SEZ has signed a joint agreement to evaluate its new 300-mm wafer-cleaning system for the first time. SEZ introduced the spin-process tool for the large wafers in March. The Austrian vendor will work with Pure Wafer, a start-up specializing in wafer reclaiming, to examine the beta tool's performance, efficiency, and production readiness. The agreement calls for Pure Wafer to install the tool at its site in Swansea, Wales, for six months, with the option of extending the evaluation period.

The beta system is a one-chamber version of SEZ's new four-chamber Spin-Processor 8300. The new system is an FEOL precleaning tool that simultaneously processes both the front and the back of a 300-mm substrate. Each three-level process chamber is designed to use less chemistry than competing systems, according to SEZ. In addition, SEZ notes that chemicals are spun from the wafer surface into an exclusion area, eliminating redeposition and cross-contamination.

Pure Wafer's 14,850-sq-ft headquarters in Swansea houses 6600 sq ft of cleanroom space for reclaiming 200- and 300-mm wafers. Launched in August 2000, the company expects to be at full capacity in July of this year.

Air Liquide Electronics has completed the installation of distribution systems for bulk gases at TI's DMOS6 300-mm fab, the vendor announced. The Dallas-based supplier designed the system and qualified all new lines for bulk delivery of gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, helium, and hydrogen. The Air Liquide unit will pipe the gases from its UHP facility in Dallas. The vendor will use a new system called FabView to monitor the status of the distribution network.

A French manufacturer of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers has selected ASM International as a preferred supplier of 300-mm vertical furnaces. Soitec will install the first A412 furnace for mass production of 300-mm SOI wafers by the end of June. The French firm says it is the first supplier to begin full-scale production of 300-mm SOI wafers. The A412 system is the first vertical furnace to use both dual reactors and dual boats, ASM claims. The configuration enables nonstop processing and optimal throughput, according to the company. Soitec says it selected the tool because it met requirements for uniformity of the thermal oxide layers and had the throughput needed for high-volume production of SOI wafers. More than half of the working 300-mm fabs have selected the A412 furnace, according to ASM.