Lam Research

Founded by David K. Lam in Fremont, CA to commercialize plasma-based etch tools; the AutoEtch 480 released in 1982 became the industry's first dry-etch system, displacing wet chemistry.

IPO on NASDAQ; capital funded R&D for the Rainbow polysilicon etch system, which displaced wet chemistry on key transistor-gate steps.

Acquired OnTrak Systems for M, adding chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) tools; the platform later evolved into industry-leading copper barrier-seed deposition.

James Bagley named chairman; reorganized strategy around dielectric and conductor etch leadership, doubling down on the 90nm and 65nm logic ramps.

Acquired Bullen Semiconductor for $30M, adding key etch IP for advanced shallow-trench-isolation processes that became standard on 90nm-and-below logic.

Acquired SEZ Group for M, gaining single-wafer wet-clean tools; Lam Clean platform became standard at every leading-edge fab through 28nm and below.

Closed .4B all-stock acquisition of Novellus Systems, adding metal deposition (PVD/CVD) and wafer-clean lines; created today’s integrated etch+deposition Lam Research.

Announced $10.6B all-stock merger with KLA-Tencor; deal would have created an etch+metrology powerhouse but was abandoned in October 2016 amid antitrust resistance from regulators.

Began shipping ALTUS dielectric atomic layer deposition systems for 3D NAND vertical-channel layers; the equipment became central to every 3D NAND ramp from V-NAND to 232+ layers.

Released Sense.i etch productivity platform with on-board AI for real-time process control; first major equipment line to use machine learning for chamber-matching.

Pulled engineers from Chinese fabs and cut FY2023 revenue guide by $2-2.5B due to October 7 BIS controls; pivoted resources toward HBM-related etch/deposition equipment for memory makers.

Signed strategic technology pact with IBM and SK Hynix to scale dry-resist EUV photoresist for HBM and logic; technology promised lower defectivity and higher throughput than wet resist.

Flagged additional China shipment halts (Hua Hong, others) under December 2 BIS expansion of equipment controls; pivoted to HBM bonding tools and 3D NAND retrofits to offset China loss.

Flagged $700M+ FY revenue risk from China export controls; pivoted aggressively into HBM bonding and 3D NAND tools, with HBM-related equipment up 3x YoY.