08/14/2003 August 13, 2003 - NASA scientists have developed a technique to use carbon nanotubes in place of copper conductors as interconnects on ICs, according to a report by the Gale Group. The carbon nanotubes have advantages over copper in that they can carry immense currents (greater than 1 million amps/cm2) with little or no deterioration; comparatively, copper's resistivity is inversely proportional to its size.
08/14/2003 AUG. 14--NEW YORK--Looking closely into the iris-shaped map of a microbial genome, the Sanger Institute's Julian Parkhill sees more than just sequence, Genomeweb.com reports.
08/14/2003 The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded $300,000 to researchers at the University of California, Irvine, to develop small, wireless electronic devices based on carbon nanotubes, according to a news release.
08/14/2003 Sensitive electrical measurements provide the underpinning for many nanotechnology discoveries, particularly in the areas of materials and nanoelectronics. They help academic and industrial scientists and engineers fully understand the electrical properties of new materials, and the electrical performance of new nanoelectronic devices and components.
08/13/2003 "Gray goo” refers to the theory of out-of-control, self-replicating nanobots. But it’s “green goo,” the concept’s environmental cousin, that is furrowing brows in Europe, raising fears of ecology-wrecking biological machines. Both varieties of goo have invited themselves inside the corridors of European
power.
08/13/2003 BioTrove Inc., a Woburn, Mass., developer of microfluidic devices, has launched a second technology for rapid processing of molecular data in drug discovery, according to a news release.
08/12/2003 AUG. 12--LUBBOCK, Texas - A medical device reprocessor has agreed to halt work until it corrects problems in its manufacturing process, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
08/12/2003 Spire Corp. of Bedford, Mass., received a $750,000 federal grant to develop nanosize coatings for orthopedic implants, according to a news release.
08/12/2003 Organ farming has always been one of the more macabre slices of science fiction: mad scientists growing livers, brains, kidneys and the like in strange tanks, awaiting transplantation into some Frankenstein creation. Dr. Joseph Vacanti is trying to make organ farming a reality. His work is anything but a horror show – and thanks to MEMS technology, it won’t be the stuff of fiction forever.
08/11/2003 AUG. 11--NEW TRIPOLI, Penn.--Factory automation tools, which dropped 8 percent in 2002, will fully recover in 2003 with a 15 percent increase, according to the report Semiconductor Factory Automation: Technology Issues And Market Forecasts.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) says it will buy Infineon's 30% stake in their chip manufacturing joint venture for up to $130 million. The deal will raise UMC's stake in the 12-in. fab in Singapore to 80%.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Sunnyvale, CA, plans to acquire the information appliances unit of National Semiconductor. Terms of the deal, scheduled to be completed in August, were not disclosed.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - The VSI Alliance has named three new representatives to its board of directors. William Billowitch of Agere Systems, Peter Hirt of STMicroelectronics, and Andrew Moore of TSMC will join other members from Alcatel, Cadence Design, Infineon, Mentor Graphics, Motorola, Sonics and IBM.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - Semiconductor distributor The Memec Group, San Diego, CA, has agreed to distribute products from M-Systems, Fremont, CA, in North America. The deal covers M-Systems' DiskOnChip and FFD flash disks. Meanwhile, Memec Design, the group's design and engineering division, has signed a deal to distribute Mentor Graphics' Inventra IP portfolio, which is used in FPGA silicon.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - Honeywell is seeking an injunction to put on hold Air Products' $300 million acquisition of Ashland's chemicals business last month. Honeywell claims the purchase violates a strategic alliance between Air Products and GEM Microelectronic Materials, a JV owned by Honeywell and Mitsubishi Chemical that makes wet process chemicals for the semiconductor industry.
08/11/2003 August 11, 2003 - Credence Systems Corp., Hillsboro, OR, and Reptron Electronics, Tampa, FL, an electronics manufacturing supply chain services company, have settled a dispute over an alleged breach of contract. As part of the deal, Credence will pay $1.3 million to Reptron, which will supply components for Credence's Quartet and Octet test systems.
08/11/2003 August 9, 2003 - Officials in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, have officially opened a research & development center for Si-Soft, part of a nationwide project aimed at increasing the company's profile in semiconductor production and design.
08/11/2003 AUG. 11--RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--DuPont Electronic Technologies has formed of a new business unit, DuPont Integrated Circuit (IC) Fabrication Materials.
