INDUSTRY NEWS

EXPANSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS

Vets back software start-up

A software start-up has been launched by two veterans of the process equipment industry. Timbre Technology is headed by Bruce Rhine, the former president and CEO of Obsidian, and Alan Nolet, the former senior vice president and general manager of Tokyo Electron America. Obsidian, a manufacturer of fixed-abrasive CMP systems, was bought by Applied Materials in 1999. Nolet is president of Timbre, which is based in Fremont, CA. The start-up has signed a sales distribution agreement with Therma-Wave. The agreement combines Timbre's critical dimension measurement software and Therma-Wave's Opti-Probe metrology tool.

O'Brien buys piping firm

O'Brien, a manufacturer of heat traced and insulated tubing, has purchased Cardinal UHP, a manufacturer of ultra-high-purity piping for the semiconductor and biopharmaceutical industries. Cardinal is located at the Missouri Research Park in Weldon Springs, MO. It will move it to a new 50,800-sq-ft facility adjacent to O'Brien's headquarters in St. Louis. O'Brien bought Cardinal for an undisclosed sum from Triclover, a division of the Swedish firm Alfa Laval. Among Cardinal's clients are Intel, AMD, and Motorola, O'Brien says. The company will double its 34-person workforce, according to the parent firm. Cardinal's new plant will house a 3000-sq-ft Class 10 manufacturing cleanroom for high-purity, smooth, and corrosion-resistant tubing.

KLA-T eyes new campus

KLA-Tencor says it will expand manufacturing capacity by building a new plant in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Jose­based manufacturer of yield management equipment plans to put a new campus on a 43-acre business-park site in the East Bay city of Livermore. KLA initially will construct two 120,000-sq-ft buildings at Shea Business Park. Building One will be a dedicated manufacturing facility with approximately 40,000 sq ft of cleanroom space. Building Two will house departments of the supplier's worldwide support operations as well as teams for production installation and retrofitting. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer. An additional four buildings are planned for the next five years. The current boom in the semiconductor industry prompts the expansion plans, the company says.

Silicon Valley traffic is notoriously congested and the Livermore location will enable employees living in the East Bay area to reduce their commute times, KLA says. The supplier has offices and production facilities in San Jose and Milpitas, which are approximately 30 miles southwest of Livermore.

PDF gets software modeler

PDF Solutions, a provider of yield ramp and performance systems, has acquired AISS, a developer of software that models and compensates for the physical effects of maskmaking and lithography. The deal will integrate the process characterization vehicles of San Jose­based PDF with the layout pattern characterization software of Munich-based AISS. The German firm's SiCat-Core tool, which analyzes and verifies IC manufacturability, meshes with PDF's pdEX, which predicts the impact of random and systematic yield loss. PDF says the merger will help overcome design process interaction issues associated with deep submicron technologies.

Ceramics firm to debut

Morgan Advanced Ceramics of Latrobe, PA, will introduce a semiconductor tool components business at Semicon West in San Francisco. Called Morgan Semiconductor Products, the new unit will sell ceramic materials, carbon materials, organic coatings, ceramic-metal assemblies, and e-chucks. The start-up will have a full-service application engineering and sales center. Greg Finn will manage the business unit. He is a 10-year veteran of Morgan Crucible, the parent company of the ceramics subsidiary. Finn most recently worked as regional sales manager for Morgan Advanced Ceramics in the western United States and Mexico.

ATMI ups epitaxy capacity

Increased activity in the wireless and telecommunications markets has prompted ATMI to expand the silicon epitaxy production of its Epitronics unit by 25%. The Epitronics silicon division in Mesa, AZ, plans to add eight single-wafer reactors for 200-mm substrates. The expansion increases the facility's total number of silicon epitaxial tools to 36. The systems are used for BiCMOS and bipolar epitaxial processes. Analog devices made with these processes provide the fast operation and performance characteristics that are required for high-frequency wireless applications and Internet telecommunications, the company points out.

Olympus comes to U.S.

A major Japanese manufacturer of industrial inspection equipment has opened a semiconductor and FPD inspection system subsidiary in Silicon Valley. Olympus Optical formed Olympus Integrated Technologies America in order to establish a direct sales and product development presence in the United States. As part of its business plan, the start-up says it will seek other equipment suppliers as partners. The primary focus will be on wafer and flat-panel inspection equipment that can be integrated in production lines. CEO of the San Jose­based subsidiary is Yoshihide Yamaoka. Rick LaFrance, a veteran of the semiconductor equipment industry, is president and COO.

MicroHome | Search | Current Issue | MicroArchives
Buyers Guide | Media Kit