INDUSTRY NEWS

ORDER DESK

Samsung taps ASML again

Samsung Electronics has placed a multimillion-dollar repeat order for PAS 5500/300B deep-UV and PAS 500/200B i-line steppers from ASM Lithography. The multiple systems are scheduled for delivery through 1997 to the South Korean chipmaker's most advanced 200-mm wafer fabs. The large order continues ASML's foray into the Korean market, says the vendor, which opened its subsidiary, ASML Korea Co., in July 1996. The business unit has plans to open a $4-million lithography training center by the end of 1997.

Lumonics claims 300-mm first

Lumonics/Oxnard Operations has shipped what the company claims is the first production 300-mm wafer laser marking system. Shin-Etsu Handotni, a Japanese silicon supplier, will use the WaferMark DSC300, an Nd:YAG laser­ based tool, to hard-mark wafers on its 300-mm pilot line. The marker has a throughput of 200 wafers/hr. Fonts include SEMI OCR, BC 412, and two-dimensional symbology.

CFM makes FPD sale

LG International has purchased six Full-Flow systems from CFM Technologies for precision cleaning and etching of flat-panel displays. Installation at the Korean manufacturer's plant is scheduled for the second and third quarters of 1997. The order is valued at $16.1 million.

ASM makes Asian sales

ASM International has sold two Advance 400 vertical furnaces to South Korean chipmaker Hyundai and Taiwan-based Vanguard. Valued at $3 million, the dual-tube furnaces will be installed on advanced development lines in I'chon and Hsinchu, respectively.

National gets another Asyst

National Semiconductor will install SMIF-based minienvironments and related equipment from Asyst Technologies at the chipmaker's new 8-in. fab in Portland, ME. Installation was scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year. The equipment will be used to produce CMOS devices with linewidths of 0.25 µm. National placed a similar order in December 1995 for its fab in Arlington, TX. The two contracts have a value of more than $5 million.

Singapore gets ionized

More than 800 ceiling emitters and related ionization equipment from Ion Systems will be installed at TECH Semiconductor's Class 1 Fab 2 plant in Singapore this year. The joint venture of Texas Instruments, the Economic Development Board of Singapore, Canon, and Hewlett-Packard already had installed more than 600 ionizers at its Fab 1 site. The latest equipment will be delivered in three phases over a six-month period.

Fairchild buys CD system

Helix International has ordered compact-disk manufacturing systems valued at $16 million from Fairchild Technologies. The equipment will be used to manufacture CDs and recordable CDs at Helix's plant in Pennsylvania. The system incorporates a closed-bowl, spin-on-dye coating technology. It is Fairchild's first such order from Helix.

Eaton to serve Dominion

Eaton's semiconductor equipment business has been named primary supplier of high-current and high-energy ion implantation equipment for Dominion Semiconductor. Eaton shipped the first implanters in December, and additional systems will be delivered during the second half of 1997 and early in 1998. Based in Manassas, VA, Dominion is a partnership formed by IBM and Toshiba to manufacture DRAMs. The venture's first product will be 64-Mb DRAMs.

PRI nails automation order

PRI Automation signed a multimillion-dollar contract to install cassette stockers and related robotics at the 200-mm wafer fab being built by a "major American company" at an undisclosed site outside the United States. The automation gear includes an AeroTrak overhead monorail and machine-loading robot vehicles. Installation is scheduled for fourth-quarter 1997.

BOC building generator

BOC Gases is constructing a Spectra-N 3000 nitrogen generator for MEMC Electronic Materials' wafer-manufacturing plant in St. Peters, MO. The New Jersey­based vendor will also supply trichlorosilane and bulk hydrogen chloride. MEMC is expanding capacity at the plant in order to reduce unit costs. Construction is scheduled for completion early this year. Ramp-up is set for June.

Petroferm buys solvent line

Petroferm has purchased the Re-Entry line of engineered solvents from Environmental Solvents (formerly Envirosolv) of Jacksonville, FL, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition expands Petroferm's product line of terpene-based replacements for ozone-depleting cleaning agents. The Fernandina Beach, FL­based vendor markets semiaqueous, CFC-free precision cleaning agents under the Bioact trademark.

Advance Tabco opens plant

Advance Tabco has opened its fifth facility for producing stainless-steel cleanroom furniture. The 50,000-sq-ft plant, which is located in Denmark, SC, will manufacture all of the company's product lines.

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