DISCO Corporation (株式会社ディスコ, Kabushiki-gaisha Disuko) is a Japanese precision tools maker, especially for the semiconductor production industry.
The company makes dicing saws and laser saws to cut semiconductorsilicon wafers and other materials; grinders to process silicon and compound semiconductor wafers to ultra-thin levels; polishing machines to remove the grinding damage layer from the wafer back-side and to increase chip strength.[2]
The company was founded as Daiichi-Seitosho in May 1937, as an industrial abrasive wheel manufacturer.[3]
After World War II Japan faced a construction boom which also helped DISCO to boost its sales. The company's grinder discs were in high demand from utility companies, which needed them to manufacture watt-meters.[4]
In December 1968 the company developed and released an ultra-thin resinoid cutting wheel, Microncut. The wheel contained diamond powder and as a result it was capable of making sharp, precision cuts as demanded in the semiconductor manufacturing process. There were no cutting machines available in the market on which ultra-thin precision wheels could be mounted and run, DISCO decided to develop its own machine in 1975. The cutting machine, DAD-2h, received instant recognition from semiconductor companies, including Texas Instruments.[3]
The company adopted the name of DISCO Corporation in May 1977,[3] was listed with the Japan Securities Dealers' Association in October 1989, and entered the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 1999.[citation needed]
