Paul, I follow semi tool companies. Reducing the chip geometry is going to be one of the major ways to reduce production cost and improve performance of chips. Photolithography, etch and CVD are going to be the key tools that will have to be enhanced to get down to .25u and below (I'm sure there are others, but these are the main ones).
Currently, I'm focusing on etch only and keeping an eye on the others.
So in an industry (semi tool) that is slowing down. I am trying to find companies that will continue to grow by addressing the .25u and below geometry. LRCX and AMAT are the major etch players. They can do .35u real good, but their technology is not that great for .25u. This leaves room for others to get into the business.
I have come across a small company called Plasma and Technology "PMAT", who has the etch technology to go down to .18u (company says a customer has successfully etched below.1u with their equipment). They have beaten AMAT and LRCX in every head to head competion this year for .25u and below purchases by FAB R&D. Soon this is going to lead to production orders. Hyundai, a LRCX, AMAT customer just last month bought 2 etcher for production to try them out. They already had 2 in their R&D lab.
IBM, TI, Samsung, LGsemicon, NEC, are a few of the others that have bought PMAT equipment to develop their .25u and below products. As far as I know INTEL has not bought from PMAT yet, so I wa interested to see who's equipment they are using.
Anyways, sorry I rambled on, but that is my interest in etch.
dave |
