10/18/2007 Nanosphere Inc. says it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company's Verigene F5 / F2 / MTHFR Nucleic Acid Test, which detects disease-associated gene mutations that can contribute to blood coagulation disorders and difficulties metabolizing folate (vitamin B-12).
10/18/2007 FEI Company says its Titan3 takes the capabilities of the powerful Titan S/TEM microscope, introduced in 2005, to new levels of performance and enhanced operation at lower cost.
10/18/2007 October 18, 2007 - Making official what had been reported for weeks, Sony and Toshiba have announced an agreement to transfer Sony's Cell microprocessor production lines to Toshiba under a new joint venture, reportedly at a price approaching 100 billion yen (about US $870 million).
10/18/2007 Before "Star Trek" devices became near-prototypes for futuristic real-life gadgets, the "Dick Tracy" wristwatch phone inspired generations of engineers. Universal Display's PHOLED technology is helping to make the tiny-display portion of that dream a reality.
10/18/2007 ; Aviza Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVZA), a supplier of advanced semiconductor capital equipment and process technologies announced a system order of its Omega fxP cluster system from Robert Bosch GmbH, a MEMS sensor manufacturer specializing in automotive sensors and consumer devices. This is Aviza's second major MEMS customer to be announced in three months.
10/18/2007 ; Henkel Huawei Electronics Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Huawei Electronics and Henkel Corporation, announced plans to unveil its state-of-the-art mold compound manufacturing facility in Lianyungang, China on October 26, 2007. Henkel Huawei Electronics' continued growth has reportedly necessitated additional manufacturing lines to support its global customer base.
10/18/2007 October 18, 2007 - SiC Processing AG has secured $53M in funding from Europe's zouk ventures and a quartet of investment firms, to fund international expansion of its used slurry recycling business.
10/18/2007 ; Ultratech, Inc. received a safety recognition award from its workers' compensation carrier, Zurich in North America and ABD Insurance and Financial Services', which acknowledges those companies that make safety a "value system" within their corporate culture through enhanced awareness and execution at all levels of the organization. This is the 10th time within the past 13 years that Ultratech has been cited for its commitment to health and safety.
10/18/2007 October 18, 2007 - Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor says it has begun volume manufacturing of image sensor products for Taiwan's Vision Integration Technology Inc. (ViTi), with output of the home security and closed-circuit TV sensors being done at its Fab 1 manufacturing site using 0.35-micron processes.
10/18/2007 October 18, 2007 - Elpida Memory reportedly plans to complete its migration of DRAM production from 200mm to 300mm wafers by the end of this current fiscal year (March 2008), six months earlier than planned, in order to sooner focus on cost-competitive products
10/17/2007 Cooperation between chemical company and environmental activists helped guide development of a new plastic-protection coating that contains titanium dioxide nanoparticles.
10/16/2007 October 16, 2007 - Semitool Inc. says it has sold an advanced Raider tool for use in porous silicon formation as part of development of high-efficiency, low cost-per-watt solar devices.
10/16/2007 [MEMS] "sensors are revolutionizing the way people use handheld devices," said Benedetto Vigna of STMicroelectronics during the MEMS/MST Industry Forum at last week's Semicon Europa. Small Times' Tom Cheyney reports from the event, explaining current thinking on how MEMS companies can take ride the big wave to consumer-application success.
10/16/2007 For an editor of a semiconductor manufacturing publication, there are several sides to every trade show. On one hand are the technical sessions, where we get a glimpse of the latest and greatest technologies being developed. On the other hand, are the industry players
10/16/2007 October 16, 2007 - Scanning recent headlines in Japanese papers pulls up a new method for stripping resist from wafers, gas suppliers adding to and cutting back shipments, and a water treatment system that uses bacteria activated by oxygen microbubbles to remove nitrogen from industrial wastewater.
10/16/2007 October 16, 2007 - IMEC has tipped initial results of alpha-demo work on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography work which it says produced the first high-resolution images, and has agreed to push ahead with plans to add a "preproduction" tool from partner ASML in its 300mm facility in time for the 22nm node in 2010.
10/16/2007 October 16, 2007 - Intel Capital, the chipmaking giant's global VC arm, has invested $11 million in Jordan Valley Semiconductors to obtain what the companies describe as "a significant stake" in the provider of x-ray-based thin-film metrology tools.
10/16/2007 Dow-Corning introduced three two-part high refractive index (HRI) silicone encapsulants to serve the light-emitting diode (LED) market. These encapsulants are said to offer increased light output, a range of hardnesses to suit a variety of applications, and resistance to heat, chemical, and ultraviolet (UV) light exposure.
10/16/2007 October 16, 2007 - Some of Taiwan's top PV manufacturers, including Wafer Works, Sino-American Silicon, Motech, and E-Tone, are basking in record sales and optimistic forecasts for the next several years, notes the Taiwan Economic News.
10/16/2007 ; Scientists at IBM announced that they have measured the distribution of electrical charges in tubes of carbon that measure less than 2 nanometers in diameter, 50,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair.
Before "Star Trek" devices became near-prototypes for futuristic real-life gadgets, the "Dick Tracy" wristwatch phone inspired generations of engineers. Universal Display's PHOLED technology is helping to make the tiny-display portion of that dream a reality.