EDA startup Luminescent emerges to address RET market

A startup headed by a former executive of Applied Materials Inc. has emerged and is developing software products that could be a breakthrough in the resolution enhancement technology (RET) space.

The EDA startup, Luminescent Technologies Inc., is described as a stealth mode software company financed by venture capital firm Sevin Rosen Funds.

The company is developing a line of RET software products for use in optical proximity correction (OPC) and phase-shift photomask (PSM) applications, said David Fried, chief executive of Luminescent.

The company's RET technology promises to be a breakthrough in the lithography arena, Fried said. "Lithography has been a huge bottleneck," he told Silicon Strategies.

Luminescent's RET technology is designed "for whatever mask you want," he said. The company is still developing its first product, but Fried did not elaborate on the details.

Fried is a veteran of Applied Materials, where he recently ran the service business for the chip-equipment giant. At one time, he was corporate vice president and general manager of the Customer Productivity Support Group at Applied.

John Oxaal, a general partner of Sevin Rosen, is a board member of Luminescent.

- Mark LaPedus

Silicon Strategies