Applied acquires chip inspection business

Chipmaking equipment leader Applied Materials announced Monday that it has acquired the assets of Schlumberger Semiconductor Solutions' electron-beam wafer inspection business for an undisclosed amount of cash. Included in the acquisition is Schlumberger's Odyssey 300 system, which uses proprietary electron beam technology to identify defects in advanced semiconductors. The Odyssey adds to Applied Materials' portfolio of wafer inspection and review systems used for manufacturing high-end chips. --David Becker, Special to ZDNet News