4-minute read - by Kate Brunton, October 11, 2023
Wilton has been an important source of innovation in the semiconductor industry since the 1960s. Starting with Perkin-Elmer’s Micralign, continuing with Silicon Valley Group’s Micrascan, and later with ASML’s TWINSCAN scanners, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology, lithography owes much of its innovation to Wilton.
1. ASML Wilton has its roots in the beginnings of the chip industry.
Before it became ‘ASML Wilton’ in 2001, this Connecticut site was part of Silicon Valley Group (SVG), and before that, it was part of Perkin-Elmer.
Our story begins in 1937, when two men who shared a passion for astronomy and physics founded Perkin-Elmer. They were Richard Scott Perkin, an entrepreneur, and Charles Elmer, a court reporter. Perkin-Elmer specialized in precision optics for a wide range of applications, from World War II reconnaissance systems to medical imaging components. They were even responsible for the CO2 sensor that saved the astronauts during the Apollo 13 failure.
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3. The Micralign traces its origins to the US military.
During World War II, Perkin-Elmer built panoramic reconnaissance cameras for the CIA and the US Department of Defense. The company continued their involvement with the US military through the 1950s and 1960s. During that time the US Air Force increasingly relied on microchips, but by the late 1960s, the semiconductor industry was struggling to develop more advanced methods of producing them. The Air Force asked Perkin-Elmer to create a ‘projection mask aligner’, and that work kickstarted the R&D that led to the Micralign.
