Highlights of the 10th annual Semicon/Korea

02/01/1997

Highlights of the 10th annual Semicon/Korea

Technical conferences on flat panel display (FPD) technology, 300-mm wafer processing, and environmental health and safety issues were to highlight this year`s SEMICON/Korea show, which celebrated its 10th anniversary February 3-5 at the Korea Exhibition Centre (KOEX). The show will be 50% larger this year, featuring more than 800 exhibit booths representing semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing equipment and materials makers from more than 10 countries.

Flat panel displays. The flat panel display conference, held February 4 at the SEMI exposition, was to provide a venue for LCD manufacturers and their equipment and materials suppliers to exchange ideas and discuss new manufacturing trends. "The Koreans are investing heavily in flat panel displays, following the traditional model they have employed in semiconductor manufacturing," said Heidi Hoffman, manager of SEMI`s FPD Division.

Choon-Rae Lee, technology managing director at LG Electronics will chair the flat panel display conference, which will feature 21 papers from Korea, Japan, Europe, and the US, covering both active and passive matrix display technologies. Among key presentations are "Current State and Future of Large Area Color Plasma Display Panels," by Tsutae Shinoda of Fujitsu; "Sputtering Systems for Large Scale FPDs," by Masasuke Matsudai of ULVAC Japan; "Wide Viewing Angle Technology," by Kyung-Hyun Kim of Samsung Electronics; and "PDP-LCD Market Forecast," to be presented by Nomura Research.

SEMI is working toward the establishment of a standards executive committee in Korea to contribute to international FPD standards-setting efforts. SEMI also hosted an October materials handling workshop in Seoul.

Environmental issues. In addition to flat panel displays, SEMICON/Korea will host a conference on environmental health and safety issues. Semiconductor industry emissions of ozone-depleting perfluorocompounds (PFCs) will be the "hot" topic this year.

Aimee Bordeau, manager of environmental health and safety at SEMI, said several US semiconductor manufacturers recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce PFC emissions by the year 2000. Though some foreign companies have signed the MOU, including Symbios Logic, the US branch of Hyundai Electronics, it is not clear whether Hyundai or Korea`s other top chipmakers will adopt the EPA`s initiative.

"New fabs worldwide may eventually be required to show some improvements in the way they handle their hazardous products (particularly greenhouse gases) to get permits," said Denis Rufin, director of specialty gases at Air Liquide America in Walnut Creek, California.

The Environmental Health and Safety Conference, held February 3, was chaired by Gun Ho Cha of Korea Aviation University. In addition to PFC reduction, the conference included papers on global trends in environmental health and safety.

300-mm wafers. Another significant topic addressed at SEMICON/Korea was 300-mm wafer manufacturing trends, presented as a technical session at the show`s Semiconductor Technology Symposium. The program highlighted many of the key issues and challenges manufacturers are facing as the global transition approaches. Featured presentations presented by Atsuyoshi Koike of Hitachi; "The Global 300-mm Transition, Where Is It? Where Is It Going?," by George Lee, director of SEMI`s 300-mm initiative; and "300-mm Design Challenges" by Orly Mager of Asyst Technologies. Yoshinobu Hayashi of Tokyo Electron Ltd. discussed "Semiconductor Equipment Design in the 300-mm Era." - E.K.