INDUSTRY NEWS

’ROUND THE CIRCUIT

Fab is DRAM price casualty

A "worsening semiconductor market" caused by low DRAM prices has forced Mitsubishi Semiconductor America to permanently shut down its wafer fab operations, said Masataka Takehara, president and CEO. The decision takes effect this month. Approximately 200 workers, most of them fab personnel, will be laid off by the Durham, NC—based chipmaker. Depending on their skills and seniority level, some of the employees will be given the opportunity to transfer to other departments. The drop in DRAM prices over the past two years "made our fab unprofitable," Takehara said. The company has decided to focus on ASIC, memory, and microcontroller design, a shift in business strategy that "will enhance Mitsubishi's position in the North American semiconductor market," the chief executive said. Mitsubishi will add at least 60 employees to its design staff over the next two years. The company opened a 40,000-sq-ft design engineering building in 1996. Mitsubishi opened for business in Durham in 1983 as a small test facility. Construction of the fab was completed in 1989.

SBA tips hat to Emcore

The U.S. Small Business Administration presented Emcore with the Tibbetts Award in recognition of the semiconductor equipment supplier's successful work in the field of wide bandgap materials and epitaxy tools. The award is named after Roland Tibbetts, the founder of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. Emcore's Research and Application Laboratory developed III-nitride-based wide bandgap materials as well as materials and devices based on gallium indium arsenide technology. The Somerset, NJ—based firm completed the work under SBIR contracts. The vendor's accomplishments also include a demonstration of MOCVD technology for the production of pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor monolithic microwave devices for telecommunications products. The Tibbetts honor recognizes technological innovation, economic impact, and business achievements. Emcore researchers were feted at the White House and at a reception on Capitol Hill. Approximately 50 companies receive the award each year.

Institute seeks standards help

The Hydraulic Institute has put out a call for qualified parties to take part in completing the 1999 edition of the organization's pump standards. The ANSI-approved standards cover centrifugal, vertical, rotary, and reciprocating pumps. Nomenclature, definitions, design, application, installation, operation, maintenance, and testing will be covered. Pump users, manufacturers, other standards organizations, and government agencies are being invited to participate. The institute will submit to ANSI a list of parties interested in reviewing the drafts in order to meet the organization's canvass requirements. Fifty-three changes to the existing 13 standards are under consideration. In addition, a new section on air-operated pumps is planned. Some of the changes are the result of new subject material, while others reflect a greater emphasis on the use of metric measurements than in previous documents. The Hydraulic Institute is an 81-year-old nonprofit trade group representing 75 pump manufacturers. Information: 888/786-7744.

Cleanroom show to debut

More than 60 exhibitors will be on hand to showcase their wares at the inaugural Cleanroom Technology Expo set to take place in Frankfurt, Germany, May 6—7. The trade show will also feature a two-day conference covering a variety of topics of interest to the semiconductor, flat-panel display, disk drive, and other cleanroom-based industries. Session topics include ISO/CEN cleanroom standards, standards for HEPA/ULPA testing, computational fluid dynamics for airflow modeling, biological decontamination of ultrapure water, and ionization technology for minienvironments. Angel Business Publications, publisher of Cleanroom Technology, organized the event. Bill Dunlop, the magazine's publisher, said that the number of exhibitors "is pretty reasonable for a first-time show, given the size of the industry in Europe." Information: +44 171 417 7400; fax, +44 171 417 7500.

Book covers interconnections

The Handbook of Semiconductor Interconnection Technology is a complete overview of the latest information on interconnection technology. The 608-page illustrated book covers contamination-related defects, cleanroom practices, materials, processes, equipment, methodologies, and characterization techniques. The chapter on contamination control in multilevel interconnection manufacturing addresses conventions, definitions, contaminant forms, detection, and monitoring. The section also covers particle behavior in cleanrooms, the use of minienvironments, and contamination in liquids. The handbook analyzes key generic processes and characterization techniques, describes insulating materials, and examines the properties of both organic and inorganic films. The editors are Geraldine Cogin Schwartz, K. V. Srikrishnan, and Arthur Bross. The book costs $175 and is published by Marcel Dekker. Information: 212/696-9000; fax, 212/685-4540.

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