Micronic expands SLM licensing agreement
12/20/2001 8:17 AM EST
Täby, Sweden, December 20, 2001 -- Micronic Laser Systems AB (OM
Stockholm Exchange: MICR),
a company at the forefront of semiconductor and display laser pattern
generators for the production of photomasks for worldwide electronic
industries, today announced that it has signed an agreement in principle
to expand and strengthen its cooperation with Fraunhofer Institute for
Microelectronic Circuits and Systems (IMS).
The agreement extends by three years the development collaboration
between Micronic and Fraunhofer IMS and expands Micronic's present
exclusive license rights for spatial light modulator (SLM) technology
for direct write and photomask writing with inspection and measurement.
The cooperation covers several SLM component generations aimed to
support future semiconductor design nodes.
Micronic first licensed the SLM technology, which is based on a MEMS
circuit with a flat, mirror-like surface, in 1998. The agreement was
expanded in 2000 to include direct write applications.
"We are very pleased to extend the development cooperation with
Fraunhofer IMS, and to broaden our license rights to include new
applications," said Sven Löfquist, Micronic president and CEO.
"The SLM technology has a broad scope of potential applications,
including inspection and measurement for the electronic industry.
"This agreement with Micronic strengthens the position of Fraunhofer
IMS as the leading research institute in the field of
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)," said Dr. Huber Lakner, head of
department and program manager of Fraunhofer IMS.
About Micronic Laser Systems AB
Micronic Laser Systems AB is a Swedish high-tech company engaged in the
development, manufacture and marketing of a series of extremely accurate
laser pattern generators for the production of photomasks. The
technology involved is known as microlithography. Micronic's systems are
used by the world's leading electronics companies in the manufacture of
television and computer displays, semiconductor circuits and
semiconductor packaging components.
Micronic is located in Täby, north of Stockholm and at present has
subsidiaries in the United States and Japan and a service office in
Taiwan. Micronic's net sales for 2000 amounted to MSEK 704 (MSEK 213 in
1999) and the company has 325 employees. Micronic maintains a web site
at: http://www.micronic.se
About Fraunhofer IMS
The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is Europe's leading organization for applied
research, with its headquarters located in Munich, Germany. It operates
56 research institutes with some 11,000 employees, half of them
scientists and engineers. The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft has expanded into
a worldwide network with locations in Germany, the USA and Asia.
Company contact: Agency contact:
Sven Löfquist Dylan McGrath
President & CEO The Loomis Group, Inc.
Tel: +46 8 638 52 00 Tel: +1 415 882 9494