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EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment, together with the Korea National NanoFab Center (President Jae Young Lee, NNFC), a nano-technology R&D infrastructure for academia, research institutes and the industry, announced preliminary results on improved transparent nanostructured anti-reflective coatings for next-generation displays. The ongoing work has been carried out within a joint-development program (JDP) established between the two partners in November 2015. This collaborative research has been partly funded by the Nano-Open-Innovation-Lab Project of the NNFC.

Korea National NanoFab Center (NNFC)

Korea National NanoFab Center (NNFC)

The goal of the EVG-NNFC JDP is the development of optimized materials, the process technology for structure replication, and the industrial implementation of the AR coatings for large-area substrates. The NNFC research team under its director Dr. Jae Hong Park is responsible for the development of the materials and the “reversible nano-molding” process, which can be compatible with EVG’s proprietary SmartNIL UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) technology. EVG is responsible for optimizing the UV-NIL replication process and transferring the technology from the R&D phase on current 200mm round substrates to large panel sizes.

Outstanding preliminary results

EVG and the NNFC have successfully demonstrated an anti-reflective coating with excellent structure replication that provides over 97-percent transmittance and a surface hardness of 3H, which is superior to most other polymeric coatings. By contrast, current commercial thin-film coatings only provide up to 92-percent transmittance. The JDP partners achieved these results by applying EVG’s SmartNIL technology on 200-mm round substrates using a polymer material developed by the NNFC. This material was developed for performing the reversible nano molding process at the NNFC, and is compliant with commercial standards for display coating.

In the next phase of the program, EVG and the NNFC plan to promote these promising results to initiate partnerships with end-users that are interested in joining the JDP to help commercialize the new AR coating. The goal of this next phase is the qualification of the novel anti-reflective coating technology for industrial use through the NNFC, and the implementation of the process by EVG to high-volume panel manufacturing on large screen sizes, such as Gen 2 (370 mm x 470 mm) panels and beyond. In addition to this specific project, EVG and the NNFC plan to investigate other application areas leveraging nanostructures and NIL technology.

“As part of our Triple-i philosophy of invent-innovate-implement, EV Group has a long history of engagements with groups across the nanotechnology value chain–from research institutes and materials suppliers to manufacturers–to develop new processes and devices, and bring them into production,” stated WeonSik Yang, general manager of EV Group Korea, Ltd. “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this level of cooperation with our partners in Korea, namely the NNFC, and see the efforts of our previous cooperation bearing fruit. On behalf of EVG, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Jae Hong Park as well as NNFC President Jae Young Lee for their dedication and support for this project. We look forward to working with local industrial partners to commercialize this novel display coating technology and process to support large-area display manufacturing.”

EVG and the NNFC presented the results of this JDP at the recent NANO KOREA symposium and exhibition in Goyang, Korea. A copy of the poster summarizing the results can be downloaded at http://www.evgroup.com/en/about/news/2016_12_NNFC/.

 

The National NanoFab Center (NNFC) is a nanotechnology and semiconductors R&D center, located in Daejeon City, Korea.

SEMI, the global industry association representing more than 2,000 companies in the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$11.0 billion in the third quarter of 2016. The billings figure is 5 percent higher than the second quarter of 2016 and 14 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 95 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $11.3 billion in the third quarter of 2016. The figure is 30 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and 5 percent lower than the bookings figure for the second quarter of 2016.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:

 

3Q2016

2Q2016

 3Q2015

3Q2016/

2Q2016
(Qtr-over-Qtr)

3Q2016/

3Q2015
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

3.46

2.73

2.85

27%

22%
Korea

2.09

1.53

1.56

36%

34%
China

1.43

2.27

1.70

-37%

-16%
Japan

1.29

1.05

1.43

22%

-10%
Rest of World

1.13

1.31

0.58

-14%

95%
North America

1.05

1.20

1.18

-12%

-11%
Europe

0.53

0.37

0.34

42%

57%
Total

10.98

10.46

9.64

5%

14%

Totals may not add due to rounding; Source: SEMI/SEAJ

GlobalWafers Co., Ltd. announced that the acquisition of SunEdison Semiconductor Limited by GlobalWafers has been successfully completed. This follows GlobalWafers’ announcement on August 18, 2016 to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of SunEdison Semiconductor in a transaction valued at USD 683 million, a figure that includes SunEdison Semiconductor’s outstanding net debt.

The combined entity will bring together GlobalWafers’ operating model and market strengths with SunEdison Semiconductor’s expansive global footprint and product development capabilities. GlobalWafers will see a meaningful expansion of its production capabilities and breadth in product and global customer base, including greater access to the Korea and EU as well as SOI product technologies and capacity. It will also have a significant increase in financial scale. The transaction will ultimately provide the foundation for GlobalWafers to be a good wafer solution provider and long term partner for all semiconductor customers.

“Our enterprise footprint of 17 operation sites located in 10 countries is strategically positioned in all regions to support our customers more effectively,” said Doris Hsu, Chairperson and CEO of GlobalWafers. “The new GlobalWafers will be customer-centric with our success being gauged by the satisfaction level of our customers. Our goal is to aggressively be our customers’ supplier of choice as it relates to quality, technology, supply, support and price.”

Tessera Holding Corporation today announced it has completed the acquisition of DTS, Inc. Tessera Technologies, Inc. and DTS are now combined under Tessera Holding Corporation and the shares of the combined company will continue to trade on the NASDAQ under Tessera’s ticker symbol TSRA. The Company plans to introduce a new corporate name, stock ticker, brand and logo during the first quarter of 2017.

The Company’s combined portfolio of products and technologies uniquely positions it to deliver smart sight and sound solutions and next-generation 3D semiconductor interconnect solutions for mobile devices, consumer electronics, and automotive markets – while also addressing the growing potential of emerging technologies such as IoT and AR/VR. The Company’s team of world-class engineers will focus on the vision of creating core technologies that power intelligent, immersive and personalized digital experiences.

“The combination of DTS and Tessera ushers in a new era for the company,” said Tom Lacey, CEO of Tessera Holding Corporation. “By uniting DTS’ industry-leading portfolio of premium audio technology solutions with Tessera’s best-in-class portfolio of imaging and semiconductor packaging and interconnect technologies, we will be able to execute on our vision of an integrated platform of smart enabled technologies.”

“DTS has always been a leading innovator in the audio space,” said Jon Kirchner, president of Tessera Holding Corporation. “We are proud to unite with Tessera to innovate a new generation of smart sight and sound solutions that will power the next wave of content delivery and electronic devices. These solutions will help deliver ever more immersive experiences and help transform how we interact with the rapidly growing number of connected devices at home, in the car and on the go.”

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power programmable sensor processing, display bridge and programmable logic solutions, today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator Partner Program, a collaborative ecosystem that facilitates 22FDX system-on-chip (SoC) design and reduces time-to-market for customers.

“QuickLogic’s partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES adds a unique dimension to the FDX program by offering customers ultra-low power embedded FPGA (eFPGA) Intellectual Property, complete software tools and a compiler,” said Brian Faith, president and CEO at QuickLogic Corporation. “This new capability provides users with a high level of design and product flexibility which will help lower costs and allow products to be easily customized to meet various and evolving market requirements.”

“GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator program is a comprehensive design ecosystem that provides customers with the support and resources they need to get FDX FD-SOI technologies to market as quickly as possible,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Product Management at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “Leveraging QuickLogic’s FPGA expertise will provide inherent hardware flexibility for FDX-based SoC designs and gain a critical time-to-market advantage for a broad range of embedded, battery powered and IoT applications.”

The FDXcelerator Partner Program builds upon GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ industry-first FD-SOI roadmap, a lower-cost migration path for designers on advanced nodes that is optimized for low power applications. By participating, FDXcelerator Partners commit to provide specific resources, including EDA tools, IP, silicon platforms, reference designs, design services and packaging and test solutions. The program is based on an open framework which enables members to minimize development time and cost while simultaneously leveraging the inherent power and performance advantages of FDX technology.

Current members of the FDXcelerator Partner Program also include Synopsys, Cadence, INVECAS, VeriSilicon, CEA Leti, Dream Chip, and Encore Semi.

Infineon, a Germany-based world leader in semiconductor solutions, celebrated the Grand Opening of its new warehouse and Gallium Nitride (GaN) cleanroom at its Mesa facility located at 550 W. Juanita Ave. The multi-million-dollar expansion project added approximately 11,500 square foot and will create more than 20 new high-quality jobs.

“Infineon has been an important part of Mesa’s technology community for years and it is great to see them expand their facility,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said. “It’s exciting when a business in Mesa is on the cutting edge of new semiconductor technology.”

GaN is a new semiconductor material that will help increase the efficiency and performance of power electronics used in everyday life such as power adapters for laptops.

“It’s wonderful to see a business like Infineon show such a strong commitment to Mesa and District 3,” Vice Mayor and District 3 Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh said. “We certainly hope that they will continue to grow their Mesa operation and remain a great partner in our business community.”

In attendance at the Grand Opening were Infineon management and employees from the U.S.; Villach, Austria; Munich, Germany; and Kulim, Malaysia. The event was hosted by Juergen Woehl, Managing Director, of Infineon EPI Services based in Mesa. Guest speakers included Bob LeFord president of Infineon Americas; Steffen Metzger, head of Infineon GaN projects based in Munich; and Alex Miehr, head of Materials Management, Munich.

Dr. Juergen Woehl, Managing Director, Infineon Epi Services, said, “As a leader in semiconductor technology, our Mesa facility underlines Infineon’s commitment to work on advanced materials here in Mesa and we were delighted to celebrate the expansion of our site with our executives, employees and state and local representatives.”

Infineon Technologies AG, headquartered in Neubiberg, Germany, is a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. In the 2016 fiscal year (ending September 30), the Company reported sales of about Euro 6.5 billion with some 36,000 employees worldwide.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SNPS) has completed its acquisitions of Cigital, a privately held provider of software security managed and professional services, and Codiscope, a 2015 spinoff of Cigital and provider of complementary security tools. Cigital is a large, global application security firm specializing in professional and managed services for identifying, remediating and preventing vulnerabilities in software applications. Codiscope has transformed the tools and intellectual property created by Cigital into a suite of accessible and streamlined products for a broad population of developers.

The security of software code throughout the software supply chain is a critical concern for companies across a broad range of industries, from financial services and medical devices to industrial controls and automotive. As the cyber security landscape becomes increasingly complex, many organizations are struggling to determine the right solution in the context of a multitude of point tool offerings and varying vendor strategies, as well as their own IT challenges and priorities. The acquisition of Cigital and Codiscope adds complementary products, services, and a highly skilled workforce to the Synopsys portfolio, enabling Synopsys to offer a comprehensive software security signoff solution.

The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

ClassOne Technology (www.classone.com), manufacturer of advanced wet processing equipment for ≤200mm substrates, announced the formation of a Board of Advisors. This body will be made up of highly-regarded senior executives from the semiconductor industry who will provide their perspective and guidance to ClassOne as it navigates the expansion of its operations. Three distinguished industry notables, Larry Murphy, Eric Choh and Tom Pilla have been named to the board.

“ClassOne is experiencing very rapid growth right now, and we wanted to incorporate the broad perspective and deep experience that these gentlemen can bring to our effort,” said Kevin Witt, President of ClassOne Technology. “Larry, Eric and Tom are long-respected leaders in this industry and have already proven to be a huge asset. We are fortunate and honored to have them on our team.”

“We are delighted to add our support and endorsement to ClassOne,” said Larry Murphy. “We’ve seen the customer focus and innovative technology that this company is bringing to the industry. ClassOne is disrupting the old status quo and delivering much-needed high-performance electroplating and wet process equipment to the smaller-substrate markets — markets that have been generally underserved.”

Larry Murphy is presently CEO at PROOF Research. Previously, he had been CEO at Thompson Technology Group, VP and GM of North America & Europe SSG Sales at Applied Materials, and VP and GM of the Semitool Business at Applied Materials. Earlier, he had served as President and COO at Semitool for six years, and before that, as President and CEO at Tosoh SMD for more than 14 years.

Eric Choh has spent more than 30 years in the semiconductor industry with extensive experience in wafer fab operations and advanced technology development. Most recently he was the VP/GM of GLOBALFOUNDRYS’ Fab 8. Mr. Choh had also held a number of senior positions at AMD, including VP of Advanced Process Development and Executive Managing Director of the AMD/UMC Alliance.

Tom Pilla now holds the position of Global Supply Chain Director and Electronic Materials/Business Manufacturing Director of Litho Materials at Dow Chemical. Previously, he served as VP of Operations at Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, VP of Operations at Rodel, and Global Supply Chain Director at Rohm and Haas.

ClassOne Technology offers a range of cost-efficient wet-processing tools specifically for emerging markets and other users of 3″ to 8″ wafers. The company’s mission is to provide advanced technology equipment at more affordable prices — to address the budget constraints that smaller-substrate markets typically have and fill a niche that larger equipment manufacturers historically have not addressed.

ClassOne’s current product line-up includes the Solstice family of high-performance, multi-purpose electroplating tools and the Trident families of Spin Rinse Driers and Spray Solvent Tools. All are specifically designed for processing ≤200mm wafers. Solstice systems are available both for development and production and are priced at less than half of what similarly configured plating systems from the larger manufacturers would cost. This is why Solstice is often described as delivering “Advanced Plating for the Rest of Us.” ClassOne supports customers with world-class process development, deployment and service around the globe.

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. and Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. (“Tsinghua Unigroup”) today announced an agreement to form a joint-venture and to mutually terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s earlier private placement plan.

Under the joint-venture agreement, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (BVI) LTD., a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its wholly owned subsidiary, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD., to a group led by Tsinghua Unigroup, for approximately RMB 498.4 million (approximately NT$2,437 million or US$77 million). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of the equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Tsinghua Unigroup through its subsidiary, Tibet Unigroup Guowei Investment Co., Ltd. (“Unigroup Guowei”) will own 48%, and other strategic investors, including a limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98%. The investment will be used to expand the capacity of and services offered by ChipMOS Shanghai. The joint-venture agreement has been approved by the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, commented, “We are pleased to reach this joint-venture agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup, which has been at the forefront of the rapidly evolving global semiconductor value chain. As a leader of the semiconductor assembly and test segment, ChipMOS will be able to leverage our extensive expertise and relationships, R&D resources and technology roadmap to meet a critical need within the Tsinghua Unigroup portfolio as it works to meet expanding domestic China market. The joint-venture will allow us accelerate the planned expansion of ChipMOS Shanghai, while adding on new lines to given the higher demand we are seeing for our LCD driver ICs, touch driver, AMOLED, OLED and memory testing, assembly and bumping services. Tsinghua Unigroup is committed to actively supporting the company across its comprehensive semiconductor supply chain investment portfolio, as we work to mutually grow the sustainable revenue and profit of ChipMOS Shanghai over the long-term, while promoting the interests of all shareholders and employees.”

Details of Joint-Venture Agreement and Termination Agreement: 

  1. A mutual agreement was reached between ChipMOS and Tsinghua Unigroup to terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s participation in a planned private placement of ChipMOS Taiwan:On December 11, 2015, the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan adopted a resolution to approve a private placement of common shares in which 299,252,000 private placement shares issued by ChipMOS Taiwan would be subscribed by a controlled entity of Tsinghua Unigroup at NT$ 40 per share, and ChipMOS Taiwan and Tsinghua Unigroup entered into the Share Subscription Agreement with other transaction documents on the same date. The aforementioned private placement was subsequently approved by a resolution of ChipMOS Taiwan’s shareholders meeting on January 28, 2016, and the subscriber, Tibet MaoYeChuangXin Investment LTD., also entered into another Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents with ChipMOS Taiwan.All parties have agreed to mutually terminate the Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents. ChipMOS Taiwan held a Board meeting to terminate the aforementioned private placement, and entered into the Termination Agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup and the subscriber, respectively.
  2. Under the joint-venture agreement announced today, ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its China subsidiary, ChipMOS Shanghai, to strategic investors led by Tsinghua Unigroup, and will further increase the capital of ChipMOS Shanghai with such strategic investors according to their respective shareholding ratio. The sale of the 54.98% equity interest is expected to result in a gain to ChipMOS Taiwan of approximately NT$2,288 million(approximately NT$2.67 per ChipMOS Taiwan share) upon the transaction’s close primarily due to a gain on the appreciation of fixed assets and land use rights.ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, originally owned 100% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS and ChipMOS BVI entered into the Equity Interest Purchase Agreement and the Agreement for China-Foreign Joint Venture with each strategic investor respectively, such as Unigroup Guowei, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees, selling 54.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai at the price of around RMB 498.4 million to strategic investors including Unigroup Guowei and others, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees (hereinafter collectively as “Purchasers”). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Unigroup Guowei will own 48% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, and other strategic investors and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS BVI will increase capital to ChipMOS Shanghai, by the funds obtained from selling equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, with the Purchasers according to their respective shareholding ratio, and except the foregoing funds, ChipMOS BVI does not inject any additional funds to ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS Shanghai is expected to gain additional cash of approximately RMB 1,074.0 million from a capital increase after the deal closes.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, added, “We have been steadily ramping production at ChipMOS Shanghai as part of a three-year capacity expansion plan, which is aligned with the increasing customer demand levels for semiconductor testing and assembly services in Mainland China and our goal of achieving sustainable profitability at ChipMOS Shanghai. Other than the US$42 millioncapital contribution invested and US$33 million bank loan facility secured formerly, the additional RMB 1,074.0 million capital contribution will help us achieve our targeted economies of scale and our long-term goals. We are also pleased as the joint-venture structure brings powerful strategic partners to ChipMOS Shanghai in a structure that will benefit all shareholders.”

SEMI, the global industry association representing more than 2,000 companies in the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced the hire of David Anderson as president of the SEMI Americas region.  Reporting to SEMI‘s president and CEO, the president of SEMI Americas has P&L responsibility as well as ownership of all Americas region programs and events, including SEMICON West.

David Anderson will be responsible for SEMI Americas activities in establishing industry Standards, advocacy, community development, expositions, and programs.  With broad experience in the semiconductor device industry, and leadership positions in associations, consortia, and on boards of directors, Anderson brings the diverse skills necessary to lead SEMI’s Americas region.

Anderson has past experience at Fairchild Semiconductor, National Semiconductor, the Semiconductor Industry Suppliers Association, and SEMATECH.  At SEMATECH, in addition to other industry-advancing achievements, he helped launch the global ISMI (International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative) effort to improve the productivity and cost performance of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and operations.

Most recently, Anderson was CEO and chairman of Novati Technologies, a specialty manufacturing fab and provider of semiconductor and related process technology development and commercialization services.  Novati’s solutions included semiconductor, MEMS, sensors, microfluidics, silicon-photonics, and novel materials. Prior to that, he held executive leadership positions for development foundries ATDF and SVTC Technologies.

“Dave’s vast experience in semiconductor equipment, as well as in a wide range of silicon devices, provides a practical understanding of the full electronics manufacturing supply chain,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “He has built global organizations and communities both at SEMI member companies and in SEMI partner consortia.  This will enable Dave to hit the ground running at SEMI.  Dave already has solid relationships with many of SEMI’s members in both the Americas and worldwide.  As I head toward my announced retirement, I’m confident that Dave will strengthen SEMI’s Global Executive Team and will lead the Americas organization to success in our SEMI 2020 initiative.”