Billerica, Mass. – May 19, 2011—Entegris Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG) today announced plans to open an advanced technology manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. for production of 450 mm semiconductor wafer handling products and Extreme Ultraviolet Light (EUV) reticle pods. At the new site, Entegris will develop and manufacture wafer handling products that will support the industry’s move from 300 mm wafers to 450 mm wafers. The planned facility, which will occupy an existing 40,000 square foot site, will be operational later this year and will augment Entegris’ current manufacturing presence in Colorado Springs.
“A number of leading semiconductor manufacturers have announced plans for moving to 450 mm in their next-generation fabs in North America, and we are already working with them and others in the industry to develop solutions for shipping and transporting these larger wafers,” said Bill Shaner, vice president and general manager for Entegris’ Microenvironments Division. “The new site represents a strong commitment to provide leading solutions that meet the needs of our customers as they ramp up their 450 mm operations. We selected Colorado Springs because of the wafer handling technology and manufacturing expertise we already have there, the site’s close proximity to key customers, and the excellent support we received from the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation.”
The products manufactured at the new advanced technology facility will solve many of the transporting issues that semiconductor manufacturers will face in scaling up to 450 mm manufacturing. Entegris’ 450 mm wafer shippers and carriers will help these manufacturers optimize automation processes and handle wafers that are 1.5 times larger than the ones they currently use. The newly leased site will also be used to develop and manufacture products for EUV lithography, a new technology being developed by the semiconductor industry to make smaller, more powerful semiconductor chips. Entegris’ reticle pods will protect the reticle, a tool used in semiconductor production, from contaminants during lithography processes.
“We are thrilled that Entegris has decided to open an advanced technology manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs,” said Mike Kazmierski, President and CEO of the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation. “Entegris is a leading edge, global technology company that provides not only quality jobs to the region but confirms, through its decision, that Colorado Springs remains a great place for the high growth technology companies of the future.”
Entegris is working with Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation to bring this new development to Colorado Springs. With the new facility, Entegris expects to add an estimated 100 jobs in Colorado Springs over the next five years. The company currently employs over 200 in Colorado Springs and approximately 2,900 worldwide.
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The mission of the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation, a private not-for-profit corporation, is to sustain quality of life through a healthy economy. It does so by providing economic development services that result in the current and future retention and attraction of primary jobs which provide for economic diversity, replacement of lost jobs and job opportunities for those entering the workforce for the first time. www.coloradosprings.org (now defunct).