inc., Wilmington, OH, is acquiring a 27,000 ft2 epitaxial facility in Allen, TX, from Fabico Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close this month. Crysteco`s chairman and CEO C. Ronald McSwiney said the new facility has a projected capacity of 680,000 wafers in 1998, and more than 1 million in 1999. This year the company is planning a $9 million re-engineering project at the facility to expand capacity. Fabico`s employees in Allen, and one of the facility`s three owners, will now be employed by Crysteco, McSwiney said.

Silicon Valley Group (SVG), San Jose, CA, a maker of DUV lithography systems, has opened a new development and manufacturing center in Ridgefield, CT, and plans to increase production of its Micrascan DUV systems to 200 units/year. SVG acquired the 200,000-ft2 building late last year under a $150 million expansion project, and said the new facility will increase companywide manufacturing capacity by five times 1996 volumes. By the end of this year, a spokeswoman said SVG will add more than 200 employees at the Ridgefield site, bringing the total number of employees based there to 500.

Plasma-Therm Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, an etching and PECVD supplier, has sold a multichamber Versalock to a leading manufacturer of thin-film heads in California, a Versalock 700 to a heterojunction bipolar transistor manufacturer in California, and a Versalock Mask Etcher to a large captive photomask manufacturing facility in the northeast. The company has also sold a Shuttlelock MEMS etcher to an advanced research laboratory of the US government.

Ultratech Stepper Inc., San Jose, CA, has received a multimillion dollar follow-on order from Motorola`s MEMS I facility in Phoenix, AZ, for three model 1500 steppers. Motorola will use the systems, which replace older technology scanning projection aligners, to manufacture advanced micromachining devices. Motorola will create lateral X/Y accelerometers.

Tegal Corp., Petaluma, CA, has received orders from LG Semicon Co. Ltd., Hungduk, South Korea, for a dual-chamber Tegal 6540 HRe- etch system, and from Canadian telecommunications manufacturer Northern Telecom Ltd.`s Advanced Components Group for a dual-chamber Tegal 6520 HRe- critical etch system. Both units feature Tegal`s rinse-strip-rinse process. LG Semicon will use the system for development of 1-Gbit DRAMs using high-dielectric materials in the capacitor structures. Northern Telecom will use its system for development and pilot line production of gallium arsenide substrate high-speed communication devices.

Mattson Technology Inc., Fremont, CA, has received multiple orders for more than $11 million worth of photoresist strip systems. Mattson will install the systems in four new manufacturing facilities in Taiwan`s Hsinchu Park. The DRAM and foundry fabs will specialize in advanced 0.35-0.25-?m processes, and are projected to produce a total of more than 100,000, 200-mm wafers/month.

Asyst Technologies Inc., Fremont, CA, a supplier of minienvironment and SMIF-based technology, has received a multiple-phase order from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), Hsinchu, Taiwan. Valued at more than $16 million, the order is for several hundred Asyst SMIF-LPT (load port transfer) systems to be delivered to four TSMC fabs within calendar 1997.

FSI International Inc., Minneapolis, MN, has received approximately $10 million in orders for its OrbiTrak and SCORPIO microlithography clusters, which are used in photoresist coating and developing of semiconductor wafers and other substrates. In addition, FSI has received an order for a POLARIS 2200 microlithography cluster from first-time customer Symbios Logic for its site in Colorado Springs, CO. The equipment will be used for deep UV processing.

Tencor Instruments, Milpitas, CA, has received an order valued at over $8 million from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Seoul, South Korea, for wafer inspection, film measurement, and metrology products. The order includes five Prometrix UV-1280SE thin-film measurement systems that will be delivered to Samsung`s new fab in Austin, TX. The systems will be used as the process control tool in the company`s CVD and diffusion sectors.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Lehigh Valley, PA, plans to roughly double the tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) capacity of its Hometown, PA, electronic specialty gas manufacturing facility to about 140,000 pounds/year. Air Products maintains the purity of its WF6 by manufacturing, purifying, and packaging the gas in nonreactive nickel vessels and cylinders, preventing metallic impurities from leaching into the product.

Electroglas Inc., Santa Clara, CA, has received an order from National Semiconductor Inc. for Horizon 4090 wafer probing solutions, which will be installed in a fab in South Portland, ME. National will use the systems in the production of highly integrated system level chips. In addition, Electroglas has received an order valued at more than $4 million for several Horizon 4000 series wafer probers from a US memory IC manufacturer. The systems will be used in the production of DRAMs. Installation is scheduled for completion in 3Q97.

The Microelectronics Materials Division of Olin Corp., Norwalk, CT, plans to build photoresist facilities to support its i-line and deep UV photoresists. The $20 million site will be built in North Kingstown, RI, and is set for completion in 2Q98. The facilities will operate in a cleanroom environment to accommodate high-purity requirements for next-generation photoresists.

MVSystems Inc., Golden, CO, has received orders for plasma enhanced CVD systems from Pacific Solar-Australia and from The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Calcutta, India. MVS has also been awarded a SBIR contract to conduct R&D in thermophotovoltics.