INDUSTRY NEWS

'ROUND THE CIRCUIT

Wet resist program begins

IMEC, the Belgian R&D consortium, and Semitool will collaborate to develop techniques for removing wet resist and polymers in front- and back-end processes. Under the terms of a strategic alliance, Semitool will install its Magnum wet-process platform at IMEC's facility in Leuven. The system will be used to develop stripping procedures over the course of the two-year alliance. After that period the research agreement can be renewed for additional one-year periods. The impetus for the work is the need to develop polymer removal techniques that are environmentally sound.

Implantation method explored

Silicon Valley­based Genus and the Welsh foundry Newport Wafer-Fab Ltd. (NWL) have signed a joint agreement to develop an MeV ion implantation procedure that may help chipmakers streamline microchip production and reduce manufacturing costs. Developed by Genus of Sunnyvale, CA, the procedure is called buried implanted layer for lateral isolation, or BILLI. NWL will develop the technology at two fabs recently opened at its site in Newport, Wales. Fab 2 houses a 0.5-µm 6-in. wafer line, and Fab 3 houses 0.5- and 0.35-µm 8-in. wafer lines. As part of the multimillion-dollar program, NWL will use a Genus Tandetron 1520 MeV ion implant tool, which made its debut in November 1995. BILLI eliminates multiple process steps during semiconductor manufacturing, according to Genus.

DuPont honors White Knight

White Knight Pumps & Fittings took third prize among North American contestants in the 1997 DuPont Plunkett Awards for Innovation with Teflon for a shifting mechanism used inside the vendor's reciprocating pumps. The Pneumatic Logic mechanism is made entirely of Teflon fluoropolymer resin. In awarding the prize, DuPont noted that the design "constitutes a major advance" in maintaining the purity of fluids used in semiconductor and chemical processes. The pumps have the lowest levels of ionic contamination of any chemical pump in the world, according to DuPont. One of the judges commented that the device "will revolutionize the chemical delivery system." White Knight's headquarters is in Hemlock, MI. Established in 1988, the awards are presented on a regional basis to entrants from the Americas, Europe, and the Asia/Pacific region. The competition is named after Roy Plunkett, the DuPont scientist who developed the PTFE fluoropolymer.

SEMI touts China mission

SEMI says that an upcoming trade mission to China will give participating semiconductor industry executives insight into the future of the Chinese electronics industry after the reunification with Hong Kong. Scheduled October 25­31, the five-city tour will include a stop at Hong Kong Science and Technology University. Other semiconductor manufacturing and research sites on the itinerary include Advanced Micro Devices, Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Fudan University, Intel, Samsung, and SGS Thomson. China has signed joint ventures with Motorola, NEC, and AT&T to build fabs that will have a combined monthly output of more than 85,000 wafers, according to Paul Davis, SEMI's vice president of international relations. Nine new fabs are planned through the end of 1998, Davis says. Interested parties may contact Weifang Zhou at 415/940-6947.

U.S. leads consumables sales

The United States and Japan together will spend more on cleanroom products in 1997 than all the other countries in the world combined, according to a forecast from the McIlvaine Co. The Northbook, IL­based market research company also reports that California alone will account for 8.8% of the global purchases of garments, gloves, booties, and related products, while the United Kingdom and Germany each will account for less than 5% of total worldwide sales. Asian countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore will continue to take a larger share of the global cleanroom products market, with Korea expected to surpass California in 1997 at 9%. The information is contained in McIlvaine's new service, the Country and State Cleanroom Market Share Program.

Applied sponsors "Challenge"

Applied Materials has pledged $1.25 million over three years to sponsor the Kindness and Justice Challenge, a school program established to encourage American youth to become more civic-minded. The first annual Challenge will take place next January during a two-week period culminating on Martin Luther King Day. Applied is taking part in the organizing effort and is working with several nonprofit groups to develop a K­12 curriculum kit that will be distributed in 17,000 school districts. A Web site under development will provide a resource to help teachers and students post acts of kindness and justice as a basis for interactive education. Students and schools performing the most such acts during the two-week program will receive prizes. The organizers claim that the challenge will be one of the first educational projects to take advantage of the Internet's connection to American schools.

NanoScope users to celebrate

NanoScope SPM users will meet in Santa Barbara, CA, August 24­27 to exchange information and commemorate the 10th anniversary of Digital Instruments, which manufactures the scanning probe microscope. The 1997 International NanoScope Users Conference will be held on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Keynote speakers are Virgil Elings, president of Digital Instruments, and Paul Hansma, a professor of physics at UCSB. Presentations by NanoScope users and poster sessions are scheduled for August 25­27. Information: 805/899-3380; E-mail, felicia@di.com. DI's Web site address is http://www.di.com.

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