Rochester, N.Y. – Linton Crystal Technologies (LCT), headquartered in Rochester, New York, announced today it will produce semiconductor and solar manufacturing equipment in the United States. This is the first Inflation Reduction Act related announcement for producing solar machine tools in the United States. LCT plans to break ground in Q2 2023.

“We’ve been working on this plan for a while now and are looking forward to reshoring manufacturing to the United States,” said Todd Barnum, president and CEO of Linton Crystal Technologies. “As a U.S. company with Chinese ownership, Linton Technologies Group, the geopolitical issues have been difficult to navigate. Our company used to manufacture in Rochester and we’re eager to get back to the United States.”

Efforts are underway to secure a site as soon as possible, with future plans for expansion to accommodate international orders as necessary. Linton is also developing an international service team to support customers worldwide as the industry looks to grow and improve processes and efficiency.

The company will establish a manufacturing center to build and demonstrate the full line of equipment represented by Linton Technologies Group. This includes Czochralski (CZ) furnaces for monocrystalline silicon ingots, both semiconductor and solar grade, and the machines for producing solar ingots and wafers, including wire saws and polishing equipment. Linton will be the first company to return this technology to the United States.

Linton’s initial investment of $10M will be used to add a new facility, establish a demonstration line, and build 1-2 gigawatts of production capacity, all by the end of year one. This will grow the company’s workforce to more than 75 employees. Linton’s goal is to exceed 2008 employment numbers, when the company had nearly 200 employees, at its New York factory by the end of year two.

“I’m excited to break ground. This creates more opportunities for our employees, new employees and their families,” Barnum said. “The IRA and CHIPS Act have created the pathway for manufacturing investment to fulfill the need for U.S.-made products. We’re going to meet that demand and we have the expertise to scale rapidly.”

About Linton
Linton Crystal Technologies has a long history of manufacturing innovation. The company originated in Rochester in 1952 as a wire saw manufacturer, Hamco, and through a series of purchases became Kayex, a manufacturer of CZ crystal pullers. Linton has been the exclusive owner of Kayex technology since 2013 (the IP resides with LCT in the United States). The company also continues to advance the design of the machines. It holds several patents, with others under application.
For more information, visit www.lintoncrystal.com.

• Read more about Linton Crystal Technologies Announces Groundbreaking U.S. Manufacturing Investment

PENANG, MALAYSIA - FEBRUARY 2023 Wafer inspection is always a critical stage for quality assurance for wafer foundry, integrated device manufacturing (IDM), fabless, and outsourced semiconductor assembly & test (OSAT). Since semiconductor devices are continuously getting smaller and more complex, the requirement for wafer inspection has become more stringent to accommodate these changes. However, defects on the wafer may be overlooked and may pass through the final stages of fabrication and assembly if they are not eliminated or filtered out, which could be a costly mistake for the manufacturers. Consequently, this will lead to increasing demand for quality wafer production.

At ViTrox, we aim to be the World’s Most Trusted Technology Company in providing innovative, advanced, and cost-effective automated Machine Vision Inspection Solutions. Therefore, we would like to introduce our all-new Wi8i G2 PRO Wafer Vision Inspection Handler, which is designed to offer high flexibility in wafer handling, cover different semiconductor processes and high-accuracy inspection results to the users of the semiconductor market, and is also an expansion to the inspection capabilities of our existing Wafer Vision Inspection Hander - Wi8i G2.

One Solution For Two Semiconductor Processes
The all-new Wi8i G2 PRO solution is enhanced with hardware and programming features to accommodate both bare wafers (pre-dicing process) and mounted wafers (post-dicing process) inspection requirements. This innovative configuration eliminates the need for hardware conversion on the wafer robot arm when inspecting these two wafer types of the same size, which is suitable for production involving both pre-and-post-dicing processes and/or having a high-mix-low-volume of bare and mounted wafers. Hence, our Wi8i G2 PRO is the ideal solution to deliver high overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) which guarantees excellent wafer quality without any machine stop time.

Ability To Handle Up To 12” Wafers & FOUP
Based on the current market trend, there is a demand for wafer inspection equipment to cater to larger wafers due to the increasing number of chip-related productions. To address this, our Wi8i G2 PRO offers a significant enhancement in catering to a new type of wafer carrier box, Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) which is particularly important to users with such production practice to accommodate 12 inches of bare wafer transferring. Nowadays, FOUPs are the preferred carrier boxes to handle raw water because FOUPs offer a sealed wafer environment that provides static protection, white-light shielding, and control of moisture and oxygen. Today’s FOUPs not only address particles, but also minimize and control volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxygen, and relative humidity. Any of these potential contamination sources can negatively impact device yield. Alternatively, should the user need to handle framed wafers, they can opt for a metal cassette instead.

Users are also able to configure their load ports based on their production needs, which can be either:
FOUP + Metal cassette
FOUP + FOUP
Metal cassette + Metal cassette

This load port design accommodates both 8 inches and 12 inches of metal cassettes on the load ports, which translates to cost-effectiveness on different-sized wafer inspections!

Robust Wafer Inspection With Our Advanced Vision Optics
Wi8i G2 PRO is not only equipped with robust vision optics that provides high-quality image under different magnification lenses but also integrates an advanced deep-learning algorithm in defect detection and determining the defect types. When a user’s wafer has a complex circuit design and/or is required to inspect different defect types at different regions, this algorithm is the perfect solution for enhancing the accuracy of defect detection.

With the combination of cutting-edge wafer handling mechanisms and robust wafer vision inspection, our latest Wafer Inspection Solution is guaranteed to solve your production pain points! Additionally, we also seek to better understand our customers’ needs in their production line and boost their production yield and also significantly reduce their long-term costs.

Interested to know more about our Wi8i G2 PRO? Do get in touch with our Sales Expert Ms Kong Poh Mei ([email protected]). To top it off, we also invite you to visit us here at ViTrox Campus 2.0 in Penang, Malaysia for a demonstration of the solution. We look forward to serving you!

About ViTrox Technologies
ViTrox is committed to being the World’s Most Trusted Technology Company to provide the most innovative, advanced, and cost-effective machine vision solutions of excellent quality to its customers by integrating ViTrox’s technologies, people, and strategic alliances.

ViTrox offers a full spectrum of solutions, ranging from Middle & Back-end Semiconductor Inspection Solutions, SMT PCB Assembly Vision Inspection Solutions, Electronics Communication Systems, and Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions. ViTrox is headquartered in Penang, Malaysia, with offices in Asia, Germany, and the United States, as well as sales and support sites worldwide.

For more information about ViTrox’s products and services, please visit www.vitrox.com.

• Read more about Discover ViTrox’s Latest and Advanced Wafer Inspection Solution – the Wi8i G2 PRO!

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xpeedic today released Notus, an electronic design automation (EDA) platform for package/board SI/PI/thermal analysis, at DesignCon 2023 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif.

Notus, powered by Xpeedic’s electromagnetic and multiphysics solver engine, helps designers to meet the SI, PI, and thermal requirements in an efficient and automated way. It provides a comprehensive simulation flow, including DC IR-drop and AC impedance analysis, decoupling capacitor optimization, signal topology extraction, signal interconnect modeling, and thermal analysis.

In addition to Notus, Xpeedic also announced today upgrades to its Advanced Packaging and High-Speed Digital Solutions.

Metis, the EM simulation tool for 2.5D/3DIC advanced packaging designs, now delivers further improvement on performance. The unique speed-balanced-accuracy multi-mode capability is enhanced to achieve optimal accuracy-speed tradeoff.

Hermes, Xpeedic’s 3D EM simulation tool, further improves its adaptive mesh technology to achieve desired accuracy with faster convergence. It enhances the editing function associated with via, trace, and shape operation for package and PCB. It supports board-level antenna analysis and near-field and far-field view with integrated powerful data post-processing capability.

ChannelExpert, the diagram GUI-based circuit simulation platform, provides a fast, accurate and simple approach to analyze high-speed channels. It supports IBIS/AMI simulations and integrates compliance specs for various SerDes and DDR standards. ChannelExpert provides a comprehensive analysis for high-speed channels including frequency-domain S-parameter, time-domain eye diagram, statistic eye, and channel operating margin (COM) with parameter sweep and optimization. In this release, ChannelExpert integrates Hermes and Notus EM modeling tools for EM-circuit co-simulation and supports the AMI modeling and the latest DDR5 standard.

Other tools within the Xpeedic expert suite including SnpExpert, ViaEpxert, CableExpert and TmlExpert are improved with the usability and additional built-in templates to enable easy and quick evaluations of S-parameter, via, cable, and transmission line, respectively.

Availability and Pricing
Notus and the entire Xpeedic portfolio is shipping now. Pricing is available upon request.

Visit the Xpeedic website for additional information or requests for a demonstration. Email requests should be sent to [email protected].

Xpeedic at DesignCon
Xpeedic will be in DesignCon Booth #633 today and tomorrow, February 1 and February 2, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

About Xpeedic
Xpeedic is a leading EDA provider to accelerate designs and simulations of next generation high-frequency, high-speed intelligent electronic products. Powered by its proprietary electromagnetic, circuit, and multi-physics solver technologies, Xpeedic is addressing challenges in designing IC in advanced nodes, 3D-IC with advanced packaging, high-speed digital, and RF systems for the markets including data center, automotive, communication, mobile, and IoT. Founded in 2010, Xpeedic has offices in both U.S. and China. For more information, please www.xpeedic.com.

Engage with Xpeedic
www.xpeedic.com
Twitter: @xpeedic
LinkedIn

• Read more about Xpeedic Releases Notus at DesignCon2023, Announces Upgrades to Advanced Packaging and High-Speed Digital Solutions

American IC manufacturers have 56% of their wafer capacity installed at fabs located in other regions of the world, according to the new Global Wafer Capacity 2023 report from Knometa Research. As of year-end 2022, American companies have installed capacity of 4.6 million 200mm-equivalent wafers per month, with 2.0 million in domestic fabs and 2.6 million in fabs at foreign sites.

Of the major IC producing countries and regions (Americas, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan), the Americas region is unique in that foreign capacity exceeds that of domestic capacity.

The biggest volumes of offshore capacity for American companies are in Singapore (22% share of total), Taiwan (12%), Japan (10%), Germany (4%), Ireland (3%), and Israel (2%).

• Singapore: Micron Technology - 4 fabs, GlobalFoundries - 4 fabs
• Taiwan: Micron Technology - 4 fabs, Diodes - 1 fab
• Japan: Micron Technology - 4 fabs, TI - 2 fabs, Onsemi - 1 fab
• Germany: GlobalFoundries - 2 fabs, TI - 1 fab
• Ireland: Intel - 1 fab, Analog Devices - 1 fab
• Israel: Intel - 2 fabs

With its many large fabs in Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan, Micron owns by far the most offshore capacity, accounting for 65% of the 2.6 million wafers in monthly capacity. GlobalFoundries is next with a 14% share followed by Intel with 9% and Texas Instruments with 5%.

In the past couple years, American companies have announced several major fab construction projects in the U.S. Some of these came about as a result of the CHIPS Act passed by the U.S. government in July 2022 to boost American semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing.

American-owned fabs under construction in the U.S. and scheduled to open during 2024-2025 include:

• Intel - Fabs 52 and 62 in Chandler, Arizona
• Texas Instruments - Fabs SM1 and SM2 in Sherman, Texas
• Intel - Fab 27 in New Albany, Ohio
• Micron - Fab in Boise, Idaho

Micron will also build a large fab site in Clay, New York, but this project is part of the company's long-term capacity expansion plans and construction will not begin until 2024 at the earliest. In January 2023, Analog Devices announced plans to double the capacity of its fab in Beaverton, Oregon.

While the share of domestic IC wafer capacity will increase some in the next several years with the opening of these large new fabs in the U.S., American companies are building or have plans to build additional fabs at overseas sites as well. Moreover, Intel's pending acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, with its fabs in Israel and Japan (as well as the U.S.), will shift the balance in the direction of more foreign capacity. Had Tower been part of Intel at the end of 2022 with the headquarters of the combined operations being in the U.S., the foreign share of American-owned capacity would be one percentage point higher at 57%.

About Global Wafer Capacity 2023
Global Wafer Capacity provides a detailed examination of existing fab capacity along with a five-year forecast to 2027. The report has been published on an annual basis since 2007, initially by IC Insights. In December 2021, IC Insights transferred business associated with Global Wafer Capacity to co-founder Trevor Yancey. Mr. Yancey became an independent contractor in 2014 but continued as the principal analyst and project manager for Global Wafer Capacity. Published in January 2023, Global Wafer Capacity 2023 is sold by Mr. Yancey’s company Knometa Research. For more information, visit https://knometa.com/gwc.

About Knometa Research
Knometa Research is a semiconductor technology and market analysis firm led by former IC Insights executive, Trevor Yancey. Mr. Yancey co-founded IC Insights in 1997 with Bill McClean and Brian Matas. In 2014, Mr. Yancey established Knometa Research to serve as an independent contractor for TechSearch International and for IC Insights until that business closed in December 2022. For more information, visit https://knometa.com.

• Read more about More than half of American-owned IC fab capacity exists overseas

San Francisco, CA – January 25, 2023 – Brewer Science, Inc., a global leader in developing and manufacturing next-generation materials and processes for the microelectronics and optoelectronics industries, presents solutions to optical integration challenges at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition in San Francisco, California.

Transition to 3D wafer-scale integration is a challenge faced in new photonic integration projects

The transition from traditional separate manufacturing and packaging processes to 3D wafer-scale integration remains a challenge faced in any photonic integration project.

Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality bring their own unique set of optic integration challenges, including the need for materials with deep submicron processing capabilities and minimal defectivity.

Advanced CMOS processing and high-quality materials are critical for next-generation materials

Scaling wafers to smaller sizes, while increasing functionality, places an emphasis on material selection and leading-edge CMOS node capabilities. Experience in CMOS processing and access to high-quality materials are necessary to achieve higher-performing materials, including:

• Enhanced optical properties
• Increased uniformity
• Ultralow defectivity
• Improved stability across a wider temperature range

Brewer Science presents ppb-level defectivity and deep submicron processing capabilities at SPIE Photonics West

Having shared expertise in advanced lithography and providing next-generation packaging solutions, Brewer Science leverages an extensive marriage of capabilities that encourages scalability and economical integration.

With four decades of extensive experience serving diverse markets and customers, Brewer Science provides customers with cohesive and seamless optics integration, including materials in some of the most innovative spaces:

• Lithography enhancement materials
• Next-generation packaging solutions
• Permanent materials including:
• High and low refractive index materials
• Protective coatings (including antiscratch coatings)
• Transparent permanent adhesives
• PermaSOL® permanent wafer bonding material

Brewer Science is a high-performance and high-purity coatings manufacturer having expertise in defect-free optical, planarizing, conformal, protective, and thermally stable coatings and adhesives. This includes providing full-service analytical and application testing services, specializing in chemical, polymer, trace impurity, on-wafer, and thin film characterization.

Visit Brewer Science’s booth #2544 at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition from January 31st through February 2nd to view samples of materials and discuss material options with a product expert. You can also visit Brewer Science’s website and submit a request at the bottom of the page to connect with a product expert.

About Brewer Science
Brewer Science is a global leader in developing and manufacturing next-generation materials and processes that foster the technology needed for tomorrow. Since 1981, we’ve expanded our technology portfolio within advanced lithography, advanced packaging, smart devices, and printed electronics to enable cutting-edge microdevices and unique monitoring systems for industrial, environmental, and air applications. Our relationship-focused approach provides outcomes that facilitate and deliver critical information. Our headquarters are in Rolla, Missouri, with customer support throughout the world. We invite you to learn more about Brewer Science at www.brewerscience.com.

• Read more about Brewer Science Presents Optics Integration Solutions at SPIE Photonics West

RoodMicrotec N.V. reports preliminary total income of EUR 16.5 million for 2022
• The preliminary total income for 2022 of EUR 16.5 million exceeded the outlook by EUR 0.9 million
• Order book value increased by 19% compared to end of 2021
• Cash position very healthy to support further growth

Deventer, January 26, 2023 – RoodMicrotec N.V., a leading independent company for semiconductors supply and quality services, today publishes the unaudited preliminary total income for the financial year 2022. The unaudited preliminary total income for 2022 amounted to EUR 16.5 million, which is 14% higher than in 2021 (EUR 14.5 million) resulting in a second consecutive year with double-digit growth. Notably, this is the highest total income since 2000, and it shows that RoodMicrotec is focusing on the right fast-growing future-oriented markets.

In the second half of 2022, the unaudited preliminary total income was EUR 9.2 million - an increase of 28% compared to the second half of 2021 (EUR 7.2 million). In 2022, the order book increased by 19% compared to the orders booked at the end of 2021, which is a good predictor for a steady quality of the services provided and a high satisfaction level of our customers.

“Again, we managed to outperform our expectations by focusing on our core business and services. In 2022, we saw significant increases in demand from our customers both for new products as well as for existing products”, says Martin Sallenhag, CEO of RoodMicrotec. “We are very pleased with the overall development of the Company in 2022 and expect a further increase in total income for 2023. The excellent cash situation enables us to invest for future growth where necessary.”

Throughout 2022, the Test Operations unit showed a strong increase, which was related to the excellent services provided by RoodMicrotec to its new and existing customers. The Supply Chain Management unit showed a limited increase in 2022 compared to last year. The sharp increase in the second half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2022 was due to a higher demand for existing products as well as the production ramp-up in the context of new long-term contracts. In 2022, the Qualification & Failure Analysis unit saw a decrease compared to 2021. However, the total income for the second half of 2022 was 9% higher than for the first half of 2022, which shows that new customer projects are now starting.

Total income per operational unit for the financial year 2022 compared to the financial year 2021:
(x € 1,000) FY 2022 FY 2021 Change
Test Operations 10,034 7,938 +26%
Supply Chain Management 3,533 3,364 +5%
Qualification & Failure Analysis 2,980 3,230 -8%

TOTAL 16,547 14,532 +14%

Outlook
RoodMicrotec expects the total income for 2023 to be in the range of EUR 17.0 million to EUR 17.5 million, with a profit before tax of 5-10%, and thus in line with the financial targets. The geopolitical situation in the world and the current energy crisis throughout Europe could have an impact on the Company’s business. The Management is keeping a close eye on the situation and is doing everything possible to mitigate any potentially negative impact.

Audit
The financial data in this press release have not been audited.

Forward-looking statements
This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and prognoses of the Board of Management and on the information currently available to the Company. The statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties which are hard to evaluate, such as the general economic conditions, conditions of the worldwide semiconductor industry, interest rates, exchange rates and amendments to statutory laws and regulations. The Board of Management of RoodMicrotec cannot guarantee that its expectations will materialize. Furthermore, RoodMicrotec does not accept any obligation to update the statements made in this press release.

Financial calendar
April 13, 2023 Trading update quarter 1-2023
April 20, 2023 Publication annual report 2022
April 20, 2023 Conference call for media, analysts and shareholders
June 6, 2023 Annual general meeting of shareholders
July 20, 2023 Publication interim report 2023
July 20, 2023 Conference call for media, analysts and shareholders
October 19, 2023 Trading update quarter 3-2023

About RoodMicrotec
RoodMicrotec is a leading independent company for semiconductor supply and quality services. With more than 50 years of experience in the semiconductor and electronics industry, RoodMicrotec is well-established as a highly valued partner for many companies worldwide. The Company provides full-turnkey ASIC services for complex microchips that are customized to handle specific applications for individual customers. In cooperation with strong partners, RoodMicrotec manages the entire development and production flow of ASICs in the target volume, ranging from low quantities up to multiple millions per year. The turnkey solution includes project management, wafer test, assembly, final test, qualification, failure analysis and logistics. All services comply with the industrial and quality requirements of the high reliability, aerospace, automotive, healthcare and industrial sectors.
RoodMicrotec’s headquarter is located in Deventer, Netherlands, with operational units in Nördlingen and Stuttgart, Germany. For more information visit https://www.roodmicrotec.com

This press release is published in English and German. In case of conflict between these versions the English version shall prevail.

• Read more about RoodMicrotec N.V. reports preliminary total income of EUR 16.5 million for 2022

Yield Engineering Systems, Inc. (YES), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences, and “More-than-Moore” applications, today announced that it has sold a VertaCure XP G2 system to Korea’s LB Semicon. The VertaCure XP G2 is the latest generation of YES’s flagship VertaCure vacuum curing system, and LB Semicon’s will be the first such system to be installed in Korea. Delivery is expected at the end of March.

Key factors in the purchase decision were the VertaCure XP G2’s superior throughput, exceptional particle performance, and thorough PI/PBO curing capability – all benefits derived from its proven vacuum-based process. The system will support a bump/RDL application for wafer-level chip scale packaging (WLCSP). It accommodates both 200mm and 300mm wafers, providing valuable flexibility for this and future applications.

“As semiconductor chip manufacturers seek to produce ever-smaller products with higher performance and lower power consumption, wafer bumping technology is expanding its application scope and creating greater value. In order to keep up with this trend, LB Semicon is deeply committed to continuous research and development,” said LB Semicon’s CEO, Dr. Nick (Namseog) Kim. “We believe that YES’s VertaCure XP G2 curing system will enable our company to deliver the cutting-edge technology needed as Korea continues its growth as a world-class semiconductor powerhouse.”

“We are pleased and proud that our VertaCure XP G2 was selected for this leading-edge application,” said Bioh Kim, President of YES Korea. “This order showcases YES’s growing role as a trusted global partner in the production of innovative technologies. We look forward to supporting LB Semicon’s efforts, now and into the future.”

About YES
Yield Engineering Systems, Inc. (YES) is a preferred provider of high-tech, cost-effective equipment for enhancing surfaces and materials. The company’s product lines include thermal processing systems, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems, and wet process equipment used for the precise surface modification of semiconductor substrates, semiconductor and MEMS devices, LED displays, and biodevices. Customers ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies rely on YES systems to create and volume-produce innovative products in a wide range of markets. YES is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a growing global presence. For more information, please visit yieldengineering.com.

About LB Semicon
Based in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, LB Semicon provides bumping, probe test, back-end, and WLCSP services for display driver integrated circuits (DDI), CMOS image sensors (CIS), and power management integrated circuits (PMIC) used in electronic devices such as TVs, monitors, and mobile phones.
LBS has continuously developed and evolved its technology since the company’s founding in 2000, starting with gold bumping for TFT LCD and OLED DDIs, and expanding over the years into solder bumping, Cu pillar bumping, and WLCSP. The company maintains solid partnerships with top semiconductor chip manufacturers in Korea and elsewhere, and has more than a thousand employees. For more information, please visit www.lbsemicon.com.

• Read more about Leading Korean OSAT Purchases YES VertaCure™ XP for Higher Yield and Performance