A public-private partnership has completed the management-led buyout of a GaAs wafer manufacturer. MBE Technology of Singapore was bought for approximately $11.2 million by a team comprising 3i, EDB Investment, and an MBE management group. EDB Investment is the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, and 3i is an international venture capital company. MBE was founded in 1993. It makes compound epitaxy wafers for manufacturers of devices used in the wireless and optical telecommunications sectors. The partners cite forecasts predicting the market for GaAs wafers will grow at an annual compounded rate of 24% by 2004.

Applied Materials says a new distribution center will enable the fab tool market leader to rapidly deliver spare parts to its Asian customers. The Continental Distribution Center in Taoyuan, Taiwan, will offer delivery times of less than 24 hours to clients in Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea, according to Applied. The 72,000-sq-ft center is Applied's first distribution facility outside of North America. The equipment manufacturer says the center is the second of three worldwide facilities on the drawing board for North America, Asia, and Europe. The new Asian center is three miles from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport.

Applied has been expanding its operations in Asia. In October the company opened a technical training center in Shanghai, China. The 90,000-sq-ft center is located in Pudong Zhangjiang High-Tech Park.

A major Chinese research institution has purchased an oxygen implanter from Ibis Technology of Danvers, MA, for manufacturing SIMOX-SOI wafers. The Shanghai Institute of Metallurgy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, bought an Ibis 1000 implanter for use by Shanghai Simgui Technology. The company was established by the institute and Chinese partners to make SIMOX-SOI wafers for the growing consumer electronics market in China. SIMOX is a wafer manufacturing technique in which an oxygen implanter is used to make a very thin insulating layer below a thin layer of silicon on the wafer's surface, Ibis says.

Tegal has teamed with three Japanese microelectronics companies to pursue advances in nonvolatile memory technology. The Petaluma, CA–based manufacturer of plasma etch systems says the three joint partnerships will focus on next-generation ferroelectric random-access memory and magnetic random-access memory devices. Two of the projects focus on third-generation FeRAM stack etch developments. Both of these projects will extend the capabilities of Tegal's HRe– source technology to the 0.25-µm realm, the vendor says. The third program covers advanced MRAM devices as an alternative to FeRAM for nonvolatile memory technology, according to Tegal. The company recently delivered its first etch tool for MRAM production, the 6550 Spectra, to a customer. Tegal did not disclose the names of its partners.

Luxtron, a manufacturer of metrology systems and related equipment for the microelectronics industry, has extended its technical support capabilities in Asia. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, Luxtron opened an office in Tokyo to establish Luxtron Asia Pacific. The office provides technical support for customers in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other countries in the region. Shigeki Nishiate heads the new office as general manager. The company also opened a technical support office in Seoul as part of the Asia Pacific organization.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International has ordered several wet benches from SCP Global Technologies for use in its 200-mm wafer fab. The Boise, ID–based vendor received an order for its E200 linear wet benches from the foundry, which is under construction, according to SCP. Semiconductor Manufacturing International is based in Zhangjian High-Tech Park in Shanghai. The foundry will use the wet benches for wafer cleaning and wet etching.