Semilab acquires assets of SOPRA
Printer-friendly versionBUDAPEST, Hungary. - September 29, 2008 - Semilab Co. Ltd., and SOPRA SA., both leading manufacturers of materials metrology solutions to the semiconductor and solar industries, today announced that Semilab Co. Ltd. has acquired the assets of SOPRA SA. The deal is for an undisclosed cash amount, and the transaction was closed on the 17th September, 2008.
Following the acquisition, SOPRA will become a new division of Semilab known as SOPRALAB and will have responsibility for the development, and marketing of spectroscopic ellipsometer based metrology solutions for the semiconductor and PV markets worldwide. The SOPRALAB Division will continue as a French registered legal entity based in Paris, France. The SOPRALAB Division will provide continuity of support for SOPRA products and will also develop new products in cooperation with the Budapest based parent company. Worldwide sales and support organizations will be integrated, and Semilab will retain key executives of SOPRA within the new organization.
Dr. Tibor Pavelka, founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Semilab Co. Ltd. commented: " Following this latest transition including the former acquisitions of two US companies, SemiTest, Inc. and SSM, Inc., Semilab will have increased market and technology development opportunities and therefore be better able to provide the sales and service support to our global customer base. The acquisition is an integral part of Semilab’s strategy to become one of the largest suppliers of specialized PV and semiconductor materials measurement equipment in the world”.
After the acquisition, SOPRA will become a new division of Semilab under the name SOPRALAB SAS, based in Paris, France. SOPRALAB will continue to employ key personnel of SOPRA and will continue to develop, sell and support ellipsometers using their wide expertise in this area.
The SOPRALAB tools cover the spectrum from DUV to FTIR, and various measurement options are offered such as scanning over a large area for the examination of solar panel materials or flat panel displays, and ellipsometry-porosimetry for the characterization of porous materials.
About Semilab
Semilab Co. Ltd. with headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, was founded in 1989. Semilab pioneered minority carrier lifetime as tool for metal contamination detection in silicon. Semilab is a leading supplier of non-contact wafer mapping metrology solutions for the global semiconductor and solar cell R&D and manufacturing markets with an installed base of over 500 systems. Current products include the WT2000 bench top and WT3000 FOUP automated mapping tools with modules for the wafer mapping of microPCD lifetime, SPV diffusion length, Q-V gate dielectric properties and JPV implant sheet resistance. Semilab will continue to grow by in-house development and by further acquisitions of new technologies or companies.
About SOPRA
SOPRA was founded in 1948 and has specialized in the development of scientific and technical instrumentation. The main products of SOPRA are optical metrology instruments aimed at characterising homogeneous or porous thin films. The two lines of products are spectroscopic ellipsometers and thin film porosimeters. SOPRA’s main customers are both scientific and industrial research centres. SOPRA was the first company to introduce the spectroscopic ellipsometer to the market in 1983. Since then more than 600 systems have been sold to research laboratories and ~100 for use in quality control applications for flat panel displays and semiconductors.
General
The technologies in Semilab and SOPRA products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents. Semilab has sales distribution worldwide including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Further information on Semilab can be obtained by calling +361 382 4530.
Information on SOPRA can be obtained by calling +33 1 46 49 67 00.