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2023-07-20

Spirox Strategically Invests in ALES Tech to Layout Key Technologies in Advanced Semiconductor Proc

Professional semiconductor solution provider Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) announced the completion of a strategic equity investment in a start-up company ALES Technology with venture capital institutions, focused on one of ALES’ core businesses, Nano Probe and Micro Probe, and has signed an exclusive distribution contract in China. Spirox has started to promote the full range of nano and micro probe products to semiconductor and panel customers in China since July, and has also helped ALES Tech to achieve the goal of developing and launching GFIS-FIB (Gas Field Ion Source Focused Ion Beam Equipment) as soon as possible to layout of critical failure analysis detection and circuit repair technologies required for advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes in advance.

Spirox Strategic Investment in ALES Tech
From right to left: Chairman of Spirox, Peter Chin; CEO of Spirox, Paul Yang; Chairman of ALES, Wei-Tse Chang;  CTO of ALES, Chris Lin; Director of ALES Alex Chung )

Dr. Wei-Tse Chang, founder and Chairman of ALES Tech, explained that the strategic investment and probe business cooperation with Spirox, has given the newly found ALES a concrete affirmation of its research and development achievements and market performance. The core members of ALES all come from the research team of the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica.  The core technology primarily involves patenting the preparation of a single-atom needle, allowing for extremely high current density while maintaining an exceptionally small light source size in various inert gas ions. Nano and micro probes are derivative applications of this technology. ALES’ strategic goal is to implement single-atom needle technology on FIB (Focused Ion Beam) equipment to achieve defect inspection in wafers and IC circuit repairs at an extremely small scale. This is generally considered to address the online inspection technology gap faced by semiconductors below the 10nm process, providing the optimal pathway for quickly verifying the correctness of new IC design architectures. With the integration of resources and funding from Spirox, the development and market launch timeline for GFIS-FIB can be shortened. This allows for more comprehensive user testing feedback and technical optimization for early key customers, facilitating the product's early diffusion in the market.
 

ALES Tech manufactures nano probe products using patented technology, providing electrical testing for wafers in advanced semiconductor processes.

Peter Chin , Chairman of Spirox, expressed that with the rapid growth in demand for technologies such as high-speed computation, neural networks, quantum computing, and autonomous driving, the development of chip architecture technology featuring low power consumption, small size, heterogeneous integration, and ultra-high instruction cycle has become the most important industry trend and decisive factor for global semiconductor manufacturers. The collaboration with ALES to promote nano / micro probe business and the anticipated innovative product GFIS-FIB will further strengthen Spirox’s completeness and customer reach in process and quality assurance solutions. It is believed that through continuous collaboration and enhancement in Spirox’s professional domains, greater value can be created for customers. Simultaneously, this partnership will build higher competitive barriers for Spirox and our partners.

Alex Chung , the earliest investor and director of ALES Tech and the general manager of Chengyan Innovation, believes that Spirox 's early investment in ALES and the establishment of close business partnerships in ALES’ core business, as well as the joint investment of other venture capital funds, have brought qualitative changes to ALES. It is undoubtedly one of the best case studies of Corporate Venture Capital in Taiwan in recent years. It’s a great pleasure to make this multi-party cooperation happen, and we are looking forward to the maximum synergy after cooperation, which will be seen by customers and quickly complete industrial diffusion.

About Spirox

Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) is a professional semiconductor testing solution provider in the Great China. Partnered with worldwide leading suppliers, including AFORE, ERS, Hamamatsu, NI, TASMIT, SEMICS, ShibaSoku, Southport, Toray Engineering, Turbodynamics, etc., Spirox provides various integrated solutions to fulfill customer needs in testing, packaging, and inspection in semiconductor industry. Founded in 1987, Spirox is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with additional service branches in Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing and Chengdu. For more information, please visit www.spirox.com. 

About ALES Tech

ALES Tech is a startup formed by a team of doctoral and master's degree researchers who resigned from the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica. The team specializes in surface science and electrochemical technology research and integration. Under the guidance of Academician Tien-Tsorng cheng at the Institute of Physics, the team achieved scientific exploration in the development of Single Atom Tip (SAT). In 2019, ALES Tech was officially established in Kaohsiung, having obtained authorization for related patent technology from the Academia Sinica. ALES' two core businesses include providing probe products ranging from micrometers to nanometers as essential consumables for the electrical testing of wafers or panels. Additionally, ALES is engaged in the development of GFIS-FIB (Gas Field Ion Source Focused Ion Beam) as the optimal solution for circuit repair and failure analysis in advanced semiconductor processes. ALES is currently based in both Hsinchu and Kaohsiung. For more information, please visit  www.alestech.tw.