11/06/2006 Structured Materials Industries Inc. (SMI) announced that it has sold an oxide MOCVD system to China. The company did not name the customer.
11/06/2006 NaturalNano Inc. a Rochester, N.Y., nanotechnology and materials science company, announced its strategy to focus on the nanocomposite market for its first products.
11/06/2006 nGimat Co. of Atlanta announced it has been awarded a one year, $390,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project with a second optional year consisting of an additional $360,000 to develop yttrium aluminum oxide nanopowder that can be processed into transparent, small grained polycrystalline, laser host materials. The research project is funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and is monitored by the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md.
11/06/2006 Purdue University's Discovery Park has appointed Timothy Sands, the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering, as director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center.
11/06/2006 NanoSight Ltd. of Salisbury, UK, announced the launch of its NANOSIGHT LM20, a bench-top system for rapid and easy sizing, and counting of individual nanoscale particles in suspension.
11/03/2006 The Wafer Level Chip Scale Package Forum, a non-profit group focused on promoting the adoption of wafer-level chip-scale packages (WLCSP) semiconductor devices in consumer electronics products, met for the first time this week in San Jose to discuss WLCSP issues, and to establish industry sponsored "best practices" for their use.
11/03/2006 November 3, 2006 - Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached a record $21.4 billion in September as electronic device manufacturers loaded up for the holiday sales season, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
11/03/2006 Nantero Inc., a Woburn, Mass., company using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, announced it has resolved the major obstacles that had been preventing carbon nanotubes from being used in mass production in semiconductor fabs.
11/03/2006 PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P., a manufacturer of nanopositioning and precision motion-control equipment for bio/nanotechnology, photonics, semiconductor and life science applications, announced the V-106 series of PCI-card-driven, high-speed voice coil positioning stages, providing up to 20 mm (0.8 in.) of travel and resolution to 100 nanometers.
11/02/2006 Grape Networks Inc., a San Ramon, Calif., developer of MEMS sensors and mesh networks for monitoring vineyards, announced that production systems for the monitoring of micro-climates for vineyards will be available in the first quarter of 2007. The Company also announced the expansion of its current system at Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley.
11/01/2006 Harald Okorn-Schmidt, VP of global research with SEZ, will present a paper, Cleaning, Interface Engineering and Surface Preparation — The Challenges Continue at the 4th International Surface Cleaning Workshop, in Boston, Nov. 4-6, 2007.
11/01/2006 Quik-Pak, a provider of quick-turn integrated circuit (IC) prototype packages, announces the installation of a 200-mm automatic wafer dicing saw from Disco in its expanded San Diego facilities.
11/01/2006 November 1, 2006 - Semiconductor affiliates under the Formosa Plastics Group are planning to spend roughly $3 billion in 2007 to expand their 300mm wafer fab expansions, collectively exceeding the level of top foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)
11/01/2006 Development of carbon nanotube (CNT) interconnects for the 32nm node is starting to make major strides. Although CNTs could potentially carry the high current densities required for next generation interconnects, it has proved difficult to grow them at low enough temperatures with the right properties. Now, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. has demonstrated CNT interconnects approaching the target of matching the resistance of copper at CMOS-compatible growth temperatures of 400 degrees C.
11/01/2006 November 1, 2006 - Vishay Intertechnology Inc., Malvern, PA, has agreed to acquire International Rectifier's power control systems business for approximately $290 million, to extend its product offerings for high-power and high-voltage discrete semiconductors.
11/01/2006 November 1, 2006 - Manufacturers of thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-displays (TFT-LCD) are expected to reduce their equipment investments by roughly 30% over the next three years, to help maintain manufacturing pace, ease overcapacity, and keep prices from falling, according to market research firm DisplaySearch.
11/01/2006 November 1, 2006 - Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. say they are also targets of antitrust investigations by US and EU regulators, in an ongoing investigation into price-fixing allegations regarding static random access memory (SRAM) devices, according to several reports.
11/01/2006 Vistec Lithography, a Cambridge, England, developer of electron beam lithography systems for the semiconductor industry, announced that it selected Grant Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of custom scientific and industrial solutions, to develop a bespoke refrigeration system to cool the lens, chamber and handling system within its VB300 electron beam nano-lithography machine.
11/01/2006 A group of French researchers have determined that processes for dying gray human hair black that were developed two millennia ago rely on nanoscale phenomena.
NanoSight Ltd. of Salisbury, UK, announced the launch of its NANOSIGHT LM20, a bench-top system for rapid and easy sizing, and counting of individual nanoscale particles in suspension.
Nantero Inc., a Woburn, Mass., company using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, announced it has resolved the major obstacles that had been preventing carbon nanotubes from being used in mass production in semiconductor fabs.