06/01/1997  U.S. Filter Corp. has announced that its Membralox ceramic membrane filtration modules are now available with PVDF (polyvinylidine fluoride) plastic housings.

06/01/1997  Geneva -- New fabs built between 2000 to 2003 that will use 0.18 to 0.13-micron geometries on 300-mm wafers are estimated to cost $4 billion, predicts Dr. Alessandro Tonti of SGS-Thomson (Agrate, Italy) in a presentation during Semicon Europa in April.

06/01/1997  Geneva -- Nine pilot lines for 300-mm semiconductor wafer fabrication are expected to be in operation by 1998. The pilot lines are expected to produce 500 to 1,000 wafer starts per month (wsm). Another six pilot lines are expected in 1999 with high volume fabs (about 20,000 wsm) predicted for 2000, according to Dr. George A. Lee, director of the Global 300 mm Initiative. Lee provided an update of the global semiconductor 300 mm transition at Semicon Europa in April.

06/01/1997  Cypress Information Resources has announced the availability of the 1997 edition of The International Semiconductor Company Profiles Report -- Manufacturers. The 635-page report details the operations of over 400 wafer-fabrication- based IC companies throughout the world. The report includes information on over 800 company manufacturing sites and over 1,000 support facilities -- detailed information on manufacturing and production, foundry customers and suppliers, financial, facilities, products

05/01/1997  BOC Gases has begun constructing a SPECTRA-N 3000 on-site nitrogen generator for MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (St. Peters, MO). A long-time BOC customer, MEMC is in the process of an expansion that will increase its wafer manufacturing capacity while reducing unit costs. In addition to on-site nitrogen, BOC also will supply bulk trichlorosilane and bulk hydrogen chloride. Construction is scheduled to be completed in early 1997. BOC?s line of SPECTRA-N nitrogen generators provides ultra high-p

05/01/1997  TECNOL Medical Products, Inc., a manufacturer of disposable medical products, has completed a five-year, sole source agreement to provide disposable face masks to Premier, an alliance of hospitals and health systems. The agreement has the potential to reach approximately $130 million in total sales over five years, of which $60 million would be incremental new business. TECNOL, which had approximately $14 million in mask sales to Premier in 1996, expects sales of at least $18 million in the firs

05/01/1997  After reading the article on "Genetically engineered rubber newest glove material," (CleanRooms, Nov. 1996, p. 1) we felt it necessary to bring to your attention one of our newly acquired subsidiary companies, which has been producing Guayule rubber since the mid-1940s. During World War II, Mexico exported Guayule rubber to the United States to manufacture gas masks to be used for military purposes.

05/01/1997  The Institute of Environmental Sciences, Secretariat for ISO/TC 209 has announced the availability of ISO/DIS 14644-1, Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments -- Part 1: Classification of airborne particulates. The document is the first Draft International Standard (DIS) produced by ISO Technical Committee 209, Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments. Descriptors of this DIS include cleanrooms, air pollution, particulate air pollutant, and classification. This first ISO clea

05/01/1997  A:You`ve really picked a controversial issue! It should be easier to keep a small, "mini" enclosure cleaner than a big production floor filled with people and machinery. There have been lots of experiments, documented thoroughly, with legitimate data showing that mini-environ ments work. Few people dispute the general conclusions of these experiences, and because of that, most of our clients have at least seriously considered minienvironments, if they have not converted either a little or lot of

05/01/1997  Standard tests for comparison of garment systems are still non-existent, and the search continues for better, more repeatable data that demonstrates a real correlation to cleanliness level.

04/01/1997  Schuller Corp. (Denver, CO) has purchased the assets of Ergon Nonwovens Inc. (Jackson, MS), a manufacturer of melt-blown roll goods used in air and liquid filtration applications, polypropylene sorbents, surgical face masks and single-use respirators. The acquisition makes Schuller one of the largest non-composite melt-blown roll goods producers. Schuller subsidiary Schuller International b.v. has purchased the assets of Ergon`s European subsidiary, Ergon Environmental Fabrics b.v. Terms of the

04/01/1997  Geneva, Switzerland -- CleanRooms International, an international magazine from the publishers of CleanRooms magazine targeting the European and Asian contamination control industries, debuts this month at SEMICON/Europa (Geneva, Switzerland) April 15 to 17. The quarterly magazine will focus on contamination control, ultrapure materials and ultraclean process technologies used in the microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, biotech, health care, automotive, and food processing industries, among others

03/01/1997  "Working in concert with standard cleanroom delivery and conditioning systems, minienvironment technologies have emerged as the model for 21st century device processing."

03/01/1997  Phoenix, AZ -- Engineer-constructor Black & Veatch and constructor McCarthy have formed a venture, called BVM, to pursue design-build projects for semiconductor, computer and other electronics manufacturers. The new Phoenix-based entity will be headed by Bob Predmore, previously Motorola`s design and construction director. Prior to the formation of BVM, Black & Veatch and McCarthy collaborated on other projects for Texas Instruments -- notably its $1 billion MOS13/Advanced Products R&D Lab in Au

03/01/1997  Santa Clara, CA -- Chip Express Corp. has opened its 8-in. fabrication facility that adds 37,000 ft2 to its OneMask ASIC production. The facility`s new Class 10 cleanroom production area is almost 10 times larger than the old cleanroom and is designed for deep submicron processes. The OneMask facility is equipped with RIE-Etching machines, CVD for passivation and an assembly room for packaging. Recently, the company acquired an E-Beam photolithography system for the new facility. Expansion was p

03/01/1997  St. Peters, MO -- The first phase of a major fast track expansion project at the MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. silicon wafer manufacturing facility was completed in December. MEMC is increasing its manufacturing facilities by 200,000 ft2 that will include a new, two-level building -- an addition to its crystal puller facility; a four-level building housing support facilities; and a three-level EPI wafer facility of offices, mechanical support and cleanrooms, with an attached three-level, final

02/01/1997  Geneva, Switzerland -- Headquarters for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has just released its new Draft International Standard (DIS) for cleanrooms and associated controlled environments. ISO/DIS 14644-1, "Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments, Part 1: Classification of airborne particulate cleanliness for cleanrooms and clean zones" establishes three new classes of cleanliness. It also prescribes the standard method of testing, and includes a procedure for d

02/01/1997  Murray Hill, NJ -- Integrated Solutions Inc. (ISI) and Lucent Technologies will develop and sell manufacturing systems to make submicron ICs based on Lucent`s Scalpel electron-beam technology. The Scalpel technology will be licensed to ISI which will develop, market and manufacture support systems that permit semiconductor companies to make ICs with design features at widths as small as one-tenth micron or less. Current manufacturing design rules are at 0.35 microns, and 0.25-micron design rules

02/01/1997  A new videocassette from Texwipe demonstrates the proper use of cleanroom wipers in the semiconductor, disk drive, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing industries. "The Systematic Approach to Cleaning" is a 12-minute instructional video, written and produced by Texwipe. This video is an employee training tool for those who work in cleanrooms. Viewers are alerted to the high-cost of contamination in the various industries and how minute amounts of contamination such as fibers, particle

02/01/1997  The GAMA-2 automated wet station, from SubMicron Systems (SMS), can achieve throughput up to 500 wph with reduced cost per wafer. The GAMA-2 automated acid/solvent wet station can transfer wafers in double lots and with larger wafer lot sizes GAMA-2 can process up to 400-500 wph, depending upon process application. Up to 4-ply cassettes can be loaded at one time into a single 100 wafer cassetteless carrier. Continuous, fully automated loading/unloading of carriers and pods with built-in storage