05/09/2007 Indium Corporation named Terry Guckes as business development director for metals and chemicals, and Bill Brunstedt as associate director of Asia-Pacific sales and marketing. Both men will be responsible for developing business relationships.
05/09/2007 Boston Micromachines Corp. says its MEMS-based deformable mirror products have helped realize achievements in multi photon microscopy, an advanced optical technique that increases the imaging depth in living tissue. Boston University's Biomedical Engineering Biomicroscopy Lab has recently demonstrated high resolution images of biological tissue using BMC's deformable mirrors in its multiphoton microscopy research.
05/09/2007 SUSS MicroTec has launched what it calls "next generation, groundbreaking wafer-bonding technology" in the form of ELAN CB8. The tool is based on an entirely new design platform and promises to enable best-in-class production across a wide range of performance parameters.
05/09/2007 In a fascinating observation, Chipworks' Dick James did a teardown of a 4Gbit iPod's Samsung flash memory chip and found himself face-to-face with the apparent visage of Jesus Christ. ALSO: What could be more fun than an afternoon of social networking and hurling heavy spherical projectiles in support of a noble cause?
05/09/2007 Nanotechnology Victoria Ltd., the key organization for delivering nanotechnology research outcomes to industry in the state of Victoria, Australia, has announced the launch of two companies. Both focused on bio-nanotechnology, the pair hopes to revolutionize the way that medicine is delivered.
05/08/2007 Among the most significant developments in interconnect to look for at the upcoming International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC, June 4-6, in Burlingame, CA) are those involving 3D chip architectures. Sitaram Arkalgud, director of SEMATECH's interconnect division, discusses the "new religion" of 3D chip architecture with WaferNEWS, and explains why it's the most promising route to eliminating the main stumbling block to higher chip speeds and lower power consumption.
05/08/2007 Airgap structures have long been considered to increase the speed of on-chip IC interconnects, but it's a long way from proof-of-concept to a working process flow in a fab. In an exclusive interview with WaferNEWS, IBM strips away the hype to explain its new manufacturable variation on airgaps using a self-assembling polymer mask layer -- revealing that airgaps in standard low-k dielectric structures add only ~1% to chip cost for each layer.
05/08/2007 May 8, 2007 - Inventory corrections and memory price volatility helped cause a shakeup among the top-ranked IC providers in 1Q07, and will likely keep the list of top chipmakers in flux through the rest of the year, according to new rankings from IC Insights Inc.
05/08/2007 May 8, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co. has filed a lawsuit in the US against Renesas Technology Corp. and its US subsidiary, alleging patent infringement of two memory chip patents, according to various media reports.
05/08/2007 May 8, 2007 - TDK Corp. says it will build a new plant to produce ceramic capacitors, used in LCD TVs and mobile phone handsets, according to the Nikkei daily paper. Construction of the 50 billion yen (US $416.2 million) site in Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture, will start in June and come online next spring, boosting TDK's total output capacity for ceramic capacitors by 40%.
05/08/2007 MEPTEC's final program for the 5th annual MEMS Packaging Symposium, "MEMS in the Mainstream: $50 Billion and Growing," will include industry, academia, and financial institutions discussing various commercial and volume markets for MEMS, and innovations to fuel a viable MEMS industry. The symposium will occur May 16 and 17 in San Jose.
05/08/2007 SEMI, the global semiconductor industry association, has been keeping a spreadsheet of who's doing what in nanotechnology that will impact the electronics and energy industries specifically.
05/08/2007 VI Technology, Inc. has released Arendar 2007 enterprise test software, which it says will help electronics, semiconductors, and medical device/equipment manufacturers optimize product performance, quality, and time to market. The company says Arendar 2007 brings proven business intelligence technologies to design, characterization, and validation testing.
05/07/2007 Unisem Berhad of Malaysia will purchase Advanced Interconnect Technologies (AIT) of Singapore for approximately $70 million. The acquisition brings Unisem into the advanced packaging and test arena, with BGA, QFN, and flip chip capabilities. AIT will become a full subsidiary.
05/07/2007 May 7, 2007 - In the latest legal wrangling between Canon Inc. and Nano-Proprietary Inc., an Austin, TX jury has dismissed fraud claims brought against Canon and all claims against Canon USA, ruling that the US firm had sustained no damages. A previous ruling concerning breach of contract is still in place, though.
05/07/2007 Midatech Group Ltd. claims the world's first state-of-the-art facility for design and manufacture of nanoparticles. Its new specialist facility in Bilbao, Spain promises cGMP-grade nanoparticle production at a scale commensurate with pharmaceutical applications.
05/07/2007 NanoDynamics, Inc. a diversified nanotechnology and manufacturing company, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The company has also launched TechBank, a forum offering information on a selection of the company's intellectual property available for sale, licensing, partnering, or joint development.
05/06/2007 May 2, 2007 -- /FDA News/ -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a formal written request to Shelhigh, Inc. to recall all of its medical devices remaining in the marketplace, including hospital inventories, because of sterility concerns.
05/06/2007 May 2, 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- WEST CHESTER, PA -- VWR International, Inc., a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc. (CD&R) and a leader in the global laboratory supply industry, today announced that CDRV Investors, Inc., its parent company, has entered into a definitive agreement that will result in VWR being acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP).
SUSS MicroTec has launched what it calls "next generation, groundbreaking wafer-bonding technology" in the form of ELAN CB8. The tool is based on an entirely new design platform and promises to enable best-in-class production across a wide range of performance parameters.
VI Technology, Inc. has released Arendar 2007 enterprise test software, which it says will help electronics, semiconductors, and medical device/equipment manufacturers optimize product performance, quality, and time to market. The company says Arendar 2007 brings proven business intelligence technologies to design, characterization, and validation testing.