INDUSTRY NEWS

'ROUND THE CIRCUIT

Scrubber market to clean up

Concern over controlling industrial emissions such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will drive sales in the global market for scrubbers and adsorbers from $3.6 billion in 1996 to $5.4 billion by 2001, according to a market research firm. The McIlvaine Co. of Northbrook, IL, reports in a new study that the three largest markets for the cleaning technology through the turn of the century will be the metal, chemical, and surface coating industries, in that order. By 2001 the metals industry will spend more than $1.1 billion on scrubbers, followed by the chemical industry at approximately $900 million and the surface coating industry at $824 million. The electronics industry will spend approximately $370 million.

The report notes that industries in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan will be the largest consumers of adsorbers because of heightened concern over VOC emissions. Asia is the fastest-growing region for purchases of scrubbers and adsorbers, according to McIlvaine. More-developed countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are pressuring industries to remove VOCs. Europe will see rapid growth in sales of biofilters for use in controlling wastewater odor, according to the report.

IC makers increase capacity

Capacity utilization by chipmakers around the world grew during the fourth quarter of 1996, the first such upsurge since the end of 1995, VLSI Research reports. The San Jose­based research firm, which began tracking monthly worldwide IC production capacity and utilization figures last December, notes that production capacity utilization reached 98.6% last December, compared with 91.2% in December 1995. The figures for October and November 1996 were 96.4% and 97.4%, respectively. Utilization hit bottom last July at 87% but climbed to 98.3% in September. VLSI Research says the September increase was a seasonal phenomenon caused by Japanese manufacturers' expanding production. The new monthly tracking figures are designed to aid semiconductor manufacturers and equipment makers in discerning industry trends, according to the research firm. Microchip production and capacity use are provided in millions of square inches of silicon. The updated figures will appear each month in VLSI Research's publication, Industry Pulse.

CD-ROM has materials info

The Materials Research Society now offers a CD-ROM containing the latest volume of the Journal of Materials Research and a cumulative index for the entire 11 years of the publication. The index includes an abstract of every article published in the journal. The complete text of the 1996 volume with all tables and graphics is on the disk. The CD-ROM can be searched by title, author, subject, and key words. The disk contains information on more than 150 different topics covering materials characterization, processing, and synthesis. Among the topics are chemical vapor deposition, thin films, and defects in materials. Information: 412/367-3004, ext. 553.

Latest SEMI books published

An additional 350 listings appear in the SEMI Membership Directory for 1997­1998, bringing the total number of member companies listed in the newest version of the annual publication to 1850. A special section from Integrated Circuit Engineering lists global captive and merchant IC manufacturers as well as fabless IC suppliers. Each listing includes company addresses, names of executives, phone numbers, fax numbers, E-mail addresses, web site addresses, sales offices, product categories, and semiconductor-related sales figures.

SEMI has also published the latest edition of its Flat Panel Display Directory. It lists more than 290 corporate members of the trade organization active in the FPD industry. New sections in this edition feature listings on panel makers, fabs, and related organizations. Information: 415/940-6904.

Chemists society offering grants

The Society for Analytical Chemists is awarding three $10,000 grants to assistant professors in the field of analytical chemistry. The starter-grant program has two purposes: to encourage innovative research of high quality by new professors of analytical chemistry, and to promote the development of graduate students in the field. Assistant professors who have accepted an appointment from a U.S. college or university since December 31, 1993, are eligible. Information: 800/825-3221, ext. 208.

Consortium tests 300-mm tool

The international consortium charged with smoothing the semiconductor industry's transition to 300-mm wafers is putting an automated metrology tool from Nanometrics through its paces. The International 300mm Initiative (I300I) is testing the NanoSpec 8300XSE at the consortium's headquarters in a Sematech facility in Austin, TX. The automated tool measures and analyzes thin films on both 200- and 300-mm wafers. According to the Sunnyvale, CA­based supplier, the system is the first such tool of its kind to accommodate wafers up to 300-mm and the first such thin-film metrology system to qualify for research use at the 13-member consortium.

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