Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that manufactures innovative equipment, services and software to enable the manufacture of semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar (crystalline and thin film) products. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California in the Silicon Valley.
Applied Materials creates and commercializes nanomanufacturing technology used in the production of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronic gear, flat panel displays for computers and television, glass coatings for homes and buildings, web (flexible substrate) coatings for industry and photovoltaic solar cells and modules using both thin film and crystalline (wafer or bulk) photovoltaic technology.
Applied is organized into four major business sectors: Silicon Systems Group, Display, Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) and Service.
In semiconductors (integrated circuits), the company manufactures systems that perform most of the primary steps in the chip fabrication process, including atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), electrochemical plating (EP), etching, rapid thermal processing (RTP), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), CDSEM metrology, wafer inspection, sem Defect Review, reticle inspection and wafer packaging, such as through-silicon via (TSV). The company acquired Semitool for this group in late 2009.
The Applied Global Services (AGS) group offers equipment installation support and warranty extended support, as well as maintenance support. AGS also offers new and refurbished equipment, as well as upgrades and enhancements for installed base equipment.
Automation Software
Applied Materials offers software packages for automating the operation of complex manufacturing environments. These include tool automation, manufacturing execution systems, materials control, simulation and scheduling software and related software support services.
AGS combined an existing business unit with the display business of Applied Films Corporation, acquired in mid-2006.
The manufacturing process for TFT LCDs (thin film transistor liquid crystal displays), commonly employed in computer monitors and televisions, is similar to that employed for integrated circuits. In cleanroom environments both TFT-LCD and integrated circuit production use photolithography, chemical and physical vapor deposition, and testing.
In 2006 the company acquired Applied Films, a glass coating and web coating business. Also in 2006, Applied announced it was entering the solar manufacturing equipment business. The solar, glass and web businesses are now organized into the EES group of the Company.
In 2007, Applied announced the Applied SunFab thin film photovoltaic module production line, with single or tandem junction capability . SunFab applies silicon thin film layers to glass substrate that then produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. The product uses large glass substrates, measuring 5.7 square meters. In 2009, the company's SunFab line was certified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).Moser Baer signed a deal with Applied Materials and started a plant in NOIDA, India. In 2010 Applied announced that it was abandoning the thin film market and closing down their SunFab division.
Also in 2007 the company acquired privately held, Switzerland-based HCT Shaping Systems SA, a specialist in wafer sawing tools for both solar and semiconductor wafer manufacture, paying approximately $475 million.
In 2008, Applied acquired privately held, Italy-based Baccini SpA for $330M, company that worked in the metallization steps of solar cell manufacturing.
Also in 2008, the company was listed at the top of VLSI Research's list of supplier of photovoltaic manufacturing equipment for 2008, with sales of $797M.
Applied Materials also operates a venture investing arm called Applied Ventures.
Getting a contract job at Applied Material is fairly easy. It is an OK place to work but the salary is not very good.
