Jordan Valley Semiconductors UK Ltd

Their core work

Jordan Valley Semiconductors UK is a Durham-based technology SME specialising in X-ray metrology instruments for the semiconductor industry — tools that measure layer thickness, composition, strain and defects on silicon wafers with sub-nanometre precision. Their equipment (X-ray diffraction, reflectometry and fluorescence systems) is used by fabs and R&D labs to characterise advanced device structures during process development. In H2020 they contributed measurement expertise to European consortia pushing toward 7 nm and 5 nm CMOS nodes, supporting the materials and process engineers who need to see what they are building. Note: the company operates as part of the Bruker semiconductor metrology business.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Activity is tightly clustered in 2015–2019 and entirely focused on scaling X-ray metrology down the CMOS roadmap — from 7 nm (SeNaTe) to 5 nm (TAKE5) and 3D device metrology (3DAM). There is no visible pivot, only deeper specialisation toward smaller, more three-dimensional silicon structures. They consistently appear as a third party in ECSEL consortia, suggesting a stable equipment-supplier role rather than a broadening agenda.

They are moving with the semiconductor industry toward sub-5 nm and 3D architectures, so partners working on gate-all-around, advanced packaging or heterogeneous integration metrology are the natural next collaborators.

How they like to work

They participate exclusively as a third party in large ECSEL consortia, never as coordinator or lead partner. With 61 unique partners across 12 countries in just three projects, they clearly work inside big, pan-European microelectronics alliances (IMEC, major fabs, equipment vendors) rather than small bilateral teams. Expect them to contribute a specific measurement capability to a wider consortium rather than drive the work programme.

Connected to 61 distinct partners across 12 countries through only three projects — a density that reflects ECSEL's large consortia. Geographic weight sits in Western and Central Europe's semiconductor cluster (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France) alongside their UK base.

What sets them apart

Few European SMEs offer production-grade X-ray metrology for leading-edge CMOS, and Jordan Valley is one of them — a UK specialist plugged directly into the ECSEL ecosystem that develops 7 nm and 5 nm process technology. Partner with them when you need actual measurement hardware and know-how inside a silicon process consortium, not when you need a coordinator or a broad research generalist. Their value is depth in a very narrow, very high-value slice of the semiconductor tool chain.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SeNaTe
  Europe's major push to demonstrate 7 nm CMOS manufacturing readiness — a flagship ECSEL project at the frontier of the industry when it ran.
• TAKE5
  Direct successor targeting 5 nm enablers, signalling Jordan Valley's continuity on the critical-node roadmap.
• 3DAM
  Shifts the focus from planar scaling to metrology for 3D device architectures, the direction the whole industry has since taken.