Entegris Inc. (www.entegris.com), a manufacturer of products for purifying, protecting, and transporting critical materials used in semiconductor and other high-tech processes, signed an agreement to purchase a 14 percent equity stake of privately held Integrated Materials Inc. (IMI, www.integratedmaterials.com) for $8 million. IMI is a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based supplier of polysilicon products used to improve the productivity of semiconductor manufacturing diffusion processes. Under the agreement, Entegris intends to purchase the remaining equity of IMI upon completion of certain closing conditions.
Entegris expects IMI’s materials technology expertise to help it better address the needs of its semiconductor customers by controlling contamination in the manufacturing process. IMI’s poly silicon material is designed to reduce particle contamination and improve yields in wafer handling processes. IMI’s core products are high temperature wafer carriers, which are used to support the semiconductor wafer while it is being processed inside the diffusion furnace chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing tool.