High-Tech Firms Unite to Keep Semiconductor Unit in U.S.

NORWALK, Conn. — Perkin-Elmer Corp. has sold its Electron Beam Technology division to a management group backed by International Business Machines Corp., Du Pont Co., Grumman Corp. and other technology companies, officers said Monday.

The sale fulfills the desire of the companies involved to keep the division and its key semiconductor manufacturing technology in American hands, avoiding a sale to the Japanese.

Another key Perkin-Elmer division, the Optical Lithography unit that manufactures a precision chip-making device, is expected to be sold to Silicon Valley Group in San Jose within six weeks. That sale is also being backed by IBM to keep the unit from being acquired by Japan’s Nikon Corp. IBM, the nation’s largest chip maker, depends on that technology.

Electron Beam Technology, based in Hayward, Calif., was sold for an undisclosed price to ETEC Inc., a new Nevada corporation founded by former and current management of the division.

IBM’s investment includes providing its own electronic beam technology to ETEC under license. Du Pont, Grumman, Micron Technology Inc. and Zietl Corp. will be investors, while Perkin-Elmer will remain a partner.

Electron Beam Technology has manufactured electron beam lithography machines used for direct writing of semiconductors and the patterning of semiconductor masks.