05/23/2007 Hyphenated Systems has announced a new advanced confocal/atomic force microscope (ACM/AFM), developed jointly with KARMA Technology, that is geared for 3D metrology applications in semiconductor manufacturing and lab environments.
05/23/2007 Anyone trying to follow the topic of design for manufacturing (DFM) the last few years would be hard-pressed to accurately dissect the nuanced boundary lines that identify what each company that plays in the DFM space actually does and how users of DFM/EDA should evaluate their return on investment for the tools. ConFab panelist Joe Sawicki, VP & GM at Mentor Graphics, thinks we should look at the "DFM" label in a new way.
05/23/2007 Chip design, foundry/fab, and packaging partners must work in concert to reduce risk on new technology offerings, according to Mike Barrow, SVP, flip chip technologies, Amkor. Giving the packaging group early access to advanced silicon can result in chip and package interaction (CPI) solutions that are market-ready upon silicon node release. Further, package and laminate design are in the critical path, and need to be co-designed with the silicon to deliver cost-effective solutions.
05/23/2007 A ConFab panel titled "Think Outside the Fab" chaired by James Doyle, VP, packaging and supply chain at IBM, explored the dramatic shifts that are reshaping packaging strategies at all chipmakers. He explained why the traditional approaches to chip packaging won't work anymore, and detailed how future directions will replace the historical orthodoxy, of "Don't get in the way," "Make up for any delays earlier in the supply chain," and "Do it as inexpensively as possible."
05/22/2007 SEMI reported that Q'01 bookings worldwide for semiconductor manufacturing equipment rose about 6% in 2007 over 2006; billings rose approximately 12% over the same quarter last year. Billings increased significantly in Korea, China, and Taiwan.
05/22/2007 Seeking to accelerate the growth of the MEMS device market, CEO and founder of LV Sensors Inc. (LVSI), Janusz Bryzek, called for the formation of a world-class pure MEMS foundry business with customizable standard unit processes at last week's MEPTEC conference. These unit processes, characterized and modeled over a broad range of settings, would be enabled by state-of-the-art high-volume processing equipment with first pass process yields similar to what is achievable in CMOS manufacturing.
05/22/2007 May 22, 2007 - Intel Corp. says that its future processors, starting with its 45nm line utilizing high-k dielectrics and metal gates (HK+MG), will incorporate 100% lead-free packaging designs, including pin grid array, ball grid array and land grid array. Next year the company plans to transition its 65nm chipsets also to 100% lead-free technology.
05/22/2007 NANOIDENT Technologies AG says it has delivered the world's largest printed semiconductor-based photodetector array on a flexible PET foil substrate. The company says the array eliminates the need for costly optical filters.
05/22/2007 SVTC Technologies, which recently became an independent development foundry, has introduced a full suite of commercialization services, called FastXfer services. Simultaneously the company is announcing its name change, from Silicon Valley Technology Center to SVTC Technologies.
05/22/2007 May 22, 2007 - After months of rumors, assumptions, and anticipation (and frustration) by industry watchers, Intel and STMicroelectronics have finally done what everyone thought they would do: combine their flash memory assets into a new company. The catch: they've brought in an unexpected partner to help foot the bill.
05/22/2007 Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced the Magnetic AC Mode III (MAC Mode III) controller, which it says greatly enhances the utility of Agilent's nanotechnology measurement instruments and better enables researchers to customize their experiments.
05/21/2007 May 21, 2007 - Renesas Technology Corp. says it is developing a new CPU architecture to provide "revolutionary" enhancements to 16- and 32-bit microcontrollers in terms of code efficiency, processing performance, and power consumption. The company won't reveal specifics of the architecture until early next year, though, and the new CPUs aren't expected to hit the market until mid-2009.
05/21/2007 In the new consumer-driven electronics industry, where beating your competition to market with innovative technology is the surest route to success, process control equipment suppliers have an expanded role in manufacturing alliances to help dramatically shorten product-development and production-ramp times, and thus significantly improve yield and profitability, according to Brian Trafas, chief marketing officer at KLA-Tencor, in his talk at the Confab in Las Vegas.
05/21/2007 Some industry observers figure that the industry will probably have only a handful of major players in the form of IDMs, alliances, top foundries, and some fab-lite companies. Tokyo Electron America's president, Harvey Frye, on the other hand, thinks there is probably room for at least 10 companies globally that could remain IDMs in some form, and listed likely candidates and working strategies in a Monday morning panel discussion at the ConFab.
05/21/2007 Flash memory manufacturer Spansion, is the outgrowth of the successful AMD/Fujitsu joint venture, so Spansion EVP & COO, James Doran, brings solid experience to bear on the ConFab topic of how to manage successful manufacturing alliances. "Manufacturing alliances work best when each partner provides something the other partner needs, and both partners, together, benefit from the outcome," Doran said.
05/21/2007 In a fab-lite/process-lite business environment, consortia would be expected to have even more power and responsibility as more companies rely upon a shared cost model for process and materials R&D. In addition to the usual consortia membership (IDMs, foundries, and equipment/materials suppliers), IMEC's director of strategic program partnerships, Lode Lauwers, expects memory manufacturers, and more recently, fab-lite converts, to add their own needs or "flavors" to consortia research programs.
05/21/2007 While the semiconductor industry continues to promise ever higher rewards (with high-single-digit CAGRs for many years to come), few companies will be able to survive the increasing risks of competing in the market unless they form novel heterogeneous manufacturing alliances, similar to the research partnerships that have proven successful in managing escalating R&D costs, according to Ajit Manocha, EVP and CMO of NXP, keynote speaker kicking off this year's ConFab event.
05/21/2007 May 21, 2007 - Laser-produced plasma sources, once seen as a "dark horse" technology for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, seem to be gaining steam as the most promising power source for the future litho equipment, according to SEMATECH, citing feedback from a recent workshop.
05/21/2007 May 21, 2007 - ASSP chipmaker Diodes Inc. says it will consolidate its analog wafer probe and final test operations from Hsinchu, Taiwan, to facilities in Shanghai, China, by the end of July.
NANOIDENT Technologies AG says it has delivered the world's largest printed semiconductor-based photodetector array on a flexible PET foil substrate. The company says the array eliminates the need for costly optical filters.