04/03/2007 Researchers at Saint Louis U. (Missouri) have developed a fuel cell battery that operates up to 3X-4X longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries -- and is the technology device equivalent of a billy goat, running on virtually any sugar source fed to it, including soft drinks and even tree sap.
04/03/2007 Popular aviation metaphors used to describe the evolution of lithography in the semiconductor manufacturing industry invoke propeller planes (i.e. 1:1 masks), jet aircraft (reduction steppers), and even the next-generation lithography equivalents of pricey supersonic planes like the Concorde. Here's what I think is a more accurate metaphor for lithography's evolution, explaining why we use planes, jets, and even helicopters for different applications -- and why 157nm litho tools "never flew."
04/03/2007 With silicon manufacturing fast becoming -- if not already -- a commodity, those who do not have IP and design as value adders will start dropping lower and lower on the food chain. That's ushering in a new class of "process-lite" firms that rely heavily on foundries for process development, according to Gartner analyst Dean Freeman, speaking at a SEMI lunch panel. And that makes life harder for equipment and materials suppliers.
04/03/2007 April 3, 2007 - Manz Automation AG, a laser process technology component supplier, and Synova SA, a privately held Swiss developer of water jet-guided laser technology, will integrate their technologies into manufacturing equipment for photovoltaics applications through a new technology licensing agreement.
04/03/2007 Dr. Timothy M. Swager has been awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, considered by many the U.S.'s most prestigious cash prize for invention. Soldiers in Iraq are using his inventions for explosives detection; his molecular wire inventions will likely be used in healthcare, environmental, and security applications.
04/03/2007 nCoat, Inc. says that the North Carolina-based nano-coating application facility operated by its wholly owned subsidiary High Performance Coatings, Inc. is already serving many high-volume OEM and individual customers.
04/03/2007 April 3, 2007 - Elpida Memory Inc. now plans to produce as much as 80% of DRAMs made at its Hiroshima site with 70nm process technology by year's end, up from previous estimates of about 50%, note Japanese news reports.
04/02/2007 Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $40.47 billion in 2006, up 23.1% over 2005. Assembly and packaging sectors grew a total of 14%; test equipment sales increased by 21% over the prior year, according to SEMI's "Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report."
04/02/2007 Designed to produce hermetic glass-to-metal seals in IC packages, Direct-Draw- and Redraw-formed beads offer small quantities in a range of colored or opaque glass, or larger quantities of continuously formed clear glass tubing and rod.
04/02/2007 The Version 1.1 application software and device support upgrade for the FLX500 desktop automated device programmer enables real-time, on-demand statistical reporting and other features.
04/02/2007 Hot wax, used as a gate or valve, enables lab-on-a-chip applications, containing fluids on a chip until they are released, by temperature change, to interact with other fluids or specimens deposited on the chip, for diagnostic testing. The DispenseJet DJ-9000 jet dispenses wax onto discrete locations on the chip, enabling biological testing on-chip without contaminations.
04/02/2007 April 2, 2007 - Worldwide sales of semiconductors sunk 6.5% in February to $20.09 billion, with seasonal trends overshadowed by declining unit shipments and lower average selling prices, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
04/02/2007 Wafer-bumping service provider IC Interconnect (ICI) and Jiangyin Changdian Advanced Packaging (JCAP), which produces solder, gold, and pillar bumps, formed an international alliance to transfer ICI technologies to Asia and JCAP bumping services to North America.
04/02/2007 April 2, 2007 - Omron Corp. has finalized its acquisition of a 200mm CMOS semiconductor factory in Yasu, Shinga, Japan, from Yasu Semiconductor Corp., a consolidated subsidiary of Seiko Epson., five months after announcing the deal, according to the companies.
04/02/2007 April 2, 2007 - Elpida Memory Inc. has amassed about 110 billion yen (~US $933 million) in syndicated loans and another 50 billion yen ($424 million) in credit line commitments, all to support planned capacity expansions in Taiwan and Japan, notes the Nikkei News wires.
04/02/2007 By Jeffrey C. Demmin, contributing editor
"Collaboration is the key," was the gist of the third annual MEPTEC "The Heat is On" symposium on thermal management, held in San Jose, CA, this February. Jerry Bartley's keynote talk stressed the requirement for collaboration between different engineering disciplines throughout the supply chain. "More interaction to close the gaps between the disciplines will provide large paybacks," he said.
04/02/2007 Kebaili calls its new CPG-500 Series the first compact current pulse generator designed specifically for electrodeposition applications in MEMS and nanotechnology development. The company says most reverse pulse plating systems and potentiostat/ galvanostat are large and not optimized for cleanrooms, whereas the CPG-500 is ergonomic and compact.
04/01/2007 One of the preliminary actions for USP <797> compliance is the establishment of a formal quality unit for the pharmacy, which is responsible for the quality assurance program
Dr. Timothy M. Swager has been awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, considered by many the U.S.'s most prestigious cash prize for invention. Soldiers in Iraq are using his inventions for explosives detection; his molecular wire inventions will likely be used in healthcare, environmental, and security applications.
nCoat, Inc. says that the North Carolina-based nano-coating application facility operated by its wholly owned subsidiary High Performance Coatings, Inc. is already serving many high-volume OEM and individual customers.
Kebaili calls its new CPG-500 Series the first compact current pulse generator designed specifically for electrodeposition applications in MEMS and nanotechnology development. The company says most reverse pulse plating systems and potentiostat/ galvanostat are large and not optimized for cleanrooms, whereas the CPG-500 is ergonomic and compact.