 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Euronext Amsterdam: ASM AEX component | |
| ISIN | NL0000334118 |
| Industry | Semiconductor industry |
| Founded | 1968  |
| Founder | Arthur del Prado |
| Headquarters | , Netherlands |
Key people | Hichem M'Saad (CEO), Paul Verhagen ( CFO), Pauline van der Meer Mohr (chairwoman of thesupervisory board) |
| Products | Equipment forsemiconductor fabrication |
| Revenue | €1.7 billion (2021)[1] |
| €597.2 million (2021)[1] | |
| €494.7 million (2021)[1] | |
| Total assets | €2.7 billion (end 2021)[1] |
| Total equity | €2.2 billion (end 2021)[1] |
Number of employees | 4200 (end 2023) |
| Subsidiaries | ASM Pacific Holding B.V. (minority shareholder ofASM Pacific Technology)[1]: 14 |
| Website | asm.com |
ASM International N.V. (with ASM standing forAdvanced Semiconductor Materials) is a Dutch-headquarteredmultinational corporation that designs, manufactures, sells, and services equipment used in thefabrication ofsemiconductor devices. Its products are utilized bysemiconductor manufacturers infabrication plants for processes such asatomic layer deposition,epitaxy,chemical vapor deposition, anddiffusion.[1]
The company was founded by Arthur del Prado (1931-2016) in 1964.[2] From 2008 until 2020, son of Arthur del Prado, Chuck del Prado wasCEO. ASM pioneered important aspects of many established wafer-processing technologies used in industry, includinglithography,deposition,ion implantation, single-waferepitaxy, and in recent yearsatomic layer deposition. Semiconductor equipment companiesASML,ASM Pacific Technology (ASMPT) andBesi are former divisions of ASM.[2][3]
ASM headquarters is located inAlmere, the Netherlands. The company has R&D sites inAlmere (the Netherlands),Helsinki (Finland),Leuven (Belgium, nearIMEC),Phoenix (Arizona),Tama (Japan), and Dongtan (South Korea). Manufacturing primarily occurs inSingapore and Dongtan (South-Korea). ASM also has sales & service offices across the globe, includingUnited States,South Korea,China,Taiwan,Japan,Singapore andIsrael. As of 2021, it has 3,312 staff, located in 14 countries.[1]
The shares of the company are listed on theEuronextAmsterdam. In March 2020, ASM was promoted to theAEX index.[4] ASM has a minority stake inASM Pacific Technology, a Hong Kong–based company active in semiconductor assembly,packaging andsurface-mount technology.
To create a semiconductor chip, many individual steps are performed using various types of wafer processing equipment, including photolithographic patterning,depositing thin layers, etching to remove material, thermal treatments, and other steps. ASM's systems are designed for deposition processes, whenthin films, or layers, of various materials are grown or deposited onto the wafer. Many different thin-film layers are deposited to complete the full sequence of process steps necessary to manufacture a chip.
ASM's technology development is driven by its customers' goal to build faster, cheaper, and more powerful semiconductor chips with reduced energy consumption. This goal drives the need to shrink the dimensions of components on the chip, targeting to double the number of components per unit area on a chip every two years (Moore's law). As part of this scaling of dimensions, ASM supplies its customers – chip manufacturers – with machines that deposit ever thinner films ofsemiconductor materials. ASM also develops deposition processes for new materials to be used in semiconductor fabrication.
During the past 15 years, an increasing array of new materials has been introduced in the fabrication of chips.[5] These new materials were required to achieve the necessary performance improvements of chips, as outlined by Moore's Law. For instance, in 2007 in aMOSFET transistor, the silicon oxidegate dielectric was replaced with ahigh-κ, a material that has a higher electrical resistance than silicon oxide. In this particular case, ASM pioneered the chemical process and the new deposition method called atomic layer deposition during nearly a decade of R&D.[6][7] In addition, increasingly precise deposition methods are required as components on a chip such as transistors moved from planar to3D structures, likeFinFETs in the past decade.[8] ASM has a leading position in single wafer atomic layer deposition (ALD).[7]
ASM offers a number of methods and accompanying machines to deposit these thin films of materials. The company tries to expand the applicability of its deposition technologies and machines as much as possible.[9]R&D is critical in that effort. In 2021, the company spent 151 million euro on R&D (or 9% of its annual revenues).[1] R&D activities stretch frombasic research of new materials to the application of new materials in chip manufacturing.
ASM designs and sells both single-wafer deposition tools, in which the process is performed onewafer at a time, as well as so-calledbatch tools, in which the deposition is performed on multiple wafers at a time. The prices of the company's systems varies, but typically are multiple of millioneuros per system.The products of ASM can be categorized by deposition method:
Atomic Layer Deposition is a layer-by-layer process that results in the deposition of thin films one atomic layer at a time in a highly controlled manner. Layers are formed during reaction cycles by alternately pulsingprecursors andreactants and purging withinert gas in between each pulse. ASM offers single wafer ALD tools in two technology segments:thermal ALD andplasma enhanced ALD (PEALD). ASM's ALD tools include Synergis, Pulsar and EmerALD. PEALD tools include Eagle XP8 and the XP8 QCM.[1]
Epitaxy is a process that is used for depositing precisely controlled crystalline silicon-based layers that are important for semiconductor device electrical properties. The silicon epitaxy process can be used to modify the electrical characteristics of the wafer surface to create high-performance transistors during the manufacturing of semiconductor chips. ASM's epitaxy tools are single wafer tools and include Intrepid and Epsilon.[1]
Chemical Vapor Deposition is a chemical deposition process in which the wafer is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired film. Within Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) ASM offers two types of tools: single-wafer plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) and batch low pressure CVD (LPCVD). ASM provides single-wafer PECVD processes on the Dragon XP8 tool. ASM provides batch LPCVD/diffusion processes on the vertical furnace A400 DUO and novel Sonora tools.[1]
1960s: In 1964,Arthur del Prado [nl] founds ASM as 'Advanced Semiconductor Materials' in Bilthoven, the Netherlands.[10] Initially the company operates as a sales agent in semiconductor fabrication technology in Europe. In 1968, the company was formally listed as a private limited company.
1970s: ASM starts to design, manufacture and sellchemical vapor deposition equipment.[9] In 1974 it acquires Fico Toolings, a Dutch manufacturer of semiconductormolds. AHong Kong sales office ASM Asia, now known and traded as ASM Pacific Technology, is established in 1975. ASM America is founded inPhoenix, Arizona, in 1976. Sale of ASM's horizontalplasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition furnaces drive the company's growth.
1980s: Following aninitial public offering on theNasdaq in May 1981, the company expands. In 1982 ASM Japan is established.[2] ASM invests in new semiconductor fabrication technologies, like lithography, ion implantation, epitaxy, andwire bonding. In 1988, the company divestsASML Holding N.V., ASM Ion Implant, and it lists its Hong Kong–based activities as ASM Pacific Technology on theHong Kong stock exchange in 1989.
1990s: The company reorganizes thoroughly between 1991 and 1994.[3] In 1993, ASM divests ASM Fico to Berliner Electro Holding, now known asBesi. ASM focusses on vertical low-pressurechemical vapor deposition furnaces by ASM Europe, single waferplasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition by ASM Japan and single waferepitaxy by ASM America. From 1996 onwards, the company is also listed on theEuronext,Amsterdam.ASM retains a majority stake in ASM Pacific Technology.
2000s: ASM expands again with investments in 300-mmwafer technology andatomic layer deposition. In 2007, the company successfully brings atomic layer deposition from R&D to high-volume production via thehigh-κmetal gate application.[7] At the same time,hedge funds question the company's stake in ASM Pacific Technology.[11] In 2008 Arthur del Prado is succeeded as CEO by his son, Chuck del Prado.[10] In 2009 headquarters move from Bilthoven toAlmere,the Netherlands.
2010s: The company returns to structural profitability after execution of a worldwide restructuring program, that includes the implementation of a product driven organization, a single global sales organization, consolidation of manufacturing in Singapore, and the establishment of a globalhuman resources,finance,IT,operational excellence andenvironment, health and safety organization. The application of (plasma enhanced)atomic layer deposition inmultiple patterning andhigh-κmetal gate drives ASM's growth.[6][7] Other products include epitaxy, PECVD and vertical furnace. Its stake in ASM Pacific Technology is reduced to 25%.
2020s: In 2020, on the Euronext, the company is included on theAEX index. which includes the top-25 of companies listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.[4] The same year, after 12 years as CEO, Chuck del Prado decided to step down, and was succeeded by Benjamin Loh. Between 2020 and 2022, ASM renewed its vertical furnace product line with A400DUO (200mm wafers) and Sonora (300mm wafers).[citation needed]
ASM sells its equipment to semiconductor manufacturers worldwide, with the majority of itsrevenues from Asian customers. In 2021, 1.41 billion euro of the total 1.73 billion euro in revenues was generated through equipment sales, the rest came from spares and service.
| Year | Revenue | Profit/loss |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  €452 million |  €106 million |
| 2014 | €602 million | €141 million |
| 2015 | €670 million | €157 million |
| 2016 | €598 million | €135 million |
| 2017 | €737 million | €452 million |
| 2018 | €818 million | €157 million |
| 2019 | €1.28 billion | €329 million |
| 2020 | €1.33 billion | €285.4 million |
| 2021 | €1.73 billion | €494.7 million |
Shares of ASM are traded on theEuronext stock exchange since 1996. Since March 2020, ASM is included on theAEX index.[4] The market capitalization of ASM Pacific Technology is no longer consolidated after ASM's interest in ASM Pacific Technology decreased to 25 percent in 2013. Between 1981 and 2015 ASM was also listed on theNasdaq.[citation needed]
In 2018share price averaged at €48.62 resulting in an averagemarket capitalization of 2.53 billion euro. In 2019 average closing price was €68.98, resulting in an average market capitalization of 3.38 billion euro.[12] Market capitalization at year-end 2021 was 18.88 billion euro, based on the closing share price of €388.70 on Euronext Amsterdam on December 31, 2021.[citation needed]
