- 25 May 2006 -

Sumika Electronics adds Veeco MOCVD for pHEMT epiwafers

Veeco Instruments Inc. has received an order from Sumika Elecronic Materials Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., for its next-generation E450 MOCVD system. Sumika believes that the market for epiwafers will increase at an 8% CAGR through 2009, reflecting demand from the cellular market.

Sumika, which is a global supplier of III-V epiwafers, intends to use the machine to expand its production of pHEMTs and will install it at its Phoenix, AZ, fab.
John Milliron, Sumika's Business Development Manager, commented, "The purchase of the E450 from Veeco will enable Sumika to increase our production of pHEMTs. The E450's in-situ process control provides us with consistent quality material and high uptime, making it well suited for our production requirements."

Piero Sferlazzo, VP, GM of Veeco's MOCVD operations commented, "Veeco is pleased to support Sumika with its expansion. As the world continues to drive to high-bandwidth wireless devices and next generation cell phones, our E450 is the primary choice for these demanding applications due to its excellent cost of ownership and film thickness uniformity."

In 2003, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. purchased the assets of ATMI's GaAs epiwafer business and formed two new companies in Japan and the US to strengthen its position in the market. Sumika Electronic Materials was established to run the former Epitronics/ATMI facility in Phoenix, AZ, where it now produces epiwafers and markets other Sumitomo Chemical IT products, including semiconductor process materials and super engineering polymers. In 2004, Sumika Electronic Materials purchased epiwafer manufacturing equipment from a major semiconductor manufacturer, which enabled Sumika to add pHEMT to their current HBT and diode product lines.

Web: http://www.sumikamaterials.com/index.html
Veeco: http://www.veeco.com/