INDUSTRY NEWS

'ROUND THE CIRCUIT

Chemical pact extended

The partners in an exclusive R&D pact to examine the effects of chemical purity have extended the agreement through 2001. Ashland Chemical of Dublin, OH, and IMEC, the Belgium-based research consortium, have agreed to continue the joint program in which they have been researching chemical purity and device yield. The program's emphasis is on chemicals used in SC-1 cleaning and their effect on the quality of gate oxides down to 5 nm. As part of the extended program, Ashland and IMEC will develop new products and look into chemical requirements for HF and IPA vapor drying.

Defects book published

One hundred and five technical papers covering a range of topics in defect studies have been collected in a new book published by the Materials Research Society. Titled Defects in Electronic Materials, the 710-page book contains the symposium proceedings from the MRS 1996 fall meeting in Boston. The volume presents research from 25 countries. Topics include new techniques in defect studies, process-induced defects, impurity diffusion and hydrogen in Si, defects in III-V layers and structures, and compensation and structure defects in III-V compounds. Available in hardcover or microfiche, the book costs $65 for MRS members, $75 for nonmembers in the United States, and $86 for nonmembers outside the United States. Information: Materials Research Society, Customer Services Dept., 9800 McKnight Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15237; 412/367-3012; fax, 412/367-4373.

IPEC, MEMC eye CMP deal

MEMC Electronic Materials will use chemical-mechanical planarization tools from IPEC in a proposed joint program to develop ultraflat silicon wafers for advanced chip processes. In the program's initial phase MEMC will buy plasma-based planarization and metrology systems from IPEC valued at $5.4 million. Later, the wafer manufacturer will purchase additional systems for installation in its plants worldwide. IPEC says that its plasma-assisted chemical etching (PACE) technology will enable the industry to produce the level of planarization required for next-generation semiconductors. The company hopes to use the program with MEMC to further develop the technology. The program must be approved by the boards of directors of both IPEC and MEMC.

Europeans please clients

European equipment suppliers have earned high marks for customer satisfaction in a recent survey by VLSI Research of San Jose. Reasons for the good ratings include the use of internal staff instead of distributors for sales and service, and the practice of focusing on a few major accounts instead of many minor ones, the market research firm reports. More than 75% of European vendors' sales are to clients outside Europe, VLSI says. Chipmakers responding to the 1996 survey were asked to rate their preferences for European, Japanese, and American equipment on the basis of criteria such as product performance, uptime, process support, aftersales service, and technical leadership. European and American suppliers scored better in 1996 than they did in the 1994 VLSI customer satisfaction survey. Japanese tool vendors showed no change from 1994. VLSI cited an abundance of welltrained engineers, excellent educational systems, and a stable workforce as additional reasons for the Europeans' high ranking. The research firm notes that fewer than 1% of responding chipmakers complained that their European suppliers had a shortage of service personnel.

Varian named top vendor

United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) of Hsinchu, Taiwan, has given Varian Associates first prize in its supplier awards program. The honor recognized Varian's work in meeting UMC support requirements for the chipmaker's Fab 3, located in Hsinchu Science Industrial Park. UMC established the program in order to promote a commitment to quality among its vendors. Under the program the chipmaker's senior management rates vendors each quarter on five factors important to equipment uptime and device yields. Criteria include the length of time required for delivery of spare and emergency parts, rapidity of service support, and the supplier's safety record. Varian manufactures ion-implantation tools, thin-film coaters, and related process gear. UMC's Fab 3, which houses 67,000 sq ft of cleanroom space, manufactures ULSI semiconductors on 8-in. wafers. Installed Varian systems include ion implanters.

Protons change DRAMs

By adding a few simple steps to the semiconductor manufacturing process, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have embedded protons in DRAM chips to convert them into nonvolatile memory ICs. The ICs contain the same information as normal memory microchips, but when the computer power is shut off the data remain in memory. The researchers embedded the protons in a layer of silicon dioxide by covering the wafer in hot hydrogen and using a few other process steps. Sandia recently received a patent for the technology.

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