MICRO: Expansions and Acquisitions

Gems Sensors, a manufacturer of fluid sensors, has purchased Setra Systems of Boxborough, MA, for an undisclosed sum. Setra makes capacitance pressure transducers and related equipment. Based in Plainville, CT, Gems Sensors makes liquid-level, flow, and pressure sensors. The company believes Setra's capacitance technology and low-pressure expertise complements its line of transducers. Setra will maintain manufacturing and service operations in Boxborough.

A unit of Ashland Specialty Chemical bought a single-wafer tool from SEZ Group for use in an applications lab in Easton, PA. Ashland's electronic chemicals division will use the tool to improve product and process development of copper and low-k dielectric films, the company says. In related news, the business unit recently purchased a Hitachi focused ion beam system for assessing the performance of photoresist strippers. The FIB tool's capability permits a precise view of metal lines and vias, giving an accurate determination of stripper performance, Ashland says.

Process Technology has acquired Lufran, a manufacturer of heating and cooling equipment used in the semiconductor industry. Process Technology, of Mentor, OH, makes electric immersion heaters, heat exchangers, and in-line heaters, as well as temperature and level controls. The cost of the acquisition was not disclosed.

A Colorado-based company that specializes in high-performance coated optics has purchased a five-acre site for a new campus. Alpine Research Optics (ARO) says it will begin construction on the site at the Gunbarrel Technical Center in Boulder this year. The first phase of the expansion project will be a 40,000-sq-ft facility with 16,000 sq ft of cleanroom area. ARO says the expansion is needed in order to keep pace with growth in the market for deep-UV optical technology.

MEMS maker enlarges fab

Major MEMS manufacturer Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) has expanded its fab in Santa Barbara, CA, to 30,000 sq ft of cleanroom space. IMT specializes in high-volume MEMS production on 6-in. wafers. In addition to the Class 100 area, the facility houses another 4000 sq ft of space for assembly and packaging. The expansion adds a Karl Suss SB6 wafer-bonding system for up to three wafers, giving IMT the capability to build complex devices such as microfluidic systems, the company says.

Philips opens metrology site

Philips Analytical has opened a plant in Waterloo, ON, Canada, that will serve the silicon germanium and related compound semiconductor device markets. Measuring approximately 7590 sq ft, the cleanroom facility will be used to manufacture instruments for photoluminescence and x-ray diffraction analysis. Philips says the former permits direct monitoring of a semiconductor's bandgap, and the latter measures structural parameters in semiconductor materials.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Expansions and Acquisitions