Tag Archives: letter-wafer-business

Edwards Vacuum, a manufacturer of vacuum and abatement solutions, following completion of the purchase of an eight-acre site located on NE Century Boulevard in Hillsboro, Ore., has begun the process of construction for a new Technology Innovation Center in Hillsboro. The land acquisition process was a collaborative effort between Edwards Vacuum and Avison Young.

The 75,000 square foot facility will serve as the U.K.-based company’s North American semiconductor headquarters. Edwards held a ground-breaking ceremony at the Century Boulevard site attended by company officials and local dignitaries, including Hillsboro City Mayor, Steve Callaway, and President of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce, Deanna Palm.

“Edwards has many options for global investment, and our community greatly appreciates Edwards and its commitment to Hillsboro,” stated Mayor Callaway. “As a city, we will continue to support Edwards employees when the new high-tech facility opens.”

Scott Balaguer, vice president & general manager, Semiconductor Division North America, stated, “Our state-of-the-art innovation center and manufacturing facility is strategically located close to some of our key accounts in the Pacific Northwest, and will enable us to work closely with them, as well as other customers in North America, on R&D and continuous improvement programs. This proximity will also enable us to provide rapid service & support, as well as serve as our regional training center.

Edwards has approximately 100 employees at its current Hillsboro locations, and with consolidation expects to double in size at the new facility, which is scheduled to open in Q2 2019.

“We are excited about opening our innovation center here in Hillsboro,” said Balaguer. “Edwards is fully committed to the Northwest Region, creating jobs and participating in the local growth, as environmentally conscious corporate stewards in the neighborhood. We anticipate continued expansion on site, as we plan to design & manufacture our integrated vacuum & abatement production solutions, as well as other world-class products in our portfolio.

Ed English, senior vice president at Avison Young, whose team worked closely with Edwards to lead the real estate strategy and implementation said, “This project spanned two years of due diligence, analysis, and negotiation that included the collaboration of half a dozen firms and experts. Edwards’ consistent mission throughout the process was made clear to all parties; they wanted to position the company to best serve their customers and support their growth.” English added, “Edwards originally planned to lease the facility, but ultimately chose to purchase it. They ‘put their money where their mouth is’, proving their definitive commitment to Hillsboro.”

SEMI today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate the ESD (Electronic System Design) Alliance as a SEMI Strategic Association Partner this year. Under the partnership, the Redwood City, Calif.-based association and its system design ecosystem membership will join SEMI, deepening ESD Alliance’s global reach in the electronics manufacturing supply chain and enabling SEMI members to connect and directly collaborate with the semiconductor design sector.

As a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, the ESD Alliance will continue to pursue its mission representing companies in the semiconductor design ecosystem by addressing technical, marketing, economic and legislative issues affecting the entire industry. The ESD Alliance will retain its own governance and lead its overall direction and initiatives while leveraging SEMI’s robust global resources. With the addition of the ESD Alliance, SEMI adds the product design segment to the electronics manufacturing supply chain, streamlining and connecting the full ecosystem.

“Design is the very foundation of semiconductor innovation and manufacturing, and the ESD Alliance complements SEMI’s existing membership in bringing smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products to more people every day,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “ESD Alliance members bring key insights to SEMI vertical application platforms such as Smart Transportation, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Data to enhance collaboration and innovation across the collective SEMI membership. We welcome ESD Alliance members to the SEMI family of Strategic Association Partners as we continue to broaden SEMI’s scope to include the full global electronics product design and manufacturing supply chain.”

“The integration of the ESD Alliance with SEMI’s event and global platforms will enable us to extend our design expertise in the worldwide electronics industry,” said Bob Smith, executive director, the ESD Alliance. “ESD Alliance members will be better able to more efficiently engage with the electronics manufacturing supply chain on technical and business issues and gain access to comprehensive global resources and platforms.”

Those resources include SEMI’s technology communities and activities in areas such as advocacy, international standards and environment, health and safety (EH&S), industry statistics, trade and regulatory initiatives.

The integration is a key step in streamlining collaboration and connection of SEMI members with the electronic system design, IP and fabless communities. Among other benefits, the integration promises to tighten the industry coordination and collaboration necessary to developing specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips for a host of smart applications.

“The semiconductor industry has grown and matured since the EDA Consortium was formed,” said Dr. Aart de Geus, chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer of Synopsys. “Many of the previously disparate areas within the industry now overlap and it’s obvious we need to address the supply chain from manufacturing all the way through design. The ESD Alliance represents the system design ecosystem and perfectly aligns with SEMI’s vision to support the entire supply chain. As an international organization with offices around the globe, SEMI gives the ESD Alliance an opportunity to further expand its reach and grow to its full potential.”

All ESD Alliance member companies, including global leaders ARM, Cadence, Mentor, a Siemens business, and Synopsys, will join SEMI’s global membership of more than 2,000 companies while retaining the ESD Alliance’s distinct self-governed community within SEMI.

SEMI, the industry association representing the global manufacturing supply chain, today announced postponement of SEMICON Southeast Asia from 8-10 May 2018 to 22-24 May 2018. The postponement avoids a timing conflict with the recently announced Malaysian election planned for 9 May 2018. The venue for SEMICON Southeast Asia, the newly constructed Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), remains unchanged

The postponement is in respect to Malaysian exhibitors and visitors to exercise their right to vote, said Ng Kai Fai, President of SEMI Southeast Asia. The decision was made in view of the election date and following discussions with SEMICON Southeast Asia stakeholders.

“We highly value and respect the country’s election process, which is very important for Malaysia and Malaysians,” Kai Fai said. “We also want to ensure that SEMICON Southeast Asia achieves its primary objective of forming connections and collaborations for exhibitors and visitors, both regionally and globally. We have received very strong support from our stakeholders and are confident and reassured that this will be the largest SEMICON Southeast Asia show to date.”

 

Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) announces that it signed a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing patent license agreement with Nexperia BV, a Dutch company. The agreement provides Nexperia access to Cree’s extensive gallium nitride (GaN) power device patent portfolio, which includes over 300 issued U.S. and foreign patents that describe inventive aspects of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and GaN Schottky diode devices. The portfolio addresses novel device structures, materials and processing improvements, and packaging technology. The patent license involves no transfer of technology.

“Cree was founded to develop novel compound semiconductor materials like GaN and SiC and to create devices that capitalize on their unique properties,” said John Palmour, Cree co-founder and CTO of Wolfspeed, a Cree company. “Cree’s decades of innovation are now yielding devices that enable market introductions of new power management and wireless systems. To help facilitate the growth of these new markets, Cree is licensing its GaN power device patents for GaN power-management systems.”

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) today announced its GENxcel R&D Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System earned the 2018 Compound Semiconductor (CS) Industry Innovation Award. Hosted by Compound Semiconductor magazine, the CS Industry Awards celebrate the success of companies across five unique categories. Specifically, the Innovation Award honors the most significant breakthrough in compound semiconductor manufacturing over the last 12 months.

“We are honored to have the GENxcel MBE System recognized by Compound Semiconductor and our industry peers. The recognition is especially meaningful because winners are voted on by our respected colleagues, customers and collaborators,” said Gerry Blumenstock, vice president and general manager of MBE and ALD products at Veeco. “We continue to be committed to creating the most advanced and highest quality tools to support leading-edge compound semiconductor R&D and production.”

The GENxcel R&D MBE system builds on the success of the GENxplor® MBE system designed for compound semiconductor R&D and pilot production markets. The system produces high-quality epitaxial layers on substrates up to 100mm in diameter. The innovative architectural concept of GENxcel reduces the system footprint by 40 percent compared to similar 100mm wafer systems, improves the ease of maintenance, and allows users to easily integrate additional deposition and analysis chambers—specifically Veeco’s new atomic layer deposition (ALD) product line.

The CS Industry Awards is a peer-voted awards program honoring people, processes and products within the compound semiconductor industry. Winners were honored at a ceremony on April 10 in conjunction with the CS International Conference in Brussels, Belgium. For a complete list of 2018 winners, visit www.csawards.net/winners.

Previous Veeco products that have won the CS Industry Innovation Award include the TurboDisc® EPIK700™ Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System in 2015, the GENxplor MBE system in 2014, and the TurboDisc® MaxBright® Multi-Reactor MOCVD System in 2012. To learn more about Veeco’s GENxcel R&D MBE system, please visithttp://www.veeco.com/products/genxcel-randd-mbe-system.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) today announced that ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) has ordered its Propel® High-volume Manufacturing (HVM) Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) system. Based on its successful beta evaluation of the Propel HVM tool, ON Semiconductor ordered the production-level Propel system for GaN power electronics manufacturing. As the industry’s first single-wafer cluster platform, the Propel GaN MOCVD system is specifically designed for high-voltage power-management devices used in data centers; automotive, information and communication technology; defense; aerospace and power distribution systems, among other applications.

“Our prior learning with Veeco’s K465i™ GaN MOCVD system drove us to investigate the Propel HVM platform for our production ramp,” said Marnix Tack, PhD, senior director of corporate R&D and Open Innovation at ON Semiconductor. “The beta test results demonstrated superior device performance with high uniformity and within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer repeatability, while meeting our cost-of-ownership targets for six- and eight-inch wafers. As such, the Propel HVM system proved to be the most suitable platform for our power electronics manufacturing needs.”

The Propel HVM platform is based on Veeco’s innovative single-wafer system with proprietary IsoFlange™ and SymmHeat™ technologies that provide homogeneous laminar flow and uniform temperature profile across the entire wafer. The system enables production of power electronics, laser diodes, RF devices and advanced LEDs with higher performance and production yields while ensuring very low cost-of-ownership.

“The Propel HVM platform is rapidly gaining traction in the industry as innovative companies like ON Semiconductor recognize the benefits of GaN-on-silicon, which will partially replace current silicon technology for power electronics,” commented Peo Hansson, PhD, senior vice president and general manager of Veeco MOCVD operations. “With its highly controlled doping, run-to-run stability, superior wafer uniformity, high productivity and uptime, Propel HVM extends the benefits of our TurboDisc® platform to a unique single-wafer architecture. These capabilities benefit customers that seek a superior solution for manufacturing while providing a path for scaling to eight-inch wafers and expansion to RF and other advanced applications.”

GaN is a wide band gap semiconductor material with specific advantages over conventional technologies such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon carbide (SiC). GaN has enormous potential in the short term due to its benefits in terms of thermal behavior, efficiency, weight and size. According to market research firm Yole Développement, the GaN power device business was worth $14 million in 2016, and projects that it will reach $460 million by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 79 percent. GaN-based devices will be used increasingly in RF amplifiers, LEDs and high voltage applications among others, primarily due to their abilities to operate at high frequency, power density and temperature with improved efficiency and linearity.

Veeco is discussing the power of its innovative MOCVD and wet etch systems in the “5G: Where Are We and What’s Next?” track at the CS International Conference this week in Brussels, Belgium. Somit Joshi, senior director of MOCVD marketing is presenting a session titled, “Enabling GaN RF and Power Electronics through Innovative MOCVD and Wet Etch Process Technologies,” on Wednesday, April 11, and the Veeco team will also be accepting the CS Industry 2018 Award for Innovation for its GENxcel™ R&D MBE System at the awards ceremony held during the conference.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (GF) and Toppan Photomasks, Inc. (TPI) today announced a multi-year extension to their Advanced Mask Technology Center (AMTC) joint venture in Dresden, Germany. Opened in 2002, the AMTC provides GF’s fabs in Dresden, Malta and Singapore with high-end production and development masks at world-class cycle times in support of the foundry’s ambitious technology roadmap. The AMTC also supports TPI customers worldwide from Dresden.

Owned equally by TPI and GF, the AMTC joint venture was previously extended in 2012 to further increase tool capability and capacity. This new extension to the agreement aims to continue the current charter for manufacturing production masks as well as developing mask technology for ever smaller geometries. GF is both TPI’s partner in the joint venture and a strategic and critical customer, while TPI is GF’s preferred mask supplier, leveraging AMTC and TPI’s global manufacturing network to support GF’s worldwide operations.

The AMTC provides one of the most essential and complex elements in the semiconductor manufacturing process, which puts the latest technology innovations at consumers’ fingertips.

Since its inception, the output of AMTC has grown continuously with growth rates exceeding 10 percent in recent years. Sizeable investments have enabled the AMTC to keep up with the rapid technological developments and challenges of this dynamic market sector; in 2017 alone more than 100 million euros (US$124 million) were invested.

“From computing to communication, and from automotive to medtech – our dual roadmap allows us to provide innovative technologies for the benefit of our customers around the world,” said Geoff Akiki, World Wide Mask Operations Executive at GF. “Regardless if they choose FD-SOI with its focus on energy efficiency or FinFET with its focus on high performance, both require leading-edge lithographic masks. AMTC is a great partner and provider of those masks. We are especially pleased that the experience of AMTC will be fully utilized to support us at the leading edge of chip technology.”

“Having been in place for more than 15 years, this joint venture is one of the lengthiest in the mask industry,” said Mike Hadsell, TPI CEO. “This is a testament to the synergy and commitment of the partners, as well as the strength of the AMTC and Toppan Dresden team members. AMTC is truly a best-of-breed effort that has provided high-quality masks to TPI’s customer base, both in Europe and globally.”

“AMTC was founded with a mission to be its customers’ first choice for photomasks. To achieve this goal, our experienced and dedicated team pursues cost-effective and timely manufacturing of high-quality masks for multiple nodes. In the process, the partners have continued to strengthen their relationship while allowing AMTC to serve as a valuable resource for our demanding global customer base,” noted Thomas Schmidt, AMTC’s general manager. “AMTC was established to support AMD’s microprocessor production in Dresden at the 65nm/90nm node. We have moved way beyond that and are looking beyond the current 14nm node.”

AMTC was founded in 2002 by AMD, Infineon Technologies and DuPont Photomasks, which became TPI in 2005. Subsequently, GF and TPI became the ownership partners in 2009. AMTC has seen a cumulative investment of more than US$600 million since 2002. The mask facility employs more than 250 engineers and other specialists. The company is currently expanding its team.

By Jamie Girard, Sr. Director, Public Policy, SEMI

Although many months past due, Congress on March 23 finalized the federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2018, only hours before a what would have been the third government shutdown of the year. Congressional spending has been allocated in fits and starts since the end of FY 2017 last September, with patchwork deals keeping things running amid pervasive uncertainty. While this clearly isn’t an ideal way to fund the federal government, the end result will make many in the business of research and development pleased with the addition of more resources for science and innovation.

There was grave concern over the future of federal spending with the release of the president’s FY 2018 budget, which would have cut the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget by 11 percent and National Institutes of Standards & Technology (NIST) spending by 30 percent. Relief came with early drafts from Congress that whittled those cuts down to between 2-9 percent. But the real boost was a February bipartisan Congressional agreement that lifted self-imposed spending caps and introduced a generous dose of non-defense discretionary spending, increasing NSF spending 3.9 percent over the previous year and the NIST budget an astounding 25.9 percent over FY 2017 levels.

SEMI applauds this much-needed support for basic research and development (R&D) at these agencies after their budgets were cut or flat-funded for multiple cycles. It is well understood that federal R&D funding is critical to U.S. competitiveness and future economic prosperity. With the stakes that high, full funding of R&D programs at the NSF and NIST should be a bipartisan national priority backed by a strong and united community of stakeholders and advocates in the business, professional, research, and education communities.

With the work for FY 2018 completed, Congress will now turn to FY 2019 spending – already behind schedule due to the belated completion of the previous year’s budget. With 2018 an election year, Congress will likely begin work on the FY 2019 budget in short order, but probably won’t complete its work prior to the November elections.  SEMI will continue to work with lawmakers to support the R&D budgets at the agencies and their important basic science research. If you’d like to know how you can be more involved with SEMI’s public policy work, please contact Jamie Girard, Sr. Director, Public Policy at [email protected].

Plasma-Therm today announced that it has acquired KOBUS, a plasma deposition company, which enables F.A.S.T, a valuable alternative to ALD where thick and conformal films are required.

This unique deposition method is at the crossroads of ALD and CVD: F.A.S.T. stands for “Fast Atomic Sequential Technology.” F.A.S.T. is enabled by proprietary CVD reactor design combined with pulsing capability, and while capable of depositing in traditional ALD mode, it is optimal for thick and conformal layer deposition and offers new solutions for 3D integration challenges.

KOBUS offers a unique portfolio of equipment for both mature and advanced materials deposition, which merges well with Plasma-Therm’s operation, expanding the plasma-based deposition and etch suite of products for all silicon and compound semiconductor emerging applications.

This acquisition will allow Plasma-Therm to establish a solid base in Europe and conduct R&D development in the Grenoble “Silicon Valley,” a region fueled with R&D, startups and large semiconductor corporations.

SEMI, the global association representing the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $56.6 billion in 2017, a year-over-year increase of 37 percent from 2016 sales of $41.24 billion. The data are available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report, now available from SEMI.

Korea claimed the largest market for new semiconductor equipment for the first time, shattering all previous regional spending records with $17.95 billion in equipment sales. Taiwan fell to the second position with sales of $11.49 billion. Annual spending rates increased for South Korea, Europe, China, Japan and North America. However, new equipment markets in Taiwan and Rest of World (primarily Southeast Asia) contracted.

Equipment sales to China increased 27 percent as the region maintained the third largest market position for the second year in a row. The 2017 equipment markets in Japan and North America held onto fourth and fifth places, respectively, while the Europe market rose in the rankings to the sixth spot. The global other front-end segment increased 40 percent; the wafer processing equipment market segment rose 39 percent; the assembly and packaging segment jumped 29 percent; and total test equipment sales increased 27 percent.

Compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the Worldwide SEMS Report is a summary of the monthly billings figures for the global semiconductor equipment industry. Categories cover wafer processing, assembly and packaging, test, and other front-end equipment. Other front-end includes mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing, and fab facilities equipment.

Semiconductor Capital Equipment Market by World Region (2016-2017)
2017
2016
% Change
South Korea
17.95
7.69
133%
Taiwan
11.49
12.23
-6%
China
8.23
6.46
27%
Japan
6.49
4.63
40%
North America
5.59
4.49
24%
Europe
3.67
2.18
68%
Rest of World
3.20
3.55
-10%
Total
56.62
41.24
37%

Source: SEMI/SEAJ April 2018

Note: Summed subtotals may not equal the total due to rounding.