SEPTEMBER 24--DALSA Corporation (Waterloo, Ont., Canada;www.dalsa.com) has received a $1.9 million camera-development contract from a leading manufacturer of semiconductor-wafer-inspection systems. The project will be completed over the next 18 months and could potentially lead to follow-on production orders from the customer.
Under the terms of the contract, DALSA will produce high-performance digital cameras that will be used to inspect semiconductor wafers at extremely high speeds and low light levels. The cameras will be the "electronic eyes" in the customer's current and new generation of inspection systems, enabling semiconductor-wafer manufacturers to maintain better quality control, improve yield, and lower costs.
According to a Gartner Inc., a research firm, worldwide semiconductor-capital-equipment spending is expected to grow 7.9% in 2003 and 37.4% in 2004. This most recent order is DALSA's third significant camera-development contract so far this year from a semiconductor-capital-equipment manufacturer.
