07/21/2008 By Paul Lindner, EV Group, St. Florian, Austria
Well-established as a process for forming silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates, wafer bonding is broadening its horizons to encompass bonding wafers for a variety of fast-growing applications. Regardless of the materials involved, packaging has emerged as the primary underlying driver. As wafer bonding technology evolves, key market, application, and industry trends can be linked to emerging advanced packaging requirements.
07/21/2008 July 21, 2008 -- Biotechnology companies Biocon Limited, and Abraxis BioScience, Inc., have launched nanotechnology-based ABRAXANE (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in India for the treatment of breast cancer after failure of combination therapy for metastatic disease or relapse within six months of adjuvant chemotherapy.
07/21/2008 July 21, 2008 -- A stable, reliable regulatory framework is essential to advancing the R&D of nanotechnologies, European Commission (EC) vice president Gunter Verheugen said as the commission initiated a public dialogue on nanotech safety and the best way to apply existing laws to nanotech products entering the market.
07/18/2008 July 18, 2008 -- The U.S. Senate this week introduced the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2008. The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives last month, aims to toughen the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) by increasing its commitment to environmental health and safety research.
07/18/2008 July 18, 2008 -- Agilent Technologies's new 5600LS high-resolution atomic force microscope (AFM) uses a fully addressable 200mm x 200mm stage to image large samples in air or smaller samples in liquid. Created for a range of nanotechnology applications, the system guarantees single atomic steps thanks to its .05nm low-noise design.
07/18/2008 Unlike its flashier competitors, Global Solar has quietly achieved fully commercialized solar products involving depositing CIGS films and solar cells for modules designed for crystalline silicon. Tim Teich, VP for sales and marketing, tells SST more about the company and its seemingly low profile in Tuscon, AZ, and where he sees the most promising growth ahead.
07/18/2008 The content of Sokudo's annual lithography breakfast at SEMICON West on Wednesday was very similar to what one could have heard at SPIE back in February, but it was helpful to hear it again, focused on the 32nm node. There were no surprises, which was good news; a central theme was a review of double patterning methods, including Applied's spacer method.
07/17/2008 July 17, 2008 -- Researchers at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (ISI) have demonstrated a way to manufacture micro-scale containers from polysilicon sitting on top of a thin film of gold. The containers, they say, could be used to deliver precise micro- or even nano- quantities of drugs.
07/17/2008 ISMI provided SST with tidbits from its closed-door meeting on Wednesday where discussions continued between its members and equipment suppliers about key programs and topics including the next-generation fab (NGF) targeting 300mm improvements and the 450mm transition, including updates on the interoperability test bed for 450mm wafer automation and handling.
07/17/2008 Once again, SEMICON West provided the perfect backdrop for Advanced Packaging Magazine to announce the recipients of the 8th annual Advanced Packaging Awards, recognizing excellence in industry innovation. During an elegant celebration and ceremony held at the St. Regis Hotel, Wednesday, July 16, 2008, Gail Flower, editor-in-chief, Advanced Packaging talked about hope, and commended this year's participants.
07/17/2008 In a round table discussion over lunch, Scott Kulicke, CEO, Kulicke & Soffa, responded with candor to questions posed by analysts from Prismark Partners, VLSI Research, and TechInternational; and editors from a variety of industry publications. Topics ranged from the success of the company's recent tool launch, last year's acquisition of Alphasem, the transition to copper wire bonding from gold wire, and the state of the industry
07/17/2008 Gigaphoton sat down with SST to discuss the company's penetration into the US market -- the home turf for its primary competitor -- and offer an update on its EUV product progress.
07/17/2008 In an interview at SEMICON West, Mark Melliar-Smith, CEO of Molecular Imprints described two paths for his company: one toward insertion into the semiconductor industry in 2009, and another toward producing a billion disks a year with 20nm features for the hard disk drive industry in 2010.
07/16/2008 Where to turn for inspiration in a tough year 2008 for semiconductor suppliers? Try Yankee baseball great Yogi Berra and famously underappreciated comic Rodney Dangerfield, according to analyst John Housley of Techcet, in a Wednesday talk about materials forecasts at SEMICON West.
07/16/2008 Rave's just-announced Rhazer tool offers a new scheme to deal with haze that builds up on reticles, and do it directly in a fab at a lower cost -- making it "the first real solution" to the problem of mask haze," according to one prominent industry expert.
07/16/2008 Lam Research VP/GM Richard Gottscho tells SST about the improvements in the company's newest Kiyo etch line, including upgrades in wafer temperature control and a design that, together, improve CD uniformity.
07/16/2008 Mihir Parikh, president/CEO of Aquest Systems, talked with SST about why many fabs are taking a closer look at the systems they have in place and making incremental changes to improve them, rather than diving into new facility upgrades.
07/16/2008 July 16, 2008 -- An expert panel appointed by the Council of Canadian Academies has concluded that too little is known to assess potential risks posed by nanomaterials and nanotechnology products. However, the panel found that current nano-based products can be evaluated through available risk management strategies.
07/16/2008 In a panel discussion hosted by Bill Bottoms, CEO of Nanonexus, and Jan Vardaman, TechSearch International, Industry experts from IBM, Intel, R3Logic, TSMC and Amkor emphasized a growing need for TSV adoption, what the drivers will be, how they will be used beyond being a replacement for electronic wiring, and what needs to happen to achieve this by established timelines.
07/15/2008 July 15, 2008 -- Park Systems' new line of fully automated atomic force microscopes (AFMs) is designed to help increase production yields by providing critical angle measurements. The series is being demonstrated this week at Semicon West. "Until now the data storage and semiconductor industries have had a very limited choice of industrial-grade in-line inspection tools," said General Manager Dr. Sung Park.
