Equipment and Materials ♦ news digest


MicroSense acquires compound semiconductor metrology innovator SigmaTech


With this acquisition, MicroSense adds wafer inspection tools to its portfolio of innovative metrology solutions


MicroSense, LLC, a provider of high resolution capacitive position sensors used in compound semiconductor characterisation systems, has acquired SigmaTech, Inc. of Tempe, Arizona.


SigmaTech develops high-sensitivity metrology tools for LED, MEMS and semiconductor manufacturing.


SigmaTech systems integrate multiple sensing technologies such as optical spectrometry, interferometry and the firm’s patented auto- positioning back pressure (APBP) technology. MicroSense will integrate its capacitance sensors into SigmaTech’s metrology platforms.


“This acquisition makes excellent sense as it marries our leading capacitance sensing technology with SigmaTech’s field-proven, highly reliable metrology platform to provide highly stable and repeatable wafer metrology systems for targeted applications”, according to James Pelusi, Chairman and CEO of MicroSense. “SigmaTech’s customers and prospects will continue to be supported by the existing SigmaTech employees, all of whom will stay with the combined business, and will also benefit from the additional resources, infrastructure and the decades of metrology experience that MicroSense will bring to the business.”


“We are excited to join the MicroSense team as their high resolution capacitive sensor technology provides an ideal path to increasing throughput of our metrology systems and expanding the field of applications,” says Jacques Fauque, semiconductor industry veteran and founder of SigmaTech who will remain with the business and continue to lead its development.


MicroSense’s patented capacitive sensors are used to make very precise, high bandwidth measurements of precision products such as solar


MBE reactor July 2012 www.compoundsemiconductor.net 173


wafers and precision X-Y stages in equipment used to characterise compound semiconductor wafers. Equipment manufacturers use MicroSense capacitive sensors in solar wafer sorters, autofocus mechanisms, nanopositioning stages and other metrology tools.


SigmaTech offers automated metrology solutions for a broad range of standard and specific applications in the field of compound semiconductor wafers, materials and optics.


Lithuanian firm Brolis bags €2.5 million for MBE facility


The provider of custom structures grown on gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium antimonide and indium arsenide substrates will use the financing to develop the high-tech infrastructure in the field of compound semiconductor technology


The Lithuanian Ministry of Economy has confirmed that Brolis Semiconductors is to receive a lucrative grant of more than €2.5 million for the development of the high-tech infrastructure in the field of semiconductor technology.


Brolis says the cash it received was the largest sum of money allocated to one company in Lithuania.


“The company is investing the money into the state-of-the-art MBE facility for growth of advanced semiconductor materials, which will be used to create beyond state-of-the-art components for the global market”, says Kristijonas Vizbaras, CTO of Brolis Semiconductors.


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