07/18/2007 growing by 20% regularly. As the industry goes into smaller nodes, particle issues become so critical that single-wafer cleaning can improve semiconductor yields. Cleaning can damage the wafer surface; therefore, methods that prevent damage grow in importance.
07/18/2007 Visctec Semiconductor Systems GmbH (Weilburg, Germany) will combine its electron beam and lithography business groups to create Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group, with European and U.S. locations. Jai Hakhu, Ph.D., will lead the business, and realigned global sales, marketing, and service structures will be managed by Maarten Kramer. The newly formed business will present its lithography portfolio at SEMICON West exhibits, July 17–19.
07/18/2007 Cleaning wafers for flip-chip applications represents a growing area for Zurich, Switzerland-based SEZ, says Kurt Lachenbucher, executive VP and CEO. Though it's a niche market, it is an increasingly important area (~20% growth regularly), he explained. At the 45nm and 32nm technology nodes, particle issues become so critical that single-wafer cleaning can improve semiconductor yields. Cleaning can damage the wafer surface; therefore, methods that prevent damage grow in importance.
07/18/2007 In a Tuesday analyst/press event at SEMICON West, Novellus execs discussed the company's soft-yet-optimistic 2Q07 results, why copper is already king among memory firms, and why they see empty economic promises in the solar market
07/18/2007 Delivering the opening keynote address at SEMICON West on Tuesday (July 17), Douglas Grose, AMD's SVP of technology development, assailed a widely held "faulty belief" in the uniqueness of the semiconductor manufacturing, calling on the industry to adopt highly successful principles and practices of lean manufacturing deployed in other industries.
07/18/2007 SEMATECH's announcement about a new "super High-k" dielectric for ICs doesn't reveal much detail about the actual material's properties or potential integration advantages/challenges. But it surely adds yet another twist to the already confusing nomenclature for describing materials used in leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing.
07/18/2007 Ormecon has released its new Organic Metal Nanofinish, a new solderable surface finish for printed circuit boards. Just 50 nanometres thick, Nanofinish consists of less than 10% silver and more than 90% Ormecon's proprietary organic nanometal.
07/18/2007 First Nano, a division of CVD Equipment Corp., has announced the release of its ET2000-SS and ET3000-SS solid source deposition systems designed for producing semi-conducting nanowires.
07/18/2007 Accelrys, maker of computer aided nanodesign (CAN) products, has released a new version of its multi-scale QMERA software, which enables users to include quantum mechanical and molecular mechanic methods (QMMM) simultaneously through a hybrid simulation approach.
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - Taking a stab at specific needs for semiconductor manufacturing using high-k dielectrics and metal gates, Applied Materials has developed a new system on its Centura platform for critical etch parameters, claiming it simultaneously delivers "smooth, vertical sidewalls with zero silicon recess and zero byproduct residue."
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - Dwight Decker, non-executive chairman at Conexant Systems Inc., has been appointed chairman of the Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), taking over from Sanjay Jha who held the position f or nearly three years and will assume Decker's previous role as vice-chairman.
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - SAFC Hitech, part of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, has signed a deal to supply standard precursor chemical materials for memsstar Technology's surface preparation and deposition systems, to develop surface coatings on microdevices such as MEMS.
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - In a Tuesday analyst/press event at SEMICON West, Novellus Systems Inc. said its 2Q07 profits rose roughly 9% to $57.3M -- its slowest in four quarters -- on ~5% higher revenues of $416.3M, though slightly better than expected. Orders evaporated, though, dropping >19% Q-Q TO $332.2M, with a similar slide predicted for 3Q (shipments, meanwhile, rose ~12% Q-Q to $436.4M).
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - A new system for ultrathin wafer processing developed by Brewer Science Inc. and EV Group aims to provide a temporary wafer bonding technology for reliably processing sub-100-micron thinned wafers.
07/18/2007 July 17, 2007 - Two earthquakes (magnitudes 6.0 and 6.8) that struck off the coast of Japan Monday morning caused damage to areas in central Japan, causing a handful of deaths, flattening neighborhoods and roads, and sparking a fire at a nuclear facility, but appear to have had little impact on the island's semiconductor manufacturing operations, according to local news and analysts' reports.
07/17/2007 SEMICON West hosted a panel discussion between executives from equipment and materials suppliers, a design software firm, and an industry association. Panelists discussed the consumer factor on electronics supply chains, design cycles, and capital equipment and consumables. Stanley T. Myers started off the debate by referencing Apple's newly released iPhone, and the "killer apps" that consumers seek in the market.
07/17/2007 Days before Semicon West, WaferNEWS caught up with Christopher Moore, president/CEO of Advanced Metrology Systems (AMS), nee Philips AMS, to chat about how life is different nine months after taking the private equity route.
07/17/2007 Sharp differences on the need to prepare for a shift to 450mm wafers broke into the open on SEMICON West's opening day (Monday, July 16). SEMI and SEMATECH have different timelines for when 450mm might be needed, and how much work should be put into -- and what benefits will come out of -- current 300mm productivity improvement efforts. SEMATECH is even raising the ante by pledging to form a new 450mm program next year to lay the groundwork for evaluating 450mm requirements and standards.
07/17/2007 What happens when you put a design software vendor, a chip manufacturer, and a photomask maker all at one table and ask them to talk about yield? Not surprisingly, the software vendor finds himself on the hot seat.
