Noel Technologies offers advanced lithography services
The Silicon Valley firm has hired former ASML's Keith Best as director of photolithography. He will be tasked with driving the roadmap to 0.15 microns
Technology foundry Noel Technologies which offers process development and substrate fabrication, recently expanded its capabilities to include advanced lithography services.
To push its technology roadmap to 0.15 µm, the firm have hired former director of application development at ASML, Keith Best (above), as director of photolithography.
The foundry will offer a host of capabilities in lithography for device manufacturers and researchers including engineering support for reticle layout and process development for DUV 248nm (0.15 µm), i-line (0.35 µm) and contact printing.
In lithography Noel Technologies will also offer R&D, pilot production runs, litho cell backup; short term capacity and resist spin coatings.
Best comes to Noel from Simax Lithography, an engineering services company that optimised lithography equipment, where he was vice president, applications. Prior to Simax, he spent 11 years at ASML, most recently as director of application development, and also worked for LSI Logic and KLA-Tencor.
With both a fab and tool background, Best will be charged with supporting and expanding Noel's existing lithography engineering services and setting a roadmap to take lithography resolution down to 0.15 µm.
"With last fall's demise of SVTC," comments Noel Technologies Founder and CTO Leon Pearce. "We realised the valley needed contract lithography services. By adding advanced lithography to our mix, it's a declaration to our customers that we are a full service facility, able to supply everything from R&D to pilot and capacity runs."
An ISO 9001 registered facility, Noel Technologies offers process development and fabrication up to 300mm.
As the increasing costs of technology R&D, along with slower revenue growth, continue to drive the expansion of the fabless model, Noel Technologies is strategically positioned to provide IDMs with a bridge from lab idea to fabrication.
