as nasdaq lrcx s & p 500 component nasdaq 100 industry semiconductor equipment founded 1980 founder david k. lam headquarters fremont california united states key people martin anstice ceo and president stephen g. newberry chairman of the board products semiconductor manufacturing products revenue us 5 259.312 million 2015 1 us 4 607.309 million 2014 1 operating income us 788.039 million 2015 1 us 677.669 million 2014 1 net income us 655.577 million 2015 1 us 582.755 million 2014 1 total assets us 9 364.648 million 2015 1 us 7 993.306 million 2014 1 total equity us 5 103.144 million 2015 1 us 5 029.735 million 2014 1 number of employees 7 300 2015 website www.lamresearch.com lam research corporation is an american corporation that engages in the design manufacture marketing and service of semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits . 2 its products are used primarily in front end wafer processing which involves the steps that create the active components of semiconductor devices transistors capacitors and their wiring interconnects . the company also builds equipment for back end wafer level packaging wlp and for related manufacturing markets such as for microelectromechanical systems mems . lam research was founded in 1980 by dr. david k. lam and is headquartered in fremont california in the silicon valley . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 thin film deposition 2.2 plasma etch 2.3 photoresist strip 2.4 wafer cleaning 3 customers 4 facilities 5 references history edit lam research was founded in 1980 by david k. lam a chinese born engineer who had previously worked at xerox hewlett packard and texas instruments . 3 it was while he was at hewlett packard that he saw the need for better plasma etching equipment to keep up with the rapid miniaturization of semiconductor wafers . 3 he credited bob noyce founder of intel for assisting him in getting funding by ensuring his business plan made sense . in 1981 the company introduced its first product the autoetch 480 an automated polysilicon plasma etcher . the name autoetch was chosen to convey that the etcher was automated while the 80 in 480 came from 1980 the year the company was founded . 4 the first system was sold in january 1982 . 5 in 1982 roger emerick was appointed ceo . 6 in may 1984 the company issued an ipo and was listed on nasdaq with the symbol lrcx . 7 in 1985 david lam left the company to join link technologies which eventually was bought by wyse 8 and is now dell wyse . 9 in the mid 1980s lam research continued its global expansion concentrating on taiwan and also opening customer support centers throughout europe the united states and japan . 9 by the early 1990s the company had a presence in china korea singapore and taiwan . 9 in march 1997 the company purchased ontrak systems inc. a chip equipment manufacturer that specialized in chemical mechanical planarization cmp cleaning for 225 million . 10 cmp cleaning is a hybrid process to smooth surfaces using both etching and mechanical polishing . in august 1997 the company named ontrak s ceo jim bagley as its ceo . 9 11 in 1998 bagley was named chairman of the board . 11 in 2005 steve newberry was appointed as ceo . 12 in 2006 lam research acquired bullen semiconductor now silfex inc. 13 in 2008 lam research acquired sez ag 14 now lam research ag . 15 in 2011 lam research agreed to buy san jose california chip equipment manufacturer novellus systems for 3.3 b. 16 the deal was completed in june 2012 . 17 in 2012 martin anstice was appointed as ceo . 12 in october 2015 lam research announced plans to buy milpitas california based wafer inspection equipment vendor kla tencor for 10.6 b in what was viewed as a semiconductor industry consolidation move . 18 in june 2016 it was announced that lam research had joined the fortune 500 for the first time . 19 in october 2016 the company announced it had terminated its offer for kla tencor amidst concerns that the deal would not meet regulatory approval from the u.s. department of justice . 20 products edit lam research designs and builds products for semiconductor manufacturing including equipment for thin film deposition plasma etch photoresist strip and wafer cleaning processes . repeated throughout semiconductor manufacturing these technologies help create transistors interconnects advanced memory and packaging structures . they are also used for applications in related markets like microelectromechanical systems mems and light emitting diodes leds . 1 thin film deposition edit lam s thin film deposition systems lay down the sub microscopic layers of conducting metal or insulating dielectric materials that make up an integrated circuit . the processes require uniformity at the nanoscale level . 21 the company employs electrochemical deposition ecd and chemical vapor deposition cvd technologies to form copper and other metal films for conducting structures . 22 23 atomic layer deposition ald is also used for tungsten metal films in features like contacts and plugs which are vertical connections between metal lines in multilevel interconnect chip designs . plasma enhanced pe cvd and ald technologies create dielectric films for a wide range of insulating parts . for gapfill processes which require depositing dielectric material into narrow spaces lam uses high density plasma hdp cvd technology . pecvd and ald are also used to form hardmasks layers which can be removed to improve circuit patterning processes . plasma etch edit lam research uses proprietary technology in its equipment for plasma etch 24 the process of selectively removing materials from the surface of a wafer in order to create the semiconductor device s features and patterns . the equipment helps chip manufacturers carve small features such as those needed for the latest multiple patterning sequences transistors and advanced memory structures which involve increasingly complex film stacks and ever higher aspect ratio structures . the company uses reactive ion etch rie and atomic layer etching ale to shape a variety of conductive and dielectric features . 24 the company s deep rie technologies help create structures for applications like mems and through silicon vias tsvs . photoresist strip edit lam s dry strip systems use plasma technology to selectively remove the photoresist mask following a range of front end wafer processing and advanced packaging applications . 25 wafer cleaning edit lam research s wet spin clean and plasma based bevel clean products remove particles residues and films from the wafer surface before or after adjacent processes . 26 the company s spin wet clean technology is used between chip processing steps to remove yield limiting residues and defects . lam s bevel clean technology directs a plasma at the very edge of the wafer to clean unwanted particles residues and films . if not removed these materials can impact yield if they flake off and re deposit on the device area during subsequent manufacturing steps . customers edit the company markets its products and services primarily to companies involved in the production of semiconductors in the united states europe and asia . 27 facilities edit lam has manufacturing facilities in the united states austria and korea and sales and services offices throughout the united states europe and asia . 28 references edit a b c d e f g h i j k lam research 2015 annual report form 10 k pdf . united states securities and exchange commission . 2015 08 13 . retrieved 2015 05 13 . lam research corp lrcx nasdaq gs company description bloomberg . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 05 19 . a b oral history david k. lam semi.org . semi.org . 2011 . retrieved 9 august 2011 . semi oral history interview . stanford.edu . 2007 07 24 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . lam research corporation 10 k . lamresearch.com . 1996 09 18 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . executive profile roger d. emerick . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 06 02 . lam research . crunchbase.com . 1984 05 11 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . pcs trigger new response . computerworld . 1988 01 11 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . a b c d lam research corporation history . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2016 05 12 . lam research agrees to acquire ontrak . latimes.com . 1997 03 25 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . a b lam research corp lrcx nasdaq gs . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 05 12 . a b lam s newberry to resign ceo post . eetimes.com . 2011 09 08 . retrieved 2016 06 03 . company overview of silfex inc. . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 06 03 . lam buys sez for 568 million . eetimes.com . 2007 12 11 . retrieved 2016 06 03 . lam research ag . ecsel austria.net . retrieved 2016 06 03 . lam research agrees to buy novellus systems for 3.3 billion . bloomberg.com . 2011 12 15 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . lam research lrcx completes acquisition of novellus systems nvls . streetinsider.com . 2012 06 04 . retrieved 2016 05 12 . lam buys kla tencor as chip sector deals mount . wsj.com . 2015 10 21 . retrieved 2016 05 13 . here are the 15 new companies joining the fortune 500 . fortune.com . 2016 06 06 . retrieved 2016 06 07 . chip equipment maker lam research calls off kla tencor deal . reuters.com . 2016 10 05 . retrieved 2016 10 06 . the week in review manufacturing . semiengineering.com . 2014 04 11 . retrieved 2016 05 19 . tool order novellus ships 300th sabre ecd system . fabtech.com . 2008 09 23 . retrieved 2016 05 13 . dealing with atoms . semiengineering.com . 2015 07 13 . retrieved 2016 05 19 . a b atomic layer etch now in fab evaluations . semimd.com . 2014 08 04 . retrieved 2016 06 03 . photoresist strip method for low k dielectrics us 8058178 b1 . google.com . 2011 11 15 . retrieved 2016 06 03 . etch clean lam research widening scope with sez buy . electroiq.com . 2007 12 11 . retrieved 2016 06 03 . lam research corporation lrcx . yahoo.com . retrieved 2016 05 19 . lam research corporation locations . lamresearch.com . retrieved 2016 06 03 . companies portal san 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