Particles...

12/01/2001

Applied Materials expands in PRC
Applied Materials Inc. opened a new facility and technical training center in the Pudong Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai. The 90,000-square-foot facility will incorporate a state-of-the-art Technical Training Center where engineers and customers will receive training of the company's sophisticated wafer-processing equipment used to make semiconductors. The Pudong facility will also serve as the company's regional center for administration, sales and marketing.—LJB

Coating maintains "like new" appearance
California Hardcoating Company (Chula Vista, CA) has released a clear, super-hard coating called Perma-New. The coating, based on a unique blend of silica and resin, is room-temperature stable 10 times longer than competitive coatings and needs not be refrigerated except during long-term storage. The coating can be applied in relative humidity as high as 75 percent. It can be used on many plastics, metals and other materials typically as a topcoat.—LJB

Pall unveils filtration technology
Pall Corp. (East Hills, NY) launched four new products to increase the purity of water and chemicals used in critical semiconductor processing. The products containing new advanced membranes—IonKleen AQ purifier, UltiKleen ST filter and UltiKleen Excellar filter—are designed to meet the needs of wafer wet cleaning processes. The PhotoKleen EZD-2 filter assembly is a microlithography filter for advanced, next-generation photoresist chemicals. The filter provides a consistent defect-free coating to the wafer surface.—LJB

Hodess wins award for industrial construction
The Associated Builders and Contractors Massachusetts Chapter named Hodess Building Company as the top winner in the category for industrial construction for projects larger than five million dollars. The winning submission was for a highly successful microelectronics plant Hodess built for R. F. Micro Devices in Greensboro, NC.

The facility was fashioned through a series of building renovations. The existing building consisted of 136,000 square feet of space originally built and classified as Group S Storage Occupancy. Hodess worked with A/E designer Lockwood Green in executing cleanroom construction, installation of emergency power systems, HVAC and controls systems, de-ionized water, clean dry air, process vacuum and acid waste treatment areas.—LJB

7 percent growth forecast for automotive semiconductor market
While the worldwide semiconductor market is expected to decline 26 percent in 2001, the worldwide automotive semiconductor market is forecast to grow 7 percent this year, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Inc. (Egham, UK). The market research firm said much of the growth over the next few years will come from developments that enhance the driving experience, such as telematics and real-time driver information systems, as well as in-car multimedia terminals for game consoles, Internet access and real-time travel guides and directions.—LJB