09/19/2006 A gate system released by NEC uses a radio wave reflection method which shoots radio waves indirectly from antennae to RFID tags via reflector plates. This indirect reader technique enables RFID scans on packages of liquid or metal, and reduces cross-scanning with adjacent RFIDs. The company claims that the system will increase accuracy in inspection and inventory control systems.
09/19/2006 By George A. Riley, contributing editor
A European Union (EU) Commission for Environment report on scientific and technical progress in implementing RoHS declined to consider a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study showing that some lead-free solders may damage the environment more than the tin-lead solders they replace. The July 28, 2006 final report concluded that comparisons of no-lead solders to tin-lead were outside the scope of this scientific review.
09/19/2006 By Meredith Courtemanche, assistant editor
Printed nano-materials present electronics designers with the potential for small, flexible, light-weight, and inexpensive devices beyond silicon. Conductive nano-materials are printed with familiar techniques, comparable to those used to press newspapers. Ashok Maliakal is a researcher for flexible, printed ICs at Bell Labs, the R&D center for Lucent Technologies. He talked to AP about the usefulness of plastic, moldable ICs.
09/19/2006 September 19, 2006 - SEMATECH and its manufacturing-oriented subsidiary, the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), have signed an agreement to incorporate ASML Holding NV's resolution enhancement techniques (RET) in order to qualify imaging performance of advanced logic patterns, metrology structures, and defect designs for the 45nm, 32nm, and 22nm technology nodes.
09/19/2006 September 17, 2006 -- /FDA News/ -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers of the vital importance of keeping carrot juice-including pasteurized carrot juice-refrigerated.
09/19/2006 September 19, 2006 - The group of private investors that swooped in with an 11th hour bid for Freescale Semiconductor Inc. reportedly has backed out of the running, after the company accepted a $17.6 million offer by a rival group -- even though the chipmaker left the door open for other buyout offers.
09/19/2006 Synova, a developer of water jet-guided laser technology, announced it has received a follow-on order from Vishay Intertechnology, one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors and passive components, for its Laser Dicing System (LDS) 200.
09/19/2006 Gas Cluster Ion Beam (GCIB) developer Epion Corp. announced that it has entered into a formal joint development program with one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for the mobile, automotive and PC/AV markets and world's number one supplier of microcontrollers. The development program will utilize Epion's GCIB technology to develop advanced processes for CMOS logic structures for 45nm and smaller devices.
09/19/2006 SUSS MicroTec announced that the first potential commercial source for C4NP glass molds has been selected. SUSS explained that the Glass MEMS Division of ULVAC COATING CORPORATION (ULCOAT) of Saitama, Japan has successfully demonstrated trial production of the reusable glass molds needed to bump wafers using IBM's C4NP process.
09/18/2006 At a recent Applied Materials investor meeting in New York, CEO Mike Splinter announced the company's entry into the rapidly growing solar photovoltaic (PV) market. Manufacturing PV modules is a different ballgame than making ICs or FPDs, but the company believes it can apply technology similar to what it's supplied to those core markets to help drive down costs in the PV industry, and capture a major share of the equipment market.
09/18/2006 September 18, 2006 - Qimonda AG and partner Nanya Technology Corp. have qualified their 75nm DRAM trench technology, as well as a 512Mbit DDR2 memory chip build on the platform, with minimum structure sizes down to 70nm. The devices were developed at Qimonda's R&D centers in Germany, and volume production has already commenced at Qimonda's 300mm DRAM line in Dresden.
09/18/2006 Synova will open a micromachining center (MMC) in Boston, MA. For a full explanation of Synova's MMC expansion, see our interview with Bernold Richerzhagen, CEO. Synova will use the facility for demonstrations, sample tests, and application development.
09/18/2006 By Jeffrey C. Demmin, contributing editor
The 2006 KGD Packaging & Test Workshop, held in Napa September 10 – 13, gathered the usual excellent slate of speakers at the 13th annual installment of the popular event. The location and extracurricular activities were a nice bonus for attendees, but the real draw was the program, with talks from industry leaders representing Micron, Samsung, Infineon, SPIL, STATS ChipPAC, Nokia, and many others.
09/18/2006 September 18, 2006 -- DURHAM, NC -- Thanks to a barnstorming business tour, the biotech industry is getting a look at the remarkable resources amassing at the $1 billion North Carolina Research Campus (www.ncresearchcampus.net).
09/18/2006 Hot-spots resulting from nonuniform power dissipation over a chip are the bane of manufacturers of high-performance ICs such as CPUs, graphics chips, and DSPs. And these hot-spots will only become more pronounced, as CMOS devices continue to scale -- the ITRS projects high-end CPUs dissipating 200W five years from now. Nextreme Thermal Solutions is readying its nanoengineered films for embedded thermoelectric coolers to help the industry address meet these challenges.
09/18/2006 The Woodrow Wilson Center Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies will release the results of a nationwide poll about the American public's perception of nanotechnology on Tuesday.
09/18/2006 September 15, 2006 -- /MARKET WIRE/ -- IRWINDALE, CA -- As a precautionary measure in response to the recent warning issued by the FDA regarding fresh bagged spinach, Ready Pac is voluntarily recalling one of its salad items.
09/18/2006 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., has entered into a definitive merger agreement with a private equity consortium. The group plans to acquire Freescale at a total equity value of $17.6B. The merger is led by Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Permira, and Texas Pacific Group.
09/18/2006 September 18, 2006 - Elpida Memory Inc. and PowerChip Semiconductor Corp. reportedly are planning a joint 300mm DRAM fab in Taiwan, in an effort to supplant Samsung as the top suppliers in the worldwide DRAM market.
09/18/2006 SUSS MicroTec, a Munich, Germany, supplier of precision manufacturing and test equipment for the semiconductor and emerging markets, announced an order for its ELAN CB6L wafer bonding system to NanoWorld Services.
