Tag Archives: letter-pulse-business

ULVAC Technologies, Inc. (www.ulvac.com), a supplier of production systems, instrumentation and vacuum pumps for technology industries, has been selected by a global MEMS inertial sensor manufacturer to deliver an ULVAC ENVIRO-1Xa advanced plasma ashing system for running critical low-temp descum processes and high-temp bulk photoresist strip processes. These steps are crucial for the manufacturing of high-performance accelerometers and gyroscopes used in consumer, automotive, health and fitness, and industrial applications.

The ENVIRO-1Xa is the latest photoresist removal equipment from ULVAC, and offers superior performance at an exceptional price. The system is equipped with a versatile platform that can handle multiple wafer sizes, ranging from 4-inch to 8-inch in diameter. The system is capable of high-speed photoresist removal at more than 10µm/min, but has the process flexibility required for other important operations, such as; high-dose implanted resist removal, descum and surface modification, SU-8 and fluorinated resist removal, and MEMS sacrificial-layer removal.

Wayne Anderson President/CEO of ULVAC Technologies, Inc. states that “The sale of this ENVIRO 1Xa, for descum applications, serves to increase our market penetration in the global MEMS manufacturing marketplace, where we have been very successful with our MEMS product portfolio; which includes plasma etching equipment, sputter deposition equipment and the ENVIRO family of plasma ashing equipment.”

Versum Materials, Inc. (NYSE: VSM), a materials supplier to the semiconductor industry, announced today that it would expand its manufacturing capacity at its Delivery Systems and Service (DS&S) headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania. To support customer demand and the growth in its DS&S business, new positions will be created for highly skilled technicians, engineers, quality control personnel, and manufacturing and support staff.

The timing of the expansion aligns with the 25th anniversary of manufacturing at the Allentown location. The 31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility was established in 1992 as the Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing Center (SEMC) of Air Products, which Versum Materials spun-off from in October 2016. The facility will be rebranded Vultee Street as part of this announcement.

The manufacturing capacity expansion will serve the semiconductor, LCD and LED markets around the globe with gas and chemical delivery equipment designed to meet their precise purity and safety requirements. This investment will increase the production of Versum Materials’ line of GASGUARD ultra-high purity specialty gas equipment and CHEMGUARD chemical delivery equipment.

Last year, Versum Materials increased capacity at its DS&S manufacturing location in Ansan, South Korea, where in addition to the above-mentioned equipment, it produces a line of GASKEEPER specialty gas equipment designed specifically for the region.

“We are excited about our prospects for growth in the industry and supporting our valued customers with state-of-the-art, high-purity equipment. We are enhancing our manufacturing capacity to keep pace with our customers’ increasing requirements for more flexibility and shorter lead times,” said Jeff White, vice president and general manager of DS&S.

The company expects the expansion of the Allentown facility to be complete this spring. A list of open positions can be found on the company’s career page.

Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the target materials business of the Heraeus Group, of Hanau, Germany, for approximately $30 million.

The acquisition strengthens Materion’s position in precious and non-precious target materials for the architectural and automotive glass, photovoltaic, display and semiconductor markets. The business, now operating within the Materion Advanced Materials business segment, is expected to generate approximately $50 to $60 million in new value-added sales on an annualized basis and be accretive to 2017 earnings. Materion Advanced Materials reported value-added sales of $176.3 million in 2016.

Through this transaction, Materion’s Advanced Materials segment gains target manufacturing capability in Europe, Asia and the U.S., as well as new technologies and a highly specialized workforce of 135 employees.

Donald G. Klimkowicz, President, Materion Advanced Materials, commented, “Beyond accelerating and solidifying our global materials offering in semiconductor and display, the acquisition provides diversification, critical mass and new opportunities in other growing target-related areas where Materion has not enjoyed as strong a position including glass and photovoltaic. This truly is a winning combination.”

Added Materion Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Hipple, “This transaction is the latest in a series of advanced materials acquisitions made by Materion since 2005 to augment our growth and further our diversification into a leading advanced materials organization. I am very excited about the prospects for future growth that this acquisition brings us in existing and new markets, and how closely the values and culture of the Heraeus employees who join us match with our own. We welcome them to the Materion family.”

Materion Corporation is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, supplies highly engineered advanced enabling materials to global markets. Products include precious and non-precious specialty metals, inorganic chemicals and powders, specialty coatings, specialty engineered beryllium alloys, beryllium and beryllium composites, and engineered clad and plated metal systems.

The eBeam Initiative, a forum dedicated to the education and promotion of new semiconductor manufacturing approaches based on electron beam (eBeam) technologies, today announced that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)–one of the world’s leading global foundries–has joined the eBeam Initiative. This leading authority on semiconductor technology will add its unique perspective and leadership to the more than 45 existing eBeam Initiative member companies and advisors spanning the semiconductor photomask and lithography supply chain.

In related news, the eBeam Initiative also announced today that it will focus its education efforts in 2017 on eBeam technology requirements and new developments to support extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and multi-beam mask writing. These topics will be addressed by industry luminary guest speakers at eBeam Initiative events throughout the year, including the annual eBeam Initiative members and press luncheon event being held today during the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference at the San Jose Convention Center.

“SMIC is pleased to have been a participant in the eBeam Initiative’s annual mask makers survey since it was commissioned two years ago,” stated Eric Guo, Senior Director of Mask Operation in SMIC. “As a new member of the eBeam Initiative, we look forward to continuing to support projects like the survey that provide a benefit not only to us but to the industry as a whole.”

Last year, the eBeam Initiative’s fifth annual perceptions survey, which was completed by 73 industry luminaries and members from across the semiconductor and photomask manufacturing supply chain, revealed that pessimism in EUV lithography was at its lowest level ever recorded by the survey, while confidence in EUV remained steady overall and increased compared to other lithography approaches. At the same time, perceptions of multi-beam mask writing also stood out, with expectations on its use in high volume manufacturing (HVM) by 2018 remaining strong. With the survey results indicating a clear direction and interest among the eBeam Initiative members in new eBeam developments surrounding EUV and multi-beam mask writing, the eBeam Initiative will increase its education focus on these critical technology areas.

“This is truly an exciting time for the eBeam Initiative,” stated Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S, managing company sponsor of the eBeam Initiative. “Not only are we witnessing continued progress and growing optimism in bringing EUV lithography into production, but optical lithography continues to extend its physical limitations beyond the imaginable–through various multi-patterning techniques, inverse lithography technology (ILT), complex mask shapes and multi-beam mask writing. All of these developments are enabled by new innovations in eBeam technology, which shines a brighter spotlight on the need for collaborative industry efforts like those of the eBeam Initiative. To that end, we are very pleased to welcome SMIC as a new member. The company brings a unique perspective to our ongoing mission to educate the photomask and semiconductor industries on the importance of eBeam technology.”

The annual eBeam Initiative members and press luncheon event being held today will feature presentations from industry luminaries on the following topics: advances in eBeam technology for rapid edge-placement-error (EPE) metrology; mask modeling for multi-beam mask writing; and the resurgence of ILT. Copies of these presentations will be made available after February 28 on the eBeam Initiative website at www.ebeam.org.

“Beyond the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, the eBeam Initiative will continue to promote education on new eBeam developments in EUV lithography and multi-beam mask writing at other industry forums throughout the year,” added Fujimura. “Over the next few months alone, we will highlight these important topics at the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) in March and the Photomask Japan Conference in April, the latter of which will also include special sessions involving GPU acceleration of mask technologies.”

Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today announced that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., (TSMC) has signed an agreement to participate in two SRC research initiatives. In addition to joining SRC’s New Science Team (NST) project, TSMC will be participating in the Global Research Collaboration (GRC) program. TSMC is the pioneer and global leader of the IC foundry business.

The NST project, consisting of both the JUMP and nCORE programs, is a 5-year, $300M research project focused on co-optimized hardware/software solutions for high performance, energy efficient microelectronics. SRC is actively recruiting a diverse group of electronics companies to participate on the NST project that will launch on January 1, 2018. GRC is SRC’s core program consisting of eleven research thrusts that span a wide array of research topics such as analog/mixed-signal, packaging, logic and memory devices, and nano-manufacturing materials and processes.

“SRC is pleased to welcome TSMC to our research consortium of leading semiconductor and technology companies. Today’s announcement represents a strategic partnership for the research and development of disruptive technologies that extend beyond traditional scaling,” said Ken Hansen, President & CEO of SRC. “As SRC continues to grow our global partnerships, one thing is certain, great things happen when we bring brilliant minds together! We look forward to the unique and broad perspective that TSMC can bring to SRC-sponsored research.”

“Our mission to forge a powerful innovation force in the semiconductor industry has led TSMC to this collaborative venture with SRC,” said Dr. Jack Sun, Vice President of Corporate Research and Chief Technology Officer, TSMC. “We believe the NST and GRC research programs exemplify collaborative research amongst industry leaders that will lead to fundamental discoveries upon which TSMC will develop into leading edge process and subsystem integration solution offerings. Together, we will expand semiconductor research and development in the pursuit of next-generation innovation.”

With the addition of TSMC, six of the top 10 global semiconductor companies are now members of SRC. Furthermore, this membership announcement signifies the fourth non-U.S. headquartered company to join SRC within the last 18 months.

The impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) will be on display at SEMICON Southeast Asia, 25-27 April at SPICE in Penang. The global exhibition and conference is organized by SEMI, the global non-profit association connecting the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain.  More than 70 industry speakers and 200 companies and 7,500 attendees will participate in SEMICON Southeast Asia. Creating new business opportunities and fostering stronger cross-regional engagement, SEMICON Southeast Asia features a tradeshow exhibition, networking events, market and technology seminars, and conferences.

With tens of billions of IoT devices forecasted to be connected to the internet by 2020, the IoT is changing how people work, play, and live.  The IoT connects devices to the internet and to each other − from mobile phones, washing machines, lamps, wearable devices through industrial applications on airplanes and oil rigs.  Alongside IoT ubiquity, the borders between real and digital worlds are blurring with technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) becoming part of our everyday lives.

The enabler for IoT and the new digital world is the vital electronic manufacturing supply chain.  SEMICON Southeast Asia will gather over 300 exhibitors, the leaders in manufacturing equipment and materials for semiconductors, MEMS, sensors, LEDs, and flexible hybrid electronics.  A special “World of IoT” Futura-X Showcase will highlight system innovations made from the devices of the exhibitors. System innovation exhibitors include:  HTC VIVE virtual reality gaming device; ADAWARP Teleporter for controlling a real-life robotic avatar; and the first Malaysia autonomous vehicle from REKA, an indigenous innovation on converting a traditional automotive to an autonomous vehicle.

According to Ng Kai Fai, president of SEMI Southeast Asia, the IoT has already seen a big shift in the interaction between humans and machines, and has brought about significant transformations in manufacturing. “At this year’s SEMICON Southeast Asia (SEA), we feature a “World of IoT: Futura-X” showcase, which will feature cutting-edge applications that are fuelling new markets for electronics and connecting the world. Companies will showcase their innovations in an early preview of technologies set to change the manufacturing landscape and consumer demand. This new showcase is validation of the output of SEMICON Southeast Asia’s amazing electronics manufacturing equipment and materials exhibitors,” said Ng.

SEMICON Southeast Asia 2017 is the region’s premier event for electronics innovation. With an expanding industry scope ranging from chip manufacturing to system-level integration, it highlights the market and technology trends driving investment and growth in all sectors across the region.  The event provides new business opportunities – by reaching buyers, engineers and key decision-makers in the Southeast Asia electronics industry, including buyers from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

  • Future Electronics Manufacturing Pavilion − showcasing companies in the Electronic Manufacturing Services, printed circuit board, surface mount technology and electronic design automation sectors
  • Failure Analysis Pavilion − featuring solutions and suppliers focused on maximising throughput, improving yield and increasing reliability in microelectronics manufacturing

For more information on SEMICON Southeast Asia 2017, visit www.semiconsea.org.

Fabless power semiconductor company Semitrex announced today that it has changed its name to Helix Semiconductors. Having recently introduced a new management team, this new corporate identity is another step toward more closely aligning the company with its objective of efficiently powering the future — a future with zero wasted power.

“As a fabless chip company, we are in the business of providing enabling technology,” noted Harold A. Blomquist, president and CEO of Helix Semiconductors. “We’re known for our commitment to smart power conversion and addressing the global need for more efficient power supplies, and this rebranding brings that front and center. The road to ‘zero power’ will be paved by changing the way that power conversions are made, and that road is being built by Helix Semiconductors.”

Blomquist explains further: “In the human body, DNA strands are cascading sequences (double helixes) of a wide variety of characteristics — selections or programming codes that uniquely define who and what people are. This genetic makeup is reminiscent of our patent-pending MuxCapacitor technology, which consists of a cascading ladder of capacitors that can be tapped at different points and with different gain settings to achieve best-in-class conversion efficiency.”

Helix Semiconductors’ technology can convert mains power worldwide to virtually any lower voltage with over 95 percent efficiency — especially at low-load conditions. The company’s MuxCapacitor voltage reduction technology makes possible best-in-class energy conversion efficiencies while the system is in power down (standby and vampire power) and lightly loaded operation.

Versum Materials, Inc. (NYSE: VSM), a materials supplier to the semiconductor industry, announced today that Edward “Ed” Shober has been appointed to the position of senior vice president of its Materials segment. Mr. Shober will be responsible for the company’s Process Materials (PM) and Advanced Materials (AM) global businesses, which produce specialty chemicals and materials utilized in the next generation of semiconductors and displays for smart devices, as well as high-purity, specialty gases used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Mr. Shober has led the AM business since 2011 and has more than 20 years’ experience serving Versum Materials’ customers in the semiconductor industry.

“Ed will continue to support our culture of operating as an agile organization that is relentlessly focused on building on our global technology leadership and establishing a reputation for quality, safety and reliability,” stated Guillermo Novo, President and CEO of Versum Materials. “Because of Ed’s customer relationships, leadership, experience and technical capabilities, we are confident that’s Ed’s transition will be seamless for our customers and his industry knowledge will continue to be an invaluable asset to our team.”

Mr. Shober joined Air Products in 1994, leading engineering activities in the electronics engineering and electronics package plants organizations. In 1999, he was named vice president of engineering and operations for TRiMEGA, a joint venture between Air Products and Kinetic Systems providing turnkey solutions to semiconductor fabs, and served as TRiMEGA’s chief operating officer from 2001-2004. Mr. Shober went on to lead DA NanoMaterials, Air Products’ joint venture with DuPont, as its chief operating officer from 2004-2007 and chief executive officer from 2007-2010. In October 2011, he served as the director of Advanced Materials Integration, Electronics Division, until assuming leadership of Air Products’ Advanced Materials business. He previously served as the vice president of Advanced Materials for the Materials Technologies business of Air Products since 2012. Mr. Shober holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil/structural engineering from Brown University.

Today, NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI), the world’s largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, announced that it has joined the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Auto-ISAC).

NXP has joined the Auto-ISAC organization to help develop best cybersecurity practices for the automotive industry. Auto-ISAC published the Automotive Cybersecurity Best Practices Executive Summary, which outlines Auto-ISAC’s development of informational guides that cover organizational and technical aspects of vehicle cybersecurity, including governance, risk management, security by design, threat detection and incident response. ISAC implements training and promotes collaboration with third parties. In the United States, 98 percent of vehicles on the road are represented by member companies in the Auto-ISAC.

“Cybersecurity for the automotive industry can only be addressed if carmakers, security experts, and government bodies join forces,” said Lars Reger, CTO of NXP Automotive. “NXP, as a market leader in cybersecurity technology for eGovernment and banking applications, will bring its deep know-how into this organization. Cars require four layers of protection; secure interfaces that connect the vehicle to the external world; secure gateways that provide domain isolation; secure networks that provide secure communication between control units (ECUs); and secure processing units that manage all the features of the connected car. NXP is the leader in these critical areas and looks forward to sharing its expertise and collaborating with our industry partners to shape a secure future for the automated car.”

Auto-ISAC was formed by automakers to establish a secure platform for sharing, tracking and analyzing intelligence about cyber threats and potential vulnerabilities around the connected vehicle. Auto-ISAC operates as a central hub that allows members to anonymously submit and receive information to help them more effectively counter cyber threats in real time.

The automobile industry recognizes that the autonomous driving ecosystem — that includes wireless technologies that enable communications, telematics, digital broadcast reception, and ADAS systems — introduces risks for potential attack by hackers.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) announced the expansion of its STSAFE family of secure elements with the introduction of a powerful plug-and-play solution that provides state-of-the-art security features to devices connected to the Sigfox low-power wide-area network (LPWAN).

The new STSAFE-A1SX secure element (SE) is based on a tamper-resistant Common Criteria EAL5+ -certified SE technology that enhances the integrity and confidentiality of transmissions to and from the IoT device over the Sigfox network. The secure element runs an optimized secure application that combines ST’s proven expertise in electronic security for applications in banking, e-commerce, and identity with Sigfox’s expertise in networking and data communications for the emerging IoT world.

STSAFE-A1SX is a tiny and cost-effective secure IC solution that connects to the microcontroller of the IoT application or module via an Intelligent Interface Controller (I2C) connection. The chips are provisioned in ST’s secure-personalization center with device ID and keys that allow plug-and-play secure connection to the Sigfox cloud, and further ensure data-exchange integrity and confidentiality. Whether the frame is an uplink or downlink message, the STSAFE-A1SX secure element generates or verifies payload proof of integrity as well as optional encryption or decryption. Keys and other secrets are always protected inside the secure element during manufacturing and over the end device’s full life.

“By executing Sigfox security services within our certified tamper-proof STSAFE-A1SX, we support Sigfox Ready(TM) device makers and Sigfox application providers to implement state-of-the-art end-to-end security,” said Laurent Degauque, Secure Microcontroller Marketing Director, Microcontroller and Digital ICs Group, STMicroelectronics. “The STSAFE-A1SX makes security over the Sigfox network even stronger and more straightforward. Our customers simply attach this secure element to their general-purpose MCU, such as an STM32, and focus on application development.”

“It’s more important than ever to consider and plan the security architecture at the very beginning of the design and development of an IoT solution,” said Laetitia Jay, CMO at Sigfox. “Working closely with STMicroelectronics has been fundamental to offering state-of-the-art certified tamper-resistant security to our ecosystem of partners and customers. The integration of the ST secure element with the Sigfox libraries, the STM32, and the S2-LP sub-1GHz transceiver, provides an ultra-low power, high performance turn-key solution that brings end-to-end security in IoT and Sensor-to-Cloud applications to the next level.”

Like other members of the STSAFE family, the STSAFE-A1SX will come with a full ecosystem of tools and software to speed its adoption by developers with or without expertise in secure designs. The device is available on expansion boards directly compliant with the popular STM32 Open Development Environment. Associated with the ST S2-LP sub-1GHz transceiver­ and the STM32, ST provides a complete reference design of a Sigfox Ready device:

  • NUCLEO-L053R8, an STM32 Nucleo-64 development board with STM32L053R8 MCU
  • STEVAL-FKI868V1 sub-1GHz development kit, equipped with a low-power STM32L MCU to control the S2-LP sub-1GHz transceiver and the ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger and programmer for firmware updating
  • STSAFE-A1SX

The STSAFE-A1SX secure element is scheduled to enter production in May 2017 in both 4x5mm SO8N and 2x3mm UFDFPN8. Please contact your ST sales office for pricing options and sample requests.