Opal, Siemens in metrology co-op

03/01/1997

Opal, Siemens in metrology co-op

Applied Materials` newest acquisition, Opal Inc., is teaming up with Siemens Microelectronics Center GmbH & Co., Dresden, Germany, to explore 0.18-micron metrology.

The joint development agreement calls for the companies to develop system capabilities needed for the measurement of sub-0.25-micron structures. Izak Kapilevich, Opal`s CD-SEM product marketing engineer, said the Opal/Siemens project is "ongoing" with research taking place mainly at Siemens` Dresden facility, with additional work at Opal`s development facility in Israel. "Some of the issues are off-line programming and automatic programming, other issues are of a proprietary nature. There`s definitely a lot of work to be done," he explained. The extended capabilities will be based on current product offerings.

Kapilevich said the company has other agreements with "several leading manufacturers on the same basis as with Siemens." Opal, a producer of CD-SEM automatic wafer metrology systems, was recently acquired by Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA, for approximately $175 million in cash. Applied has also finalized the $110 million cash acquisition of Orbot Instruments, a supplier of wafer and reticle inspection systems based in Yavne, Israel. The completion of the two acquisitions brings Applied, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, into the metrology and inspection equipment market. According to industry research, the market served by products from Opal and Orbot is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 22%, from $1.25 billion in 1996 to $3.43 billion in 2001.

- Christine Lunday, Wafer News