09/26/2006 September 26, 2006 - Electroglas Inc. has suspended its efforts in the strip test market, and is putting its hopes for future growth in its EG6000 300mm prober.
09/26/2006 Last week, a SEMInvest breakfast panel in Palo Alto, CA, was a tale of two messages. Underlying business seems solid, despite the lackluster forecast for stock prices, and a high trough for capacity utilization suggests strong growth during the next uptick. But analysts also seemed to be saying that the chip industry has has matured to the point that it no longer fits into a "growth" category for investors. We've become too popular, so no one likes us anymore.
09/26/2006 In an effort to optimize silicon/package interaction and leverage a cross-foundry manufacturing model, Amkor Technology, Inc. announced its partnership with the Common Platform Technology Collaboration, whose members include IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Initial efforts will be in qualifying 90-nm and 65-nm flip chip packaging and design capabilities.
09/26/2006 September 26, 2006 - The chipmaking manufacturing alliance led by IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has added another supplier to their roster. Amkor Technology Inc. is collaborating with the group to qualify 90nm and 65nm flip-chip packaging and design capabilities for the group's "Common Platform," and has begun 45nm qualifications for next-generation semiconductor applications.
09/26/2006 One common thread among research being presented at the 52nd annual International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM, Dec. 11-13, in San Francisco) will be the intersection of biology and electronics. Among the work being touted: fabricating nanoelectronic devices using self-assembling protein molecules; building carbon nanotube-based, high-frequency FET devices; and synthetic DNA used as programmable building blocks for patterning on metal and semiconductor nanoparticles.
09/26/2006 Phoenix S&T Inc., a developer of high-performance molded devices for analytical analysis, announced the availability of its SureSpray technology. It is intended to transform the mass spectrometry analysis of proteins and metabolites from a challenging and often variable process into a robust, dependable operation.
09/25/2006 Sony Corporation has announced a realignment of executive responsibilities in its electronics business effective October 1, 2006. Sony expects these new assignments will put additional focus on product development and quality.
09/25/2006 September 25, 2006 - Brooks Automation Inc. and Yaskawa Electric have officially opened their joint venture, Yaskawa Brooks Automation, a $100 million tool automation company (based on trailing 12-month sales) located in Shin-Yokohama, Japan.
09/25/2006 September 25, 2006 - Simtek Corp., a supplier of nonvolatile static random access memory (SRAM) ICs, has completed a private placement of 11.5 million shares, raising $4.56 million to use for general working capital, and to help secure its supplies of silicon wafers.
09/25/2006 September 25, 2006 - In an effort to address two related problems -- declining energy supplies, and increasing CO2 emissions -- the Taiwan government has proposed a plan to infuse its photovoltaic industry with more than $6 billion over the next ten years.
09/25/2006 September 25, 2006 - AMD has hired Elke Eckstein, former CEO of IBM/Infineon JV Altis Semiconductor, as VP of the chipmaker's Fab 30 site in Dresden, Germany, overseeing the facility's day-to-day operations and its conversion to 300mm operations.
09/25/2006 September 25, 2006 - Tower Semiconductor Ltd. has signed a long-term foundry agreement to produce semiconductor wafers at its Fab 2 facility for power management chipmaker International Rectifier. Terms of the deal (e.g. payment structure or duration) were not disclosed.
09/25/2006 STATS ChipPAC Ltd., an independent semiconductor test and advanced packaging service provider, announced the transition of its integrated passive device (IPD) technology from engineering to high-volume production levels.
09/25/2006 Singapore-based United Test and Assembly Centre (UTAC) announced the completion of its first R&D collaboration on ultra-thin, large die-stacking process development with Qimonda, Infineon Technologies memory spin-off. The companies will expand their collaboration to include advanced stacking and flip chip technology, and will extend the efforts for 18 months.
09/25/2006 The photos included here are from Friday, Sept. 22, the final day of Small Times NanoCon International. Legendary biotech financier Steven Burrill delivered the morning's keynote address, which explored lessons that people in the nanotech industry could learn from the history of the biotech sector.
09/25/2006 Small Times NanoCon International in Las Vegas came to a close on Friday with a keynote address by a veteran of the biotech industry and a second keynote on how the Sarbanes-Oxley act affects nanotech, as well as a trio of panels that covered the life sciences, what it takes to go public, and how to get early stage funding for a nanotech startup.
09/25/2006 Synopsys, Inc., a maker of semiconductor design software, and Nikon Corp., a supplier of lithography equipment for microelectronics manufacturing announced that they are collaborating on the development and delivery of advanced lithography software models and DFM enabled lithography manufacturing solutions for 45 nm and below.
09/22/2006 North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted $1.73B worth of orders in August, based on a three-month average; they recorded $1.73B in bookings. The figures create a 1.00 book-to-bill ratio for August, 2006, according to SEMI's report.
09/22/2006 Spire Corp. announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market silver coated hemodialysis catheters.
