04/29/2005 By J. Robert Lineback, M. David Levenson, Senior Editors, Solid State Technology magazine
With no 'showstoppers' identified yet in immersion lithography, rival scanner makers ASML, Canon, and Nikon are accelerating efforts to take 193nm 'wet' exposure tools to the next level, quickly pushing NA lenses to their feasible limits in systems using water to boost DOF and resolution for 65nm and 45nm processes.
04/29/2005 April 29, 2005 - Isonics Corp. has announced the completion of a new 300mm silicon wafer manufacturing line for producing new test wafers and providing reclaim services at its Vancouver, WA, facility. The company expects the first sales of 300mm products to begin next month.
04/28/2005 (April 28, 2005) Herndon, Va. — The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) announces that most of its OEM and EMS members strongly support unique part-number use for RoHS-compliant components, including Alcatel, Celestica, Cray Inc., Dell, Delphi, HP, Intel Corp., Jabil Circuit, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Plexus Corp., Sanmina-SCI Corp., Solectron Corp., StorageTek, and Sun Microsystems.
04/28/2005 April 28, 2005 - Sharp Corp. is the only one among major Japanese consumer electronics makers in fiscal 2004 to have increased sales, as well as operating and net profits, while the rest collapsed under the weight of escalating price competition, reported the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
04/28/2005 April 28, 2005 - Honeywell has announced the opening of a new semiconductor foundry in Plymouth, MN, where it says the industry's first radiation-hardened, 150nm ASICs will be produced. The computer chips are designed for use in military and aerospace systems.
04/27/2005 April 27, 2005 - Toshiba Corp. plans to lift monthly production of NAND flash memory chips at its plant in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, to the equivalent of 21,500 300mm wafers by the end of 2005, more than double its initial plans, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Tuesday.
04/26/2005 BILTHOVEN, Netherlands, April 25, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM International N.V. announced that it has received a purchase order from a key U.S. customer for a 300mm capable Polygon atomic layer CVD cluster tool to support advanced 65nm high-k gate stack development, including metal gate electrode materials. Delivery is planned for the current quarter.
04/26/2005 (April 26, 2005) Schärding, Austria — EV Group (EVG) has installed a low-temperature wafer-bonding system at Silicon Microstructures Inc. (SMI), a silicon pressure and inertial sensors provider for automotive, medical, and industrial applications.
04/26/2005 April 26, 2005 - Using a selected set of tools and processes, SEMATECH engineers have achieved twin breakthroughs in channel mobility and reliability of high-k/metal gate transistors, putting high-k technology for CMOS within reach at the 45nm technology node.
04/26/2005 If you are a nanotechnology or MEMS entrepreneur, why should you care about the fossil fuel industry? The answer is two-fold. First, fossil fuels will provide much of the world's energy for the foreseeable future. Second, the fossil fuel industry needs technological innovation and has the ability to pay for those technologies. The key is to identify which technologies the industry needs.
04/25/2005 April 25, 2005 - This year won't be as bad as previously thought for semiconductor manufacturing equipment investments, but the improved outlook will come at the price of next year's karma, according to new forecast data from IC Insights Inc.
04/25/2005 April 25, 2005 - More than 3800 US nanotechnology patents have been issued as of late March and another 1777 patents applications are pending, according to a study released April 21 that concludes a "gold-rush mentality" grips nanotechnology research.
04/25/2005 (April 25, 2005) San Sebastián, Spain — The CIDETEC (Centre for Electrochemical Technologies) Technological Centre is investing in nanotechnology
development by participating in the European NAPA (Emerging Nanopatterning Methods) project. This research institution is directing a working subgroup to develop new thermoplastic polymers for applications in nanopatterning and nanolithography.
04/25/2005 April 25, 2005 - Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of DuPont Photomasks Inc. Under the terms of the definitive agreement previously announced on Oct. 5, 2004, DuPont Photomasks shareholders will receive US$27 in cash/share. The equity value of the transaction is approximately US$650 million (approximately 68 billion yen) on a diluted basis. The acquisition was approved by shareholders of DuPont Photomasks on March 28, 2005.
