08/21/2008 August 21, 2008: Engineers at Purdue U. have created a tiny motorized positioning device that has twice the dexterity of similar devices being developed for applications that include biological sensors and more compact, powerful computer hard drives. The device, called a monolithic comb drive, could be used as a "nanoscale manipulator" that precisely moves or senses movement and forces.
08/21/2008 SST's Debra Vogler gets some inside technical details about Dow Corning's new thermally conductive compound, and why it's being pitched for multi-chip packaging applications.
08/20/2008 Chipmakers' pullback in capital investments that has dented tool orders for the better part of a year has finally caught up to the sales side of the equation. The latest updated monthly data from SEMI shows declines in both bookings and billings that haven't been seen since the last cyclical slump in 2003 -- and even the industry's 2001 dark age.
08/19/2008 August 19, 2008 -- Octillion Corp., a next-generation alternative and renewable energy technology incubator, has entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with scientists at Oakland University to further the development of its NanoPower Window technology.
08/19/2008 The debate continues to rage over the economics of a 450mm wafer-size transition, but those actually working on developing the new wafers report significant and troubling problems in producing the bigger substrates to meet purity and smoothness demanded by 22nm-generation devices and beyond.
08/19/2008 August 19, 2008 -- Nanophase Technologies, a developer of nanomaterials and advanced nanoengineered products announced that Joseph Cross, president, CEO and board director, has tendered his resignations to pursue other management opportunities effective August 13, 2008.
08/19/2008 August 19, 2008 -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first-ever image of a single particle of Mars' ubiquitous dust, using its atomic force microscope.
08/19/2008 Applied Materials' fiscal 3Q08 results were generally in line with expectations, with sales and profits dropping sharply during what CEO Mike Splinter called the "trough" of the industry's current downcycle. Here's a quick bullet-point summary of highlights from the company's quarterly conference call.
08/18/2008 Taiwan foundry TSMC says its board of directors has approved new capex expenditures for 200mm and 300mm capacity, and a new stock buyback program.
08/18/2008 IBM and joint development partners (AMD, Freescale, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, CSNE in Albany, NY) say they have built a working static random-access memory (SRAM) using 22nm process technologies -- but details will have to wait until December's IEDM.
08/18/2008 Worldwide silicon wafer demand area shipments had been sluggish in previous quarters, but picked back up in 2Q08 to typical seasonal levels, according to data from SEMI's Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG).
08/18/2008 The chrome material that has blocked the light on binary masks for a generation may finally have outlived its usefulness, with interest now turning to opaque OMOG for 32nm generation and beyond photomask technology, explains Toppan Photomasks' Franklin Kalk, in an exclusive interview with SST.
08/18/2008 Delta Design's high-speed test handler, the MATRiX, was designed to handle small, fine-pitch packages while increasing equipment utilization and throughput. This tri-temperature handler is said to achieve 3
08/18/2008 The 118-06 series of products from Creative Materials are based on single-component, electrically conductive, B-stageable epoxy adhesives. Available for a variety of application techniques, such as screen-printing, pad-printing, stencil application and B-staged films, These products reportedly offer thermal stability, high-temperature performance and an operating temperature range of -55°C to 230°C.
08/18/2008 Multitest's latest test socket generation, the nanoKelvin, was designed to suit automotive applications on various handler brands. The socket is available in standard and plunge-to-board design, both without any limitations for its Kelvin capability. nanoKelvin is suitable for small pad sizes such as CSPs, smallest QFN, SO and QFP.
08/18/2008 Using stencil, screen printing, and spin coating techniques, Henkel's Ablestik 8000 series, wafer backside coating (WBC) reportedly enables the deposition of die-attach materials to the wafer backside down to a thickness of 20 µm on wafers as thin as 100 20 µm and up to 300 mm in diameter. Unlike conventional dispensing methods, printing or spin coating materials onto the wafer is said to deliver a tightly controlled, high UPH for high-volume die attach adhesive deposition.
08/18/2008 The TS-SS-11, TS-SS-12, TS-SG-01 and TS-SG-02 force-indicating compression screws from Ironwood Electronics were designed to allow for quick and error-free chip insertion in sockets with up to 40 GHz bandwidth. When added to Ironwood electronics sockets, these mechanisms are said to enable the socket user to insert chips into sockets while always having the proper downward force on the chip.
08/18/2008 August 18, 2008 -- Accelerator Corporation, a privately–held biotechnology investment and development company, announced the formation of a new company, Mirina Corporation, focused on developing therapeutics using Minor Groove Binder technology to affect cellular processes involving microRNAs.
08/18/2008 August 18, 2008 -- Cancer researchers have long faced the challenge in chemotherapy of how to get the most medication into the cells of a tumor without "spillover" of the medication adversely affecting the healthy cells in a patient's body. Now researchers at Stanford University have addressed that problem using single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery vehicles.
08/18/2008 August 18, 2008 -- Gasification for the production of biofuel's is getting a new look from researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University. By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts, they hope to create ethanol from a wide range of biomass
