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Samsung buys CMP tools

Samsung has ordered Auriga-C dry-in/dry-out CMP systems from SpeedFam International for installation at its fab in Kiheung, South Korea. The multimillion-dollar order includes Altair, SpeedFam's in situ end point detection tool for monitoring film thickness in oxide and metal applications. The Chandler, AZ—based vendor also received a multimillion-dollar order from Dow Chemical for lapping tools. The systems will be installed in Dow's plant in Portland, OR, for production of thin-film memory disks.

Genus sells latest tool

Genus has sold its newly introduced ion implanter to Hyundai for installation at the chipmaker's Fab 7 in Ichon, South Korea. Called the Kestrel 750, the system is based on the vendor's Tandetron 1520 implanter, a high-energy MeV tool that features direct cryopumping to maintain chamber pressure during photoresist implantation, and wafer handling in vacuum to reduce particulate contamination.

MEGA dispenses NEC order

MEGA Systems & Chemicals will install slurry distribution equipment at the Roseville, CA, fab of NEC Electronics. The chipmaker purchased a MEGAflow IIIC system for supplying slurry to a medium line of polishers through a global distribution loop. Using a separate distribution module, the system continuously recirculates slurry in order to minimize slurry hardening in process tanks.

White Oak stocks up

KLA-Tencor, Fluoroware, and Semy Engineering joined the growing list of vendors supplying White Oak Semiconductor's Class 1 fab near Richmond, VA. The joint chipmaking venture between Motorola and Siemens chose KLA-Tencor to provide all of its thin-film measurement tools and selected Fluoroware as the sole supplier of 200-mm wafer-handling equipment. White Oak purchased 19 KLA-Tencor measurement systems for CMP, etch, CVD, photolithography, implant, diffusion, and metals applications. A portion of the order, which consists of UV-1280SE and UV-1080 systems, has been installed and awaits tool qualification. Under the terms of a five-year agreement, White Oak will purchase Fluoroware's PFA STAT-PRO 3000 transport wafer carriers and STAT-PRO 175 WIP storage boxes. Semy Engineering's Fab Supervisor Workstation will be used by the semiconductor manufacturer to collect data throughout the fab for use in analysis and process control. The system is designed to increase yields by providing a common interface between CIM systems and the process tools. The program reduces operator errors and automatically detects tool-related problems using statistical analysis, according to Semy.

White Oak will manufacture 64-Mb DRAMs on 8-in. wafers at the fab. Other vendors supplying the facility include Air Products and Chemicals, GaSonics International, and SpeedFam International.

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