Perkin-Elmer Corp has completed the sale of its optical lithography unit to a new company in which Silicon Valley Group Inc is the controlling shareholder, after a last-minute snag last week when IBM reportedly queried arrangements for marketing an IBM-proprietary photo-resist: the new company, SVG Lithography Systems Inc will continue the operations of Perkin-Elmer’s optical lithography unit in Wilton, Connecticut, producing on wafer step-and-scan, scanning, and X-ray technologies, including the leading edge Micrascan System for producing sub-micron semiconductor devices; IBM has agreed to give the new company substantial orders in future years and to provide financial support for its research and development programmes, and the Sematech consortium has entered into a joint development programme with SVG.
