ALLENTOWN, Pa., Oct. 25 -- Akrion recently received several patents for wet process semiconductor cleaning and drying. The company continues to expand its intellectual property position.

Akrion was awarded two patents related to its Goldfinger single wafer cleaning systems. US patent number 6,928,751 (with IMEC) is for a megasonic cleaning and drying apparatus integral to the system and a second patent, US 6,923,193 relates to the system's stackable chambers. Stackable chambers greatly reduce footprint for the company's single wafer platforms.

The company also received US patent 6,928,750 related to drying technology. The technology is currently applied to Akrion's batch immersion wet stations, but may be applicable to Akrion's single wafer systems as well.

Alan Walter, Akrion Vice President, Business Development stated, "Patented inventions resulting from research and development is key to our future success. We will continue to invest in our future by developing innovative technology."

Akrion has a long list of intellectual property for both single-wafer and batch-immersion processes with more than 100 patents either issued or pending, including:

Integration of robotics and wet processing

Sunburst(TM) and Goldfinger megasonics

Rotogoni single-wafer drying

Ozonated sulfuric acid processing

ICE-1(TM) chemical concentration control

DIO3(TM) ozonated-water cleaning

Direct-coupled batch megasonics

aKROS(TM) automated immersion cleaning system

Megazone System(TM) for in situ cleaning

About Akrion

Akrion is a leading provider of wet cleaning systems for the semiconductor industry. The company designs, manufactures, installs and services advanced batch-immersion and single-wafer wet cleaning equipment used in the production of a diverse range of semiconductor and related devices, including integrated circuits, micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) and photomasks. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., Akrion's Allentown production facility is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:1996 certified. The company Web site is located at http://www.akrion.com.