Particles
07/01/2003
Metron buys Prudential's consumables division
IRVINE, Calif.—Prudential Cleanroom Services, a laundry services provider, has sold its consumable products distribution business to Metron Technology, a United Kingdom-based distributor of contamination control products and services.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, yet officials from both companies classified the deal as a collaboration that will strengthen product offerings to customer bases of both firms.
"It's a partnership," says Tom Watts, president of Prudential Overall Supply, parent of Prudential Cleanroom Services. "They are involved in consumables to a heavier degree than we are, whereas our specialty is the laundry end of it. There is a synergy between our organizations, and with the two of us partnering, we can grow the businesses better and faster as well as give better service to our respective customers."
Dennis Riccio, Metron's president and chief operating officer, agrees that the combination of expertise produces a combined value: "We have a division called the fab solutions group, which offers a myriad of services. One is cleanroom integrated services, and Prudential's cleanroom laundry capability is a good fit. They will help us further our consumables business and we will help further their laundry services.
Watts says Metron has hired Prudential's consumable products team, while Riccio notes that Metron will assume control of Prudential's service center and warehouse in San Diego, as well as another warehouse in Milpitas, Calif.—MAD
Leo salute?
ZURICH, Switzerland—The SEZ Group, a maker of single-wafer cleaning technology for the semiconductor industry, has unveiled its "Da Vinci"—a wet-surface-preparation spin processing product series.
The Da Vinci series footprint has been reduced by more than 75 percent over that of previous offerings. Its robotic handler can handle 200 wafers per hour, while new process controls enable full control and monitoring of all processing parameters, including flow rate, chemistry temperature and speed of chemical expansion.
Front and rear user interfaces let two users interact with the system and provide updated input in real time. One model, the DV-38F, can perform back-end-of-line polymer removal on the front side of up to eight 300-mm wafers simultaneously.—MAD
Nano U
ALBANY, N.Y.—M+W Zander, a subsidiary of the Jenoptik technology group, has received an order from the University at Albany (SUNY) for the design and construction of a new Nanotechnology Design and Research Center.
M+W Zander U.S. Operations Inc., the US subsidiary of M+W Zander, Stuttgart, Germany, will plan and construct the 215,000-square-foot complex that will include a 38,000 square-foot cleanroom.
First phase of the $15 million project is scheduled for completion in early 2004.—MAD
Gas classer
ROLLING MEADOWS, ILL.—The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), has released IEST-RP-CC031.1, Method for Characterizing Outgassed Organic Compounds from Cleanroom Materials and Components.
Developed under Working Group WG-CC031 chair Victor K. F. Chia, the recommended practice describes a test method appropriate for characterizing organic compounds outgassed from materials or components exposed to air in cleanrooms or other controlled environments. The method is designed to screen cleanroom materials for identification of outgassed compounds detectable by dynamic headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).—MAD