p48-49 EAS IC Awards 2008 Startup co .qxd 1/7/08 14:33 Page 48
48 IC INDUSTRY AWARDS PREVIEW
START UP COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Contrary to popular belief, the semiconductor industry has only ever being driven by one thing; innovation.
Although a successful product will drive the industry to greater profits and therefore stronger research
facilities, it has always been innovation that has enabled industry breakthroughs. Most of this innovation does
not come from the major players in the industry but from individuals and new small companies.
Start-up ventures have always been the vanguard of innovation. Some of them grow to be big companies and
others are swallowed up in consolidating offerings. With the changing business models now entering the
electronics world it is now much harder for new companies with new ideas to get a message across to the more
established companies that have the fiscal resources to further a new idea or product.
ADVANCED MICRO-FABRICATION
and strong customer value proposition. Substantial technology gains:
EQUIPMENT INC. (AMEC)
With its R&D and manufacturing hub in Developed and commercialized cutting-
Shanghai, AMEC has also built an edge (65/45-nm) tools with extendibility
www.amec-inc.com
extensive infrastructure of regional offices to 32nm devices. Tools demonstrating
in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore to 35% productivity and CoO gains when
It took just 3 years for the newest Asia- enable the sale and support of its compared to nearest competitors.
based global semiconductor equipment advanced technology solutions globally. Significant customer traction: 3 beta
provider to spring forward with a suite of In numerous wafer demos, AMEC's tools already in the field; more slated for
high-productivity Dielectric Etch and Primo D-RIE and Primo HPCVD tools shipment this year.
High-Pressure Thermal CVD tools- demonstrated better on-wafer
leading-edge process equipment with very performance than the competition. Three
NANOPLAS
competitive performance for processing beta tools have already been installed at
65-to-45-nm devices and extendable to leading-edge fabs in two Asia regions.
www.nanoplas.eu
32-nm device processing. These tools also More systems are slated for shipment this
promise to transform the economics of year to multiple regions in Asia. Nanoplas is a French start-up company
making semiconductors. Exhaustive process and hardware that has developed a new process called
Founded in August 2004, Advanced marathon wafer runs at AMEC's R&D HDRF, providing the ultimate in dry
Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc facility consistently demonstrate cleaning for advanced 3D silicon
(AMEC) leveraged SEMICON Japan productivity improvements of more than integration technologies.
2007 to unveil its new Primo tool family 35% and a CoO gain of 35% when HDRF - High Density Radical Flux -
and reiterate its mission: to provide compared to competitive tools. Interest in technology is based upon a proprietary
leading-edge tools for critical process AMEC is high. ICP plasma source that makes it possible
steps that offer higher productivity and Beyond the differentiated, cost- to produce 50 to 100 times more active
superior on-wafer performance at a lower efficient Etch and CVD tools, the species than competitive systems and
cost of ownership. But this is no ordinary company's Asia-based business model is eliminate plasma-induced damages.
start-up.In its short life, AMEC has viewed as a distinct advantage. For the first time in plasma
raised more than $100M from elite Not only does it afford regional processing, samples are not exposed to
global VCs, financial institutions and proximity to leading fabs, it also offers electrical charges; substrates are
corporate venture funds that include unique cultural advantages. With more processed in a “soft” high density flux
Goldman Sachs, Walden Intl.,Lightspeed, than 75% of the world's ICs now of neutrals that is ideally suited for
Qualcomm, Samsung Ventures and others. produced in Asia, the time is ripe for a the new generation of embedded
The company is also nearing closure on an strong new supplier of advanced process technologies.
additional funding round. technology with executive leadership and Nanoplas’s current target application
This, in an industry where the barriers R&D firmly planted in Asia. is advanced flip chip activation and
to entry are extraordinarily high and AMEC is in the right place at the isotropic etching for MEMS dry release,
funding is thin. The executive team right time: 75% of ICs are produced in but the variety of available chemistries
boasts a who's who of the global Asia; time has arrived for a credible and process settings offers flexibility for
semiconductor equipment industry. In new Asia-based innovator to provide many new applications. Additional
fact, its top executives and technologists higher-performing technology at competitive advantages include a high
are inventors of more than 200 patents. the leading edge with lower CoO throughput, small footprint, and low COO
The Board of Directors and Board of advantages. at a low initial cost.
Advisors contain a selection of the world's Corporate progress: Substantial Nanoplas is already enjoying rapid
most highly respected business and IC funding, promising process brain-trust, market acceptance, with orders received
technology executives who were drawn to high-profile global advisors, well- from large players in the UK, US, and
this start-up for differentiated technology established global sales & support Japan. The company expects to ship 10 to
infrastructure. 15 systems this year and to reach over
www.euroasiasemiconductor.com July 2008
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