Covalent Metrology, a North American analytical services company located in the heart of Silicon Valley, announced that it has formed a new Semiconductor Consulting practice group, and that Dr. Yihung Lin, a recognized leader in semiconductor metrology, has joined Covalent to lead the new initiative.
The formation of the semiconductor practice group connects Covalent’s extensive portfolio of analytical solutions and expertise to an array of application challenges encountered by innovative semiconductor companies.
“Delivering customers value-added metrology solutions requires the formulation of optimal analytical strategies, techniques and methods based on in-depth understanding of what the customer is trying to achieve,” shared Craig Hunter, Chief Executive Officer at Covalent Metrology. “The traditional job-shop, sample measurement relationship that many outsourced analytical labs have with their clients is not conducive to forming genuine partnerships or solving customers’ most difficult problems.”
With today’s announcement of the new Semiconductor Practice Group, Covalent aims to disrupt the status quo value proposition offered in the marketplace by outsourcing analytical services, seeking to create the first company to offer access to world-class instrumentation and analytical expertise with an engagement model better suited to help customers solve their more strategic development problems.
The semiconductor industry is experiencing a surge in investment across a broad range of applications. Companies such as Intel, TSMC and Micron have announced ambitious investment plans including billions of dollars to be spent in U.S. manufacturing facilities. At the same time, new ventures have been forming at a rapid pace in new areas like quantum computing, purpose-built chips for AI applications, power electronics and other innovative new applications. Advanced metrology solutions, coupled with expert insights, will be necessary to support the massive industry development and expansion.
Dr. Yihung Lin has joined Covalent to lead this new initiative. Dr. Lin’s twenty-plus year career includes 11 years with TSMC, where he most recently led teams of engineers focused on leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to solve metrology challenges at the 2nm advanced logic node. Prior to TSMC, Dr. Lin worked at Intel on 3D chamber physics and device simulations to facilitate manufacturing yield. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Dr. Lin commented, “I am thrilled to join this capable and growing team and be a part of metrology history in the making. Throughout my career, I have witnessed how critical it can be to apply advanced metrology techniques and strategies to enable device and materials innovations. Many companies do not have the resources to build a broad, deep, world-class metrology lab and team in-house. Covalent is the first company with the vision and strategy changing metrology to an outsourced partner, and I am looking forward to realizing its full potential.”
