Hewlett-Packard Co has teamed with Varian Associates Inc to develop a gas source molecular beam epitaxy system to be introduced this autumn: the system is being designed to make it simpler and more cost-effective to make Gallium Arsenide and other compound semiconductor devices in production quantities, and Varian says that by pooling its resources with Hewlett, it will be able to bring its gas-source molecular beam project forward by nearly a year, and will enhance Hewlett’s efforts in the growth of high electron mobility transistor material; it will design gas handling and manifold equipment for the new gas-source system, while Varian will develop the gas injectors and pumping packages, and a prototype of the system has been installed at Hewlett-Packard, with evaluation and testing to start next month.
