News in brief: MicroChem, Tegal and OptoSpeed
Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Japan), MicroChem Corp (Newton, MA USA) and Tomen Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) have signed a joint venture agreement for the sale, distribution and import of resists for the MEMS and electronic materials marketplace in Asia.
The companies have formed a joint venture company, Kayaku MicroChem Corporation (KMCC), with headquarters in Tokyo. KMCC will begin operations as of February 1, 2003 and will provide sales, marketing and technical service for newly developed photoepoxy resists developed under a joint development agreement between Nippon Kayaku and MicroChem.
Nippon Kayaku is a leading supplier of epoxy resins and epoxy acrylate polymers for solder masks and MicroChem is the leading supplier of SU-8 epoxy resists for the MEMS market, as well as, other thick, photoimagable resist applications. MicroChem also sells PMGI based resists for lift-off applications and PMMA resists, primarily for the compound semiconductor industry.
Tegal awarded two patents for new etch methods and apparatus
Tegal Corporation has been granted two US patents, numbers 6,492,280 and 6,500,314, for producing sub-0.15 micron devices via a unique apparatus and solid source method. The 280 patent focus is on the production of controlled vertical profiles while the 314 patent enables manufacturers to produce advanced devices using solid-source technology thereby extending the capabilities of standard etchers which rely on source gases to define the features for advanced devices.
The vertical profiles from the 280 patent and the 314 solid source method can be used for the production of a wide variety of advanced semiconductor devices including compound semiconductors.
The patented methods are enabled by actively controlling the plasma reactions on a variety of surfaces during the etching process. Both patents leverage the Tegal 6500 series system and process architectures to deliver the pattern fidelity and critical dimension control for sub-0.15 micron devices.
Opto Speed and Mitsui sign distribution agreement for Japan
Opto Speed, a manufacturer of high-value-added optoelectronic modules for the communication, test & measurement, medical and defense markets, has signed a distribution agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd., to sell and support Opto Speed’s suite of state-of-the-art high-value-added products in the Japanese market.
