02/05/2008 By Roy White, RAVE LLC, Delray Beach, FL USA
Photomask costs are a painfully visible issue in today's competitive semiconductor market. This puts substantial pressure on the profitability of photomask makers. Since the "mask makers' vacation" ended some 15 years ago, it seems every paper you read has another exorbitant estimate of future mask costs.
02/05/2008 by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology Feb. 5, 2008 - With flash process technology scaling approaching its limits, along comes Nanochip, a developer of MEMS silicon data storage chips, with a technology that does not use lithography in its manufacture. Company execs tell WaferNEWS about their planned >100GB/chipset products, which could start prototyping this year and be ready for manufacturing by 2010.
02/05/2008 By Jeffrey C. Demmin, contributing editor
As always, the annual update to the <>International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) provides insight and guidance for people involved in the semiconductor industry. A complete biannual update is released at the end of odd-numbered years, so the end of 2007 brought us a new edition.
02/05/2008 ; Microchip Technology Inc. has created the new Microchip Academic Partner program, providing an opportunity for academia to partner with a semiconductor industry leader to increase their knowledge base in embedded applications. The program offers free local training and curriculum to educators via Microchip's Regional Training Centers (RTCs) and web site.
02/05/2008 ; Taiwan-based Greatek Electronics Inc. has ordered a significant number of Oerlikon Esec's latest development, the Wire Bonder 3200, according to Oerlikon. This deal is a milestone in the two companies' long and established co-operation.
02/05/2008 ; EV Group (EVG) has announced it has received an order from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, for two of EVG's MEMS-focused systems. The systems will be for a new Indian government-supported automotive MEMS R&D project and are slated for installation this month in IIT Bombay's Mumbai facility.
02/05/2008 The accreditation is for Oxonica's activities in the development and manufacture of nanoparticles for OEM partners and for the design and development of nanoparticle-based applications.
02/05/2008 Feb. 4, 2008 - At this week's International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Fujitsu Labs says it will show a power amplifier (PA) built with 90nm process technologies that operates at 77Ghz, realizing CMOS RF frontend circuitry with a power amplifier that integrates with baseband circuitry on a chip, for use in millimeter-wave automotive radar systems.
02/04/2008 by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
Feb. 4, 2008 - In war, most battles end with winners and losers, though in some cases the difference might be relative. So it was with the DRAM market during and at the end of 2007, according to data from iSuppli and Gartner. And unless the DRAM makers get their act together, a decade from now they could be faced with collective $100B investment requirements just to maintain growth trends.
02/04/2008 I received an iPod Nano for my birthday, and it was a complete surprise, because I had only recently decided I needed one of these devices, along with a docking station, to replace my stereo. My daughters and their cousins, iPod experts, were as excited to see me open it as I was to get it, and immediately told me everything I needed to know to get it loaded and functioning. They were also a bit jealous, because this 3rd generation Nano was clearly an upgrade from their 2nd gen versions.
02/04/2008 By Siegbert Haumann, Christoph Luechinger, Kris Oftebro, Garrett Wong, Orthodyne Electronics
Over the last 5 years, ultrasonic bonding of large Al ribbon has developed into a reliable and productive interconnect technology. In smaller form-factor power packages such as the SO-8 and the PQFN, and also in high-reliability automotive applications, it replaces the multiple parallel fine Au or large Al wires with large rectangular-shaped Al ribbons of appropriate thickness and width.
This article is the second in a series on 3D packaging technology, and summarizes information presented during a December 2007 webcast produced and hosted by Advanced Packaging magazine. Participants included: Dan Schmauch and Rozalia Beica, Semitool Inc.; Jean-Marc Thevenoud, Alcatel MicroMachining Systems; and Markus Wimplinger, EV Group.
02/04/2008 The AXi 940 module will perform wafer front-side inspection as part of the all-surface Explorer Inspection Cluster, a multisurface inspection system designed to provide reliable macro inspection. The AXi 940 has a redesigned software interface focused on reducing cost of ownership through improved productivity and reliability, as well as reduced dependence on human operators.
02/04/2008 The AF 32 glass is designed for leading-edge opto-electronics, image sensor packaging, WLO, and MEMS applications. It matches the CTE of silicon, which helps prevent warp during the manufacture of complex assemblies and during reflow, when a WLCSP imager is attached to a printed circuit board.
02/04/2008 This company's latest M1 AOI system, the M1m, has been developed with special design enhancements to address the advanced inspection challenges presented by complex wire bonding, epoxy splash, and ever-shrinking component sizes. The system offers advanced high-speed device inspection with good defect coverage.
02/04/2008 This 27-gauge tapered dispensing tip makes it possible to apply extremely small, precise amounts of silicones, epoxies, lubricants, and other thick assembly fluids. Designed for use with air-powered dispensing equipment, it will produce accurate, consistent dots and lines as small 0.008-in. wide.
02/04/2008 The Multicore DA100 dispensing grade die attach solder paste dissipates the heat in power semiconductor devices such as rectifiers, power transistors, amplifiers, voltage regulators and other automotive and consumer packages. The paste also provides ease of removal during cleaning processes, low voiding, ease of use, and cost efficiency.
02/04/2008 This new ESD protection enhancement ensures minimization of ESD damages during test handling on the MT9510XP pick-and-place handler. The scalable design does provides ESD protection but and controls the actual charge of the device's surrounding area under operation.
02/04/2008 Feb. 4, 2008 - Having tallied the top semiconductor manufacturers' final reporting and projections for 2008, Gartner has come to a sobering conclusion: its initial forecast of an upcoming spending slowdown, cast just six weeks ago, wasn't nearly slow enough.
