10/24/2007 October 24, 2007 - Spansion Inc. and Chinese foundry SMIC are partnering to delve further into NOR flash, in a deal that utilizes SMIC's 65nm foundry work for Spansion's MirrorBit technologies, and extend into "selected segments" of flash memory to sell 90nm and 65nm and beyond MirrorBit Quad products in China.
10/24/2007 October 24, 2007 - Microchip Technology Inc. says it has sold its idle Fab 3 facility in Puyallup, WA, for $30M following an unsolicited offer received in September, saying it can increase capacity and sales through "nominal" investments in its other fabs and foundry partners.
10/24/2007 Sarnoff Europe and AMI Semiconductor Inc. have announced the successful implementation of Sarnoff Europe's TakeCharge on-chip ESD protection solution in AMI Semiconductor's DSP-based systems for hearing and audio solutions.
10/24/2007 ; OptimalTest, a provider of integrated enterprise-wide test management solutions, has sold its test management solution software to a major European semiconductor integrated device manufacturer (IDM) in a multimillion US dollar annual licensing deal. The name of the European IDM was not disclosed.
10/24/2007 ; Motorola Inc., through Motorola Ventures, its strategic venture capital arm, has made an equity investment in Siimpel Corp, a developer and manufacturer of silicon microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based solutions for mobile imaging applications. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
10/24/2007 ; Rohm and Haas Co. is seeking price increases for most of its chemical products, effective November 1, 2007 due to rising costs of key raw materials. Increases will range from 5 to 15 percent.
10/24/2007 Microvision Inc. (Nasdaq: MVIS), a developer of MEMS-enabled light scanning technologies for display and imaging products, has entered into a development agreement with one of the world's largest consumer electronics manufacturers of mobile phones, digital cameras and personal media players.
10/24/2007 Affymetrix University courses will provide biologists with a better understanding of how to design their microarray experiments successfully with appropriate quality control, and how to apply statistical methods to interpret biological results more effectively.
10/24/2007 Lithium ion battery pioneer A123Systems has made news with its contract to supply nano-enabled batteries for General Motors' Volt electric vehicle. The company will use its new funds for hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and extended range electric vehicle designs with major automakers.
10/23/2007 October 23, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has developed 64Gb multilevel cell NAND flash memory chip using 30nm process technology, built using double-patterning lithography, with commercial chips ready in about a year.
10/23/2007 Speaking at last week's ISSM, Lam Research's Nick Bright asked a point-blank question: why should equipment suppliers invest in 450mm when there are so many opportunities elsewhere (e.g. solar, FPDs, LEDs, and MEMS)? The answer may depend on whether enough equipment companies can find answers to IC manufacturers' calls to improve fab agility at a reasonable rate of return on investment.
10/23/2007 As a number of presenters made clear at last week's ISSM conference (Oct. 15-17, Santa Clara, CA), there is a movement in the industry that favors the ability to utilize small-lot (<25 wafers) manufacturing as a way to provide fab agility and drive down cycle times. Aquest Systems believes its vehicle-free transport technology, FabEX Transporter, can change the way existing or new fabs implement automation, enabling not only small lots but also a possible wafer size transition.
10/23/2007 Tronics Microsystems says its fiscal quarter that ended September 30 marks its fifth consecutive quarter of net profit, and makes it the first pure-play contract manufacturer of advanced MEMS devices to achieve consistent profitability.
10/23/2007 ; STATS ChipPAC Ltd., an independent semiconductor test and advanced packaging service provider, today announced the grand opening of a second 371,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China.
10/23/2007 ; Cadence Design Systems Inc. and NXP Semiconductors have signed a multi-year strategic agreement that positions Cadence as NXP's primary electronic-design-automation (EDA) solutions partner.
10/23/2007 In contrast to typical gene therapy where viral vectors are used to deliver the gene of interest, Charlesson's program employs biodegradable nanoparticles. This approach eliminates many of the safety concerns in eliciting an immune response following gene therapy.
10/22/2007 Efficiency is one of the biggest challenges for solar cells: most of the sun's incoming light is dissipated as heat, not converted to electricity. Yet researchers think the strange behavior of tiny particles known as quantum dots may help break the efficiency barrier, using energy that might otherwise be lost to excite additional free carriers.
10/22/2007 October 22, 2007 - A reported deal between mainland Chinese solar module maker Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Taiwan firm Sino-American Silicon Products Inc. exemplifies a model of cooperation between front- and back-end providers in the photovoltaic industry between the two regions, notes a story in the Taiwan Economic News.
10/22/2007 October 22, 2007 - Fuji Electric Holdings Co. plans add up to six new production lines over the next five years, at a cost of 37 billion yen (US $323.4M), to expand output of solar modules.
Lithium ion battery pioneer A123Systems has made news with its contract to supply nano-enabled batteries for General Motors' Volt electric vehicle. The company will use its new funds for hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and extended range electric vehicle designs with major automakers.