Analyst: Lam ships copper deposition tool
Mark LaPedus
(06/07/2010 2:00 PM EDT)
URL: eetimes.com
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Lam Research Corp. is set to enter a new market: electroless copper deposition.
''Our checks find that the company will likely launch a plating tool to complement its etch product offering this year,'' said Jagadish Iyer, an analyst with Arete Research LLC (New York), in a report.
''We hear initial success has been achieved at GlobalFoundries, where the company will have four tools this year for depositing cobalt using the 'electroless approach,' '' Iyer said.
A spokeswoman for Lam declined to comment. Some time ago, Lam reportedly acquired the technology from KLA-Tencor Corp. In 2006, KLA-Tencor divested its position in its deposition effort, Blue29 LLC.
This product is focused on the deposition of cobalt for the capping layers on copper. For years, chip makers have talked about using cobalt for the capping layers on copper, but the technology keeps getting push out by conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tools and materials.
Meanwhile, Lam is seeing a major upturn. ''We see Lam's shipments for 2H '10 up by at least 10 percent compared to 1H '10, which contrasts with the street’s view of a flat 2H '10 verses 1H '10,'' Iyer said.
''Our analysis is based on Lam's recent commentary and indicates that overall 2H '10 shipments will be up at least 10 percent over 1H '10 with year-over-year shipments now expected to be up 137 percent,'' he said. ''We expect etch tool shipments on a standalone basis in 2H '10 to be up 12 percent over 1H '10 with clean tool shipments alone up a whopping 33 percent.''
Lam's 2H '10 shipments will land at Hynix, TSMC, Samsung and other customers, he said. Lam still does not have a big presence at Intel.
In the silicon etch segment, ''we expect Lam to end '10 at 60 percent share, with market share improving by (about) 14 percentage points from '09,'' he said. ''In the dielectric etch segment, we estimate Lam's market share at the end of '10 will move to 48 percent from 34 percent at the end of '09.''
Lam recently announced financial results for the quarter ended March 28, 2010. Revenue for the period was $632.8 million and net income was $120.3 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $487.2 million and net income of $69.6 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, for the December 2009 quarter. Shipments for the March 2010 quarter were $735 million compared to $519 million during the December 2009 quarter. |
