1979

  • Nova ships the first NV-10-60 from its latest facility, an abandoned bowling alley. The NV-10-60 is the industry’s first commercial high current implanter. Revolutionary design features include sliding seal technology, bi-directional mechanical scanning, superb dose uniformity, cooled disks, simple operation.

    The system featured:

    Exchange Arms
    Two disks and automated exchange arms allowed for higher throughput, though wafers were still hand loaded onto the disks

    Dose Controller
    Use of a dosimetry slot in the disk allowed for real time dose control, the velocity was proportional to 1/R

    Slot Disk
    This basic concept was carried forward successfully for many generations of NV-10, GSD, HE, HE3, HC3, Ultra, and Paradigm

  • Geoff Riding receives SEMI award for design of NV-10

1978

  • Nova is founded in a shed (that was a former chicken hatchery) in Middleton, MA by Geoff Ryding, Peter Rose, Andrew Wittkower and George Swanson
  • Nova receives funding from Cutler Hammer
  • NV-10 Design starts in September 1978
  • Eaton acquires Cutler Hammer and Kasper in Austin Texas, forming Eaton Semiconductor Equipment Operations