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Intellectual property

SOPRA signed an exclusive license agreement for IMEC's patented ellipsometric porosimetry (EP) technology.

SOPRA signed an exclusive license agreement for IMEC's patented ellipsometric porosimetry (EP) technology. IMEC's R&D EP tool was extensively benchmarked with other porosimetry technologies (e.g. PALS, SAXS, SANS) and excellent results were demonstrated.

SOPRA will have its first commercial products using EP ready for shipping in summer 2004. Ellipsometric porosimetry (EP) allows cost-effective monitoring of porosity, pore size distribution (PSD), cumulative surface area (CSA) and pore interconnectivity in thin films deposited on top of any solid surface on a wafer level scale. EP measures the change of optical characteristics of thin films during vapour adsorption and desorption. All measurements are carried out at room temperature using an organic adsorptive.

EP with a plasma source allows study of the plasma resistance and modification of materials in active plasmas and plasma cleaning of different surfaces. IMEC has also developed novel applications such as pore sealing tests and Young's modulus extraction of low-k dielectrics using the EP technique.

The North California district court has granted summary judgement in favour of power semiconductor supplier Advanced Power Technology (APT), dismissing patent infringement claims made by IXYS.

The court held that IXYS' US patent Nos. 5,486,715 and 5,801,419 are not infringed by APT's power MOSFET products, and further held that "IXYS's patents are invalid because obvious." Key prior art cited by the court was APT's own dual metal power MOSFETs and IGBTs dating from the early 1990s. APT's own patent infringement claims against IXYS under APT's US patent Nos. 5,283,202 and 5,262,336 remain pending and are scheduled for trial in January 2005.

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