Judging from the jump in recent stories in the Japanese trade press, Japan is starting to look like a hotbed of semiconductor equipment and materials startups.
02/15/2005 Worldwide chip sales in December dropped 3.5% sequentially to $18.4 billion, a sour ending note to an otherwise outstanding performance in 2004: a record $213 billion in sales, 28% growth from 2003 and surpassing the previous mark of $205 billion in 2000, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
02/15/2005 February 15, 2005 - EV Group has formally opened its new North American headquarters in Tempe, AZ, with a state-of-the-art Class 10 production cleanroom. EV Group will use the new facility for sales and support of its diverse line of tools and for conducting joint development work with the Flexible Display Center (FDC), sponsored by Arizona State University (ASU) and the US Army.
02/15/2005 February 15, 2005 - Axcelis Technologies Inc. today announced that the company's new single wafer ion implantation technology platform has been purchased by IMEC, Europe's largest independent nanoelectronics research center, for use in its sub-45nm device development activities
02/15/2005 Back in 1992 a team of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel was looking for a technology to convert solar energy into electricity. What they found instead was a substance that was an excellent lubricant, had great shock absorbing powers, and was an efficient semiconductor. Today, a U.S.-Israeli startup, ApNano Materials, is commercializing that serendipitous discovery.
02/14/2005 The NanoBusiness Alliance released its 2005 agenda last week and pledged to push for full funding of federal nanotech programs. While this is expected to be difficult, the group may face an even bigger task in achieving one of its other top priorities - obtaining funding to aid commercialization. The group says more focus needs to be put on funding the gap between the research stage and venture capital firms.
02/11/2005 New partnership center aims to launch commercial technologies on coattail of military applications
J. Robert Lineback, Senior Editor
It has been a long time¿perhaps decades¿since the military has been in a position to become a leading driver for potentially huge applications in solid-state technology.
02/11/2005 February 11, 2005 - STEAG HamaTech announced today that it will work with SEMATECH to develop cleaning technology for 30nm soft defect removal, concentrating on EUV masks and advanced PSM for 193nm immersion lithography, in collaboration with material suppliers, research institutes. and other equipment suppliers.
02/11/2005 Each year, Small Times ranks the U.S. states for their research, development and commercialization proficiency in the areas of nanotechnology, MEMS and microsystems. Last year, Michigan ranked eighth. Its 2004 report card follows.
02/10/2005 (February 10, 2005) San Jose, Calif. — Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments hit 1,486 million sq. in. in the fourth quarter of 2004, down 9% from the prior quarter, but up 7% from the fourth quarter of 2003, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG).
02/10/2005 What do you get when you put together a physical chemist, two polymer scientists and a self-proclaimed "fiber guy" (that is, a textile chemist)? A self-cleaning suit, of course. At least that's among the goals of an interdisciplinary research team at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. "It was about two years ago," recalled Phil Brown. "Igor (Luzinov) said, 'What do you think about developing a lotus fiber?'"
