This inaugural event attracted over 4500 votes in this reader selected event and had been hotly contested every step of the way. Four awards, R&D, PR, Outsourcing and Start Up were selected by an international panel of advisors.

Winners 2005

Materials

• Enabling award - IQE Silicon Compounds – Ultra Smooth Strained Silicon
• Improvement award - Air Liquide - PFC Abatement

Yield Management

• Best tool award - Carl Zeiss SMT – Crossbeam Failure Analysis Tool
• Best Process Award - FEI – Defect Analyzer 300 DualBeam

Wafer Processing

• Best tool award - Trikon Technologies – Omega fxP for SI Trench Etching
• Best process award - Unaxis Wafer Processing – The Mask Etcher IV

FMT Final Manufacturing

• Best tool award - Keithley Instruments – Series 2600 System Source meter

• Best process award - Agilent Technologies – 4156C Precision Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer

Sub System/Component Provider

• New system award - MKS Instruments, Inc – AX8555 Ozone Delivery System

• Improvement award - Swagelok Semiconductor Services Company – Diaphragm Valves –DP series.

Outsourcing service award

• Reactec

PR Company award

• Loomis Group

R&D initiative award

• IMEC

Advertisement of the year

• Thermo Electron Corporation – Theta 300 Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Start Up Company of the year

• Replisaurus
  

Materials
The material requirements of manufacture microelectronic devices are as diverse as they are technically impressive. Whether it is the material used for wafers, packaging or new materials to further technological advancement, manufacturing depends on the timely delivery of materials with exceptional technical parameters.

Enabling award
IQE Silicon Compunds - ultra Strained Silicon

IQE Silicon Compounds Ltd., employs around 30 people at its manufacturing site in Cardiff, Wales. The company has developed and filed patents for a highly cost effective, single-stage epitaxial process to produce an "UltraSmooth" strained silicon surface finish with very low dislocation levels.

Extensive testing and measurement has demonstrated that IQE's proprietary strained silicon exhibited improvements in mobility of up to 100% for nMOS and up to 15% for pMOS, which was a much greater mobility enhancement for pMOS than had previously been achieved for this level of strain, and significantly better than other strained material measured at the same time. The mobility enhancement of nMOS and pMOS performance is of particular significance, since it facilitates more rapid commercialisation of the strained silicon technology and the scope of IQE's patent applications covers all key processes for carrier enhancement by the reduction of surface roughness on any form of strained silicon including strained silicon on insulator (sSOI).

Furthermore, global strain processes such as those developed by IQE, are considered the only viable method for producing sSOI, a technology that has been highlighted on the industry's own roadmap (ITRS) as being essential for next generation devices. Consequently, high quality bulk strained silicon layers such as IQE's Ultrasmooth product are absolutely key to producing quality sSOI devices. The surface characteristics of IQE's Ultrasmooth product facilitates the layer transfer process and results in a fully-bonded strained sSOI product. IQE's proprietary UltraSmooth Strained Silicon is therefore the ideal candidate for this new development in materials technology.

Improvement award
Air Liquide - PFC Abatement

Advantages of the post-pump plasma solution include high abatement efficiency of all PFC for up to 4 chambers treatment, extremely simple control and robust operation with minimal influence on and from process.

Successful long-term operation in a production environment has now been proven with multiple systems installed on various 300 mm dielectric and poly etchers, with an uptime on these industrial units well over 99%.

In the scope of the reduction of global warming gases emission MOU, which has been signed by all major semiconductor companies, the UPAS is a clear breakthrough. For instance, it slashes the CO 2 -equivalent emissions of an advanced poly etch process by a factor or > 30 (between the tool outlet and the UPAS outlet + energy consumption, expressed in MTTCE), vs. a factor ~ 5 for a classical integrated burner-washer.

The UPAS is engineered and manufactured at Air Liquide Electronics Systems, based in Echirolles, France. Please contact your local Air Liquide Electronics representative for more information.

About Air Liquide:

Present in more than 70 countries, Air Liquide is the world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services. The Group offers innovative solutions based on constantly enhanced technologies. These solutions, which are in line with Air Liquide's commitment to sustainable development, help to protect life and enable our customers to manufacture many indispensable everyday products. Founded in 1902, Air Liquide has nearly 36,000 employees. The Group has successfully developed a long-term relationship with its shareholders built on confidence and transparency and guided by the principles of corporate governance. Since the publication of its first consolidated financial statements in 1971, Air Liquide has posted strong and steady earnings growth. Sales in 2004 totaled 9,376 million euros, of which sales outside France accounted for almost 80%. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and is a component of the CAC 40 and EuroStoxx 50 indices (ISIN code FR 0000120073).

Yield Management
Semiconductor manufacturing requires such rigid parameters that every minor improvement to the process can mean the difference between success and failure. Yield management has moved on from simple metrology and consulting to become a critical component of success in such a demanding manufacturing environment.

Best tool award
Carl Zeiss SMT – Crossbeam Failure Analysis Tool

The ZEISS CrossBeam tool combines the advantages of ultra high resolution, low dose GEMINI â Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) with a high performance Focused Ion Beam (FIB) system. The capability to image the sample in real time at high resolution during ion beam milling and deposition makes the ZEISS CrossBeam â workstation the ultimate 3D analysis and research tool. The CrossBeam â concept not only enables extremely accurate cross sectioning of devices, but also gives precise metrology and full compositional information. The system comprises a multichannel gas injection section system for deposition of metals and insulors, enhanced etching and device modification.

The GEMINI â FESEM column, with it's booster column and dual integrated detection systems enables precise site specific TEM lamella production to investigate voids, nanoscale barrier layers and allows accurate 3D reconstruction. The ability to image in layers and to reconstruct devices in 3D gives in depth information for failure analysis on complex devices and about the quality of the fab processes. The 3D analysis capability gives comprehensive structural, compositional (chemical) information and allows for exact metrology. These features enable increased yield and assist in the development of robust fab processes. The CrossBeam â tool can be further enhanced with dedicated analytical detectors, STEM imaging nanomanipulators for nanoprobing.

Contact: Jack Vermeulen
Tel: +49 7364 203836
Fax: +49 7364 204970
Email: vermeulen@smt.zeiss.com
Web: www.smt.zeiss.com/crossbeam

Best Process Award
FEI – Defect Analyzer 300 DualBeam

The Defect Analyzer 300 HP is a fully automated in-fab 300 mm DualBeam (FIB / SEM). It is critical for yield-limiting defect identification, in-line module qualification, and defect and process marginality/correlation.

FEI Company's DA 300HP is the next-generation DualBeam(TM) system for automated in-fab defect analysis extendable to the 45nm design node. The system is capable of delivering better control over advanced processes giving semiconductor manufacturers the power to improve yields, reduce time-to- market, and drastically reduce process development costs.

The Defect Analyzer 300HP accommodates 300 mm and 200 mm wafers and delivers a powerful combination of tool automation, industry-leading cross sectional electron imaging, unsurpassed focused ion beam milling speed and accuracy, and proprietary beam chemistry technologies to enable 3D analysis of advanced process defects. By providing critical root cause analysis in a fraction of the time required by other techniques, the Defect Analyzer 300HP ensures that production processes can be optimized in real-time.

The DA 300HP is also a part of FEI's new UltraView(TM) tool suite that rapidly extracts samples from in-process wafers and transports the samples to the lab for ultra-high resolution STEM and atomic-level TEM analysis.

About FEI:

FEI's Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion- and electron-beam technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification capabilities with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level.

For more information, please see www.feicompany.com

Wafer Processing
The processing of a wafer to create microelectronic devices involves a number of highly complex and technical steps to achieve the devices that drive the electronics industry. As important as each step is, it is the integration of all these processes that determines the outcome of the manufacturing process. The processing requires diffusion, bake, lithography, etch, implant, clean, as well as all the ancillary processes and support to create the desired outcome. Once the tool sets are in, it is the creative approaches of the engineers that ensure constant creative leaps.

Best tool award
Trikon Technologies – Omega fxP for SI Trench Etching

Trikon's Omega etchers with in-situ end-point detection increase yield & reduce cost of dry etching for power semiconductors

Leading power device makers that have recently switched to using Omega ICP etchers in production are benefiting from Trikon's industry leading depth resolution. In turn this leads to higher device yield and lower overall costs. A major reason for the improvements is the use of in-situ interferometric end-point detection (IEPD).

Background

• Power MOSFETs used in cars, PCs, hand-helds & industrial control systems.
  
• Si trench depth is critical to device performance.

Issues in trench etching

• No etch-stop layer.
• No end-point available by optical emission spectroscopy (OES).
• Timed etches only capable of ± 4% (break-through, chamber condition, aspect ratio dependence).

Customer benefits - Technology

• IEPD requires no etch-stop.
• IEPD continuously records trench depth & terminates process at pre-programmed depth.
• Compensates for etch rate variations.
• Matching of processes wafer to wafer, cassette to cassette.
• Improves trench depth repeatability
• Minimises number of production recipes & test wafers.

Customer benefits - Commercial

• Increases tool productivity.
• Reduces re-work & scrap.
• Increases device yield.

Availability

• On Trikon's Omega f xP cluster tool and the new Omega i2L.

Best process award
Unaxis Wafer Processing – The Mask Etcher IV

Mask Etcher IV: 65nm Dry Etch with the Industry's Highest Yield!

Unaxis Wafer Processing set the worldwide standard for advanced dry etch fabrication with the introduction of its Mask Etcher III ® system technology. However, the demand for even higher resolution and greater precision photomasks has been unrelenting as device manufacturers descend into the 65nm technology node. Unaxis has introduced the newest generation in its family of photomask dry etch tools, the Mask Etcher IV ® .

The Mask Etcher IV ® represents a giant leap forward in ICP plasma dry etch technology, with patented dynamic etch signature adjustment. This dynamic etch adjustment helps to minimize Asymmetric Loading errors in Quartz Etch processes.

Mask Etcher IV Etch Process Innovations:

• Dynamic Linear Process Adjustment
• Dynamic Radial Process Adjustment
• Unique, Large Process Window Etch Chemistry
• Plasma Emission “Fingerprint” To Ensure Process Stability

The Mask Etcher IV ® is a true fourth generation Unaxis dry etch tool, currently demonstrating sub-8nm CD Uniformity in Cr etch and + 1 ° phase uniformity for advanced Quartz Masks. This level of performance is now enabling the manufacture of 65nm photomasks. The Mask Etcher IV ® platform provides enhanced ICP process solutions over previous systems, including improved particle control, ultra-low CD etch bias and feature-size linearity.

Ongoing process development continues to provide our customers with the latest improvements for their production needs. Stop by our booth # 1501 at Semicon West for more information about the revolutionary Mask Etcher IV ® !

Unaxis Wafer Processing
10050 16th Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33716
1-727-577-4999

FMT Final Manufacturing
Final manufacturing technology, including test, assembly and packaging, has come a long way from being the back end of the microelectronics industry. With smaller devices and a blurring of the line between device and packaging, this area has become as complex and important as every aspect of manufacturing.

Best tool award
Keithley Instruments – Series 2600 System Source meter

Keithley's Serious 2600 System Source Meter ® Instrument is a new platform that significantly lowers the cost of test for a wide range of electronic component producers, including silicon and compound semiconductor manufacturers.

Built on Keithley's third-generation source-measure technology (patent pending). The Serious 2600 System SourceMeter instruments combine the highest throughput source-measure unit (SMU) in the industry with a scaleable instrument form factor to allow seamless integration into systems from 1 to 16SMU channels. The Serious 2600 System SourceMeter instruments, which consists of the single-channel Model 2601 and the dual-channel Model 2602, are the ideal modular, scalable instruments for building ATE systems to perform precision DC, pulse, and low-frequency AC source-measure tools.

• The Serious 2600 System SourceMeter instruments provide industry-leading throughput rates via Keithley's new, unique embedded Test Script Processor (TSP TM ). TSP lets users program a sequence of the test commands and execute high-speed automated test sequences independently of a PC operating system. Unlike competitive products that lack this test sequencing ability, or can only queue and execute commands, TSP features an intuitive intelligence that lets a 2600 Serious instrument stand alone as a complete measurement automation solution for component testing. The instrument can control sourcing, measuring, pass/fail decisions, test sequence flow control, component binning, and data storage on 1 to 16 SMU channel. Testing shows a two- to four-times throughput advantage over competitive products in applications including three-terminal devise test. Flexible triggering and flow control capability allows TSP to control other instruments, component handlers, or probers via digital I/O and RS232 ports. With its unparalleled instrument automation capability, TSP achieves up to 10X greater test throughput over legacy products.
  
• TSP-Link TM , another new Keithley technology, functions as a trigger synchronization and inter-unit communication bus to allow a single TSP program to seamlessly control 16 or more SMU channels without hubs or bulky cables. With very little network overhead and a 100Mbit/sec data rate, it's significantly faster than GPIB and 100Base T Ethernet in real applications. TSP-Link affords users the advantage of scalability without the wasted rack space and added cost of mainframe systems.
  
• Serious 2600 instruments offer the industry's highest SMU rack density for automated test applications with up to two SourceMeter channels in a single rack, 2U chassis. Each channel offers a 40W, 3A precision four-quadrant SMU with accurate voltage and current readback a 1pA resolution that can be configure as a precision power supply, current source, 5.5- digit DMM, low-frequency arbitrary waveform generator with measurement, and electronic load. At about $4,000 to $5,000 per channel, this combination of functions in one unit dramatically reduces the cost of ownership. An easy-to-use front-panel knob simplifies program editing and navigating while set-it and forget-it voltage and current limits work similar to a power supply.

Best process award
Agilent Technologies – 4156C Precision Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer

4156C Precision Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer

The 4156C semiconductor parameter analyzer comes with four source/monitor units (SMUs), two voltage monitor units (VMUs), and two voltage source units (VSUs). These standard measurement resources satisfy the vast majority of parametric characterization needs. Additional SMUs, pulse generator units (PGUs), and a ground unit (GNDU) can be added.

I/CV 3.0 Lite provides a complete PC-based solution for parametric analysis
Agilent I/CV 3.0 Lite Automation Software, which is included with the 4156C, is well proven. MS Windows-based I/CV 3.0 Lite displays the device under test (DUT) as a graphical schematic, which makes parametric test intuitive and easy by eliminating the need to write complex programs. I/CV 3.0 Lite also offers wafer prober control, test sequencing, and data analysis capabilities to create a complete solution for parametric measurement and analysis.

Unmatched low-voltage measurement
The 4156C has two highly accurate (0.2 microvolt resolution in differential mode) voltage measurement units (VMUs).

Standard ultra-low current capability
The 1 fA resolution of the Agilent 4156C enables you to meet the low-current measurement challenges posed by current and future devices. No additional preamplifiers are required. A unique “zero offset cancel” function enables you to automatically subtract stray leakage currents, making it easy to perform difficult measurements such as MOSFET subthreshold leakage and diode reverse-bias currents.

Integrated CV measurement
Built-in capacitance versus voltage (CV) measurement capability allows you to perform quasistatic CV (QSCV) measurements on MOSFET gate dielectrics, and you can compare the measurement results with those obtained from.

Sub System/Component Provider
The tools required for semiconductor manufacturing are actualised as a result of many companies providing innovative sub systems and components to the tool manufacturers. These sub systems and components can be a critical enabler for the success of a given tool.

New system award
MKS Instruments, Inc – AX8555 Ozone Delivery System

The MKS AX8555 Stand-Alone Ozone Delivery System is a turnkey, high output ozone delivery system specifically designed for advanced semiconductor process applications such as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). The configuration flexibility of the AX8555 enables easy interfacing to specific OEM tools, thereby pushing ALD into production quickly and advancing ALD into mainstream manufacturing for high-k dielectrics.

Ozone is used as an oxidizer in ALD, and has many advantages over other oxidizers as a precursor for ALD. Films grown using ozone have been found to be of very high quality, stoichiometric, uniform, dense, and free from any significant contamination. The AX8555 has thus allowed ALD for DRAM and high-k dielectrics to be developed and put into manufacturing quickly, and effectively. The AX8555 has also significantly reduced chemical effluent and disposal costs in fabs. Ozone is generated at the point of use, and thus requires no storage or transportation. It decays naturally into oxygen, and is therefore considered an environmentally friendly chemical. The AX8555 contains internal ozone destruct units that destroy the ozone and convert it back into pure oxygen, further reducing chemical disposal costs.

The main advantages of the MKS AX8555 ozone delivery system include ultra high concentration ozone required for advanced ALD processes, as well as multiple options and system configurability that allow quick and easy interfacing to OEM platforms. The AX8555 system can be configured with up to four (4) independent channels to support multiple ALD tools or multiple chambers concurrently. Each channel can be matched to the specific concentration and flow required for the specific process.

Improvement award
Swagelok Semiconductor Services Company – Diaphragm Valves –DP series.

Swagelok Semiconductor Services Company is Helping You Create The Future Of Semiconductor

Swagelok Company, founded in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., began with a single product—the tube fitting—and grew into a global manufacturing corporation that delivers thousands of types of fluid system components through a network of more than 200 exclusive, independent sales and service centers on six continents. Swagelok® products are designed to meet exacting requirements in industrial processes ranging from research, instrumentation, pharmaceutical, dairy, and food and beverage production to oil and gas, power generation, petrochemical processing, and semiconductor manufacturing.

The remarkable growth of Swagelok Company into a global fluid system components manufacturer, annual sales of approximately $1 billion (USD) and presence in over 45 countries, has been driven by our commitment to:

• Make the world's most innovative and reliable fluid system components readily available to industry;

• Deliver Swagelok products through a global network of exclusive, independent sales and service representatives; and

• Meet the highest industry standards.
  

Swagelok Semiconductor Services Company is a dedicated business unit of Swagelok Company committed to meeting the speed, flexibility and reliability needs of the semiconductor industry.

• Enhanced responsiveness for field engineering, prototyping, and product development

• Nearly 700 dedicated associates

• Six high-purity manufacturing facilities

• Streamlined business, manufacturing, and technology processes

• An expanding line of fluid system component products
  

Outsourcing service award
Maintaining and managing any company these days is no easy task. Many companies now outsource aspects of their daily requirements to a specialist in a given area. This award is for those companies providing outsourcing services that help improve a company’s productivity.

Reactec

Reactec's Vibration Management Service is a system for providing a range of solutions required to meet the next generation of challenges for the industry.  The service includes ensuring tools are meeting Semi's standards for environment vibration transmission.  Design and modelling services enable our partners to evaluate and predict tool vibration vulnerability throughout the design phase.  This is particularly vital as tools approach 90, 65, and 45nm performance.  There is a direct link between vibration levels and viable feature size, which the industry is having to address.  Particle performance is one area keenly affected by vibration and which plays a large part in defining yields. As well as giving vital input to the product lifecycle process, good Vibration Management delivers mission critical answers for fabs and equipment suppliers in the midst of rapid expansionary strategies.  The Vibration Management Services also include integration of the latest in intelligent control and smart materials.  The right tools can be selected from a strong anti-vibration arsenal where Reactec's own patented advanced control products sit along side a range of partner and third party products.

In short, the holistic approach of Reactec's Vibration Management Service is a novel one – providing understanding of vibration issues to clients along with successful, structured solutions. For more information please see the July issue of European Semiconductor Magazine

Why Reactec Ltd was voted Outsourcing Company of the Year

Reason 1: Knowledge of technology fulfils all levels of vibration needs
Through internal product development in advanced vibration control, the company is able to provide cutting edge solutions to problems of any level of difficulty. Reactec quickly realised that not all of our customers require high tech solutions to problems, and in these cases Reactec apply the knowledge gained in developing advanced products to help provide customers with lower specification solutions appropriate to their problem.  The companys specialist knowledge creates an ideal position to explain to clients the various methods of solving the problems, the associated costs and the level of improvement each would provide.  This allows customers to make informed decisions and pick solutions appropriate to their requirements and budget.

Reason 2: Guaranteed delivery
Customer focus is key to Reactec's consultancy offering. Guaranteed delivery is extremely important to customers in an industry where ‘maybe' is not an option. With a proven track record in technological product development, the consultancy arm of the business was setup to meet and exceed customer expectations.  With a team of motivated first class engineers, over-delivery is the rule rather than the exception.  Through a combination of intellectual freedom for the engineers and stringent internal project management processes Reactec is able to provide cutting edge solutions within very tight constraints to ensure minimal disruption and maximum performance for solutions.

Reason 3: Strategically aligned with advances in the semiconductor industry
Reactec has positioned itself to provide solutions to enable our customers to meet the biggest hurdles facing the industry - for example the 45nm challenge.  The company continues to invest heavily in the specialist tools and techniques required to work on vibrations at the 45nm level. Reactec is one of the best tools the industry has to meet other challenges, such as the increasing emphasis on performance and price competition. Vibration management will play a significant role in meeting these challenges. Returning all solutions to-date on time and to budget, the success of projects outsourced to Reactec suggest that it is well placed to be the specialist that companies across the industry turn to for outsourcing of vibration management.

PR Company award
All companies require marketing to ensure that their products are recognised and then purchased. The award recognises the PR companies whose job it is to ensure that their client’s products are the sought after item in that arena.

Loomis Group

Integrated, Creative, Global: Loomis Group Brings the World to Europe’s Technology Leaders

It all began with one man in a red bathrobe and a big idea.

Like the best Silicon Valley legends, the story of Loomis Group, a global marketing agency, started with a singular inspiration: we can change what people are doing, buying and thinking.

Even in the semiconductor industry.

When Jeff Loomis founded Loomis Group in 1987, industry ads looked like data sheets, and even color was scarce. In short order, Loomis Group changed all that – with unexpected, bold moves, like , beginning with the first wordless ads in the industry trade publications and trend-setting events, like . Other innovations included the industry’s first integrated marketing and nNewsPanel, which has become a highly anticipated event at SEMICON shows in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

Since Jeff’s big idea in Redwood Shores 18 years ago, Loomis Group has grown into an integrated, global marketing agency whose capabilities, skills and talents span the range of communications channels and strategies - from advertising, public relations and direct marketing to brand strategy, design and Web development.

A born entrepreneur, Jeff Loomis launched the agency in response to the growth of the semiconductor industry. He foresaw the emergence of equipment and materials suppliers, and recognized an opportunity to help leading companies tell their stories in a consistent, compelling and creative way. By the early 1990’s, Loomis Group became synonymous with the equipment industry.

But there was more to be done. In the dot-com 1990s, Loomis Group added Web site design, Web kiosks and programming services, and public relations. The growth of the agency’s software and medical divisions followed. The millennium brought new developments in brand strategy, market research, direct marketing and e-commerce Web sites, as well as a push into the consumer realmmarkets.

Meanwhile, the rise of European companies with key technologies, and the expansion of Asia’s chip-making facilities – all bound tightly to the U.S. industry – demanded an integrated, global approach to communications. In response, Loomis Group opened additional offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and expanded into new industries, including pharmaceutical and consumer products.

“It was always our vision to build a mid-sized global company that represents a select group of respected clients, and to do that, you have to have a global presence,” says Jeff Loomis. “You can’t be in San Francisco and pretend that you know what it’s like in Paris or Tokyo. You have to be familiar with and respect cultural differences to tell your client’s story effectively.”

Based in San Francisco, Loomis Group has offices in Austin, Boston, Paris and Tokyo, as well as affiliates in Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei. This network continuously proves the value add of having a presence in key markets. For example, one European client with a global customer base works regularly with Loomis Group professionals in Paris, San Francisco, Boston, Austin and Tokyo.

For the past five years, Loomis Group’s Paris office has offered its European clients a truly global, brand-oriented marketing resource that seamlessly delivers their messages to audiences in every key market. The office provides a portal for communicating around the world via public relations, advertising, the Web/Internet channels, and direct marketing in collaboration with colleagues on the ground in the U.S. and Asia.

At the same time, Loomis Group’s European staff builds collegial working relationships with clients by understanding their cultures, their business goals and the competitive pressures they face. The professionals in Loomis Group’s Paris office have lived on multiple continents, speak several languages, and pride themselves on being able to move from community to community and culture to culture with ease and understanding. Loomis Group’s European clients include dominant players in key technologies and start- ups with enabling technologies, and the agency has delivered measurable resultsworked with for clients in France, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland and Austria.

“Europe is blessed with a wealth of companies that offer world-class products and services and that want to compete in the U.S. and globally,” Jeff says. “They need and deserve an agency that understands them and the markets where they do business. Our Paris office, which will be there for the long haul, is specifically designed to meet those companies’ needs.

“Moreover, this award is a wonderful recognition for everybody in Loomis Group who works so hard to provide the best possible service to our clients,” Jeff says. “It’s a validation of our strategy to build a world- class, mid-sized agency with global reach and impact.”

R&D initiative award
The cost of research and development for new innovations in microelectronics manufacturing have increased to the point that most companies are no longer able to afford to develop new ideas on their own. This award recognises the recent trend of R&D initiatives that ensure the industry maintains the impressive rate of technological advancement.

IMEC

As an independent research centre, IMEC focuses on the design, production and packaging of the chips of the future. New technologies and materials are evolving which are leading to the development of smaller transistors and which add extra functionality to the chip. These ultra-modern chips are the basis of the more complex, smaller and feature-rich electronic products that are integrating into our environment and lives almost without notice. Thanks to an excellent collaboration model, IMEC researchers and residents co-operate on the most advanced technological challenges. The international network that IMEC has built on this basis means that its research is geared precisely to
industrial needs.

Advertisement of the year
Advertising is an important part of any marketing campaign but it is true that some advertisements are more effective than others. This award gives the industry the chance to vote on the most creative and innovative advertisement of the year.

Thermo Electron Corporation – Theta 300 Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Description: Theta 300 uses Angle Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ARXPS) technology, determines thickness and composition of surface and buried layers.

Non-destructively measures dose, distribution, thickness, uniformity and chemical composition. Applications include SiON, High-k, Low-k, Shallow implant, Barrier/Seed and Strained Si. Fully fab ready with twin loadports, pattern recognition, and host integration.

• The ad is eye catching and stands out. It makes you stop. In other words, it does the job an ad is meant to do.
  
• The whole concept of the ad is well put together. The strap line "Gain X-ray Vision" works well with the image. X-ray = skeleton, Vision = binoculars.
  
• The concept ties in well with the product advertised, i.e. it is an X-ray tool (skeleton), it enables you to take a closer look at your samples (X-ray, skeleton, vision, binoculars), the tool is looking to the future in terms of moving processes from lab to fab (binoculars).

Click the link below to view the advertisement in PDF format
Our X-ray Tools Put You in the Picture

Start Up Company of the year
The Eurosemi Start Up award is now in its fifth year and the successful record of previous recipients is testament to the success of the award. To be nominated for this award a company must have been operating for less than five years.

Replisaurus

The exploration of the ECPR technology started in the beginning of 2001 and the development of the first equipment continued at Lund Institute of Technology. The first real proof-of-concept was achieved when it was shown that the technology could be used for depositing 10µm metal structures on flexible organic substrates and silicon wafers. During 2002 the company Replisaurus Technologies was founded by Patrik Möller, Peter Wiwen-Nilsson and Mikael Fredenberg. In the beginning of 2003 Replisaurus moved to Kista, Stockholm and started collaboration with the Royal Institute of Technology(KTH), supported by the KK-foundation. Through this collaboration the R&D efforts related to the ECPR-method continued in the Electrum laboratory, jointly owned by KTH and Acreo. Today most of the R&D activities are located to the electrum cleanroom, where Replisaurus has its ECPR-equipment installed. Through strategic alliances with equipment suppliers, institutes and semiconductor manufacturers the development and evaluation of industrial automated production solutions are ongoing.

Contact Information:

Jackie Cromie - Sales & Marketing Manager
European Semiconductor & IC Industry Awards
Angel Business Communications Limited
Hannay House
39 Clarendon Road
Watford
Herts
WD17 1JA
T: +44 (0)1923 690200
F: +44 (0)1923 690201
jc@angelbcl.co.uk

David Ridsdale – Editor in Chief
Eurosemi & IC Industry Awards
Angel Business Communications Limited
Hannay House
39 Clarendon Road
Watford
Herts
WD17 1JA
T: +44 (0)1923 690200
F: +44 (0)1923 690201
dr@angelbcl.co.uk