INDUSTRY NEWS

'ROUND THE CIRCUIT

Matheson minimizes fire

Delivery of specialty gases to semiconductor customers will continue uninterrupted despite a spontaneous fire at its facility in Newark, NJ, Matheson Gas Products announced. The fire at the Newark branch site occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, August 23, in a small, open storage area for incoming material. The company reported no injuries. The area contained "a small number of nontoxic, pure silane gas cylinders," according to the vendor. Electrical power and gas that were shut down during the fire were restarted by late afternoon, August 25. Lost silane inventory was replaced with available stock at the plant. Although adjacent buildings and equipment sustained heat damage, Matheson asserted that claims in the local media of $2 million in damages were "greatly exaggerated." The vendor put damages closer to $500,000, including lost silane inventory. The vendor credited the actions of its emergency response team for minimizing the impact of the fire. The cause is under investigation.

Smithsonian honors SEMI

SEMI has been recognized for its contribution to information technology by the Smithsonian Institution. The trade group's magazines, standards publications, and use of the Internet to disseminate information about international trade shows were cited as exemplary reasons for making SEMI part of the Smithsonian Institution's Permanent Research Collection of Information Technology Innovation at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Nominations for the annual program are made by the Computerworld Smithsonian Chairmen's Committee. Nominees are chosen for the use of information technology to improve society. The program was started in 1989. The SEMI case study will take its place among the more than 2000 examples of the innovative use of information technology in the collection.

CMP breakthrough claimed

Claiming a productivity breakthrough, IPEC-Planar qualified a single-step oxide CMP process using orbital planarization and only one platen. The availability of the production-ready system means that CMP users have access to a next-generation repeatable oxide process "that meets the productivity goals of the semiconductor industry," the company announced. The process was tested on more than 1100 wafers at the vendor's technology lab in Phoenix. Following a cleaning cycle on IDEC's Avanti 7700 system, the prime TEOS wafers had no microscratches and showed fewer than 30 defects measuring 0.2 µm when examined using a Tencor Surfscan 6420 system. Fewer than 50 defects were found using the Tencor 6200 tool, the company said. Average production throughput during the tests was 37 wafers per hour. The process was run on IPEC's orbital CMP systems, AvantGaard 676 and 776. Information: 602/517-7231.

Symbios to close fab

Symbios Logic will phase out wafer fab operations at its plant in Fort Collins, CO, by the end of 1997. The closure will not affect probe, test, and assembly operations at the site, nor will it have an impact on departments such as tools and libraries and product design, the manufacturer said. The chipmaker will continue to maintain its headquarters, site management operations, and supply line management operations at the Fort Collins site. Citing the obsolescence of the technology, the company's board of directors decided to close the fab, which runs 6-in. wafers. Production of chips at the manufacturer's recently expanded 8-in. wafer facility in Colorado Springs, CO, "will continue unabated," the company said. Symbios said it will try to transfer workers affected by the closure to other jobs at Fort Collins, or to positions at its plants in Colorado Springs and Wichita, KS. The manufacturer said it plans to maintain delivery schedules for its customers. Formed in 1997, the Hyundai subsidiary counts cell-based ASICs, host adapters, storage systems, and supporting software among its products.

Fab saves water, wins prize

A Motorola plant in Tempe, AZ, has received an environmental award for a joint program that saves approximately 15 million gal of water annually without sacrificing profitability. BetzDearborn, a producer of water treatment programs based in Trevose, PA, presented its Return on Environment Partnership Award to the Motorola semiconductor products sector plant. BetzDearborn worked on the project with Motorola, whose Tempe-based Phoenix Corporate Research Laboratories uses ultrapure water for advanced manufacturing R&D. The joint program reduced the amount of chemicals used to treat the lab's wastewater prior to discharge by approximately 350,000 lb annually. Improvements at the plant also reduced the amount of sludge. The 15 million gal of conserved ultrapure wastewater can be recirculated in the cooling towers at the site up to nine times, according to BetzDearborn. The program also saves Motorola more than $100,000 in annual net costs for water, chemicals, and sludge disposal, and it lessened the facility's impact on Tempe's sewage treatment system.

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