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Coherent finishes laser deal

Coherent says it has improved its ability to produce high-power semiconductor lasers with the recent purchase of Tutcore OY of Tampere, Finland. Tutcore specializes in the growth and processing of aluminum-free epi wafers used in producing the lasers. For more than a year Santa Clara, CA­based Coherent has been working with material grown by Tutcore, and the company claims that the results show longer lifetimes, lower beam divergences, and better spectral purity than currently available materials. Tutcore uses molecular beam epitaxy to grow the aluminum-free wafers. The resulting wafers provide better performance, higher yields, and greater reliability than does aluminum-based or aluminum-free material grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, according to the Finnish firm. Tutcore will remain in Tampere to continue its research into semiconductor laser development with the Technical University of Tampere. Coherent is building a 10,000-sq-ft cleanroom in Santa Clara for volume production of semiconductor laser devices.

Siemens, Opal team on SEM

Siemens Microelectronics Center and metrology system vendor Opal will develop an automatic wafer metrology tool capable of measuring device structures smaller than 0.25 µm under the terms of a recently signed agreement. A team of engineers from both firms will conduct research at Siemens's facility in Dresden and at Opal's development site in Israel. The alliance will allow Opal to accelerate development of systems capable of metrology down to 0.18 µm, the company says. Acquired in December 1996 by Applied Materials, Opal manufactures high-speed CD-SEM systems.

Macrotron to rep MEGA

MEGA Systems & Chemicals has tapped Munich-based Macrotron to be its sales-and-service arm in Europe. Macrotron will provide marketing, sales, and technical support for MEGA Systems' line of ultrapure chemical delivery and CMP slurry systems on a 24-hour basis. The representative says that it has the capability to ship spare parts from the Munich airport within an hour of receiving an order. MEGA Systems is based in Chandler, AZ.

Steag acquires RTP stake

Steag, a manufacturer of wet process equipment based in Essen, Germany, has purchased a majority stake in AST Elektronik, a supplier of rapid thermal process equipment with its headquarters in Kircheim. The purchase price for the merger, which became effective on January 1, was not disclosed. Peter Augustin and Günter Kaltenbrunner, owners and managing directors of AST, will continue to act as general managers of the 200-employee company. AST had sales of approximately $46 million in 1996. Steag has several worldwide subsidiaries, including Steag MicroTech of Austin, TX. The company had sales of approximately $183 million in 1996.

Photronics ups UK capacity

Photronics has more than doubled its photomask manufacturing capacity at the vendor's UK plant by installing a Core 2564 laser lithography system and support equipment. The supplier also announced that it is building a $25-million Class 1 manufacturing facility in Manchester, England. The 42,000-sq-ft plant will house advanced photomask manufacturing capability. The new Core system provides 0.35-µm technology and is designed to complement existing equipment. Additional equipment installed at the existing plant in Oldham, England, includes an RT-8000 defect inspection system made by Orbot Instruments capable of 0.25-µm detection.

Fluoroware opens Paris office

Chaska, MN­based Fluoroware has opened a Paris office to provide European sales support for its wafer management and material- and device-handling product lines. The company appointed Mark Cole as European sales manager. Cole will work with Metron Technology, Fluoroware's European distributor. The U.S. supplier has a manufacturing site in Bad Rappenau, Germany. The company says sales of its wafer management and material- and device-handling products have doubled in Europe since mid-1995.

Solvay to build HP plant

Solvay Interox is building yet another plant for manufacturing ultrahigh-purity hydrogen peroxide. The facility, which will begin production late this year, will be located in Bernburg, Germany. The plant will produce HP rated at 100 ppt per individual cation or lower. Solvay Interox has 18 HP plants in 14 countries. The vendor has been supplying HP to European chipmakers for more than 15 years and to U.S. chipmakers for more than 10 years. In the United States Solvay Interox manufactures HP at a purity level down to 100 ppt per individual cation at a site in Deer Park, TX. The vendor claims 25% of worldwide capacity for the compound, which is used to remove contaminants from silicon wafers. Annual sales are $450 million. The supplier's parent company, Solvay, is based in Brussels, Belgium.

Asia

Partners to make specialty gases

Air Products Japan and Showa Denko will manufacture two specialty gases at Showa Denko's Kawasaki plant near Tokyo under the terms of a recently signed joint venture agreement. The compounds, tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane, will be sold by each company to chipmakers around the world for use as dry etchants and chamber clean gases. The venture is called Showa Denko Air Products.

Japan certifies Tescom

Tescom, a manufacturer of pressure regulators based in Minnesota, became the first non-Japanese company to receive the certification to the Fifth Procedural Manual of the Japanese High-Pressure Gas Safety Laws. The approval permits the supplier to market its line of regulators in Japan. The High-Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan in conjunction with the country's Ministry of International Trade and Industry granted the certification, which required the vendor to comply with 36 criteria. The approval process took four years to complete.

Hyundai installs Orbot tools

Hyundai has installed a WF-720 wafer inspection system from Orbot Instruments at its fab in Kyoungki-do. The chipmaker also plans to install an Orbot RT-8000 reticle inspection system at an R&D site. The transactions are Orbot's first equipment orders from the Korean DRAM manufacturer.

Vendor enhances Tokyo support

Wright Williams & Kelly continued the expansion of its sales and technical support operations in Tokyo by signing a multiyear agreement with Materials & Equipment Trading Service (METS). Based in Dublin, CA, Wright Williams markets cost-reduction modeling and simulation services. METS was founded in 1995 by Kenryo Watanabe. The company president spent more than 25 years managing wafers fabs for Sharp before establishing the firm, which specializes in providing cost-reduction services to Japanese tool- and devicemakers.

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