07/27/2006 XACTIX and Surface Technology Systems have released a suite of etching tools specific to MEMS, combining STS and XACTIX products. The xenon difluoride silicon-etch systems enable unconventional processes, "such as etching after package insertion and wire-bonding," says David Springer, president of XACTIX. They use xenon difluoride gas to selectively isotropic etch into bulk silicon or remove sacrificial layers made by silicon, germanium, or molybdenum.
07/27/2006 July 27, 2006 - Toshiba Corp. has agreed to settle a dispute with an ex-engineer who was instrumental in the creation of flash memory, two years after he sued them for reimbursement for his work while at the company.
07/27/2006 July 27, 2006 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said it earned record profits in its 2Q06, as revenues exceeded the high end of expectations due to strong demand from customers in communications and consumer markets. But inventory concerns have caused the top foundry to pull back its estimates across the board for 3Q.
07/27/2006 July 27, 2006 - ICOS Vision Systems Corp. NV and European R&D center IMEC have agreed to collaborate on development of metrology methods targeting 3D packaging processes for ICs, including wafer-level packaging, flip-chip, systems-in-package, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
07/27/2006 Surface Technology Systems plc (STS) of Newport, Wales, announced the appointment of Robin Johnson as its interim chief operating officer, effective immediately.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 - Laser light source manufacturer Gigaphoton Inc. said it will now support US customers of Dutch litho tool provider ASML, including laser installation and sustaining maintenance, and said the deal could expand to other parts of the world "in due course."
07/26/2006 The MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange will incorporate sp3 Diamond Technologies Inc.'s diamond-on-silicon (DOS) foundry service into processes they offer. Developers with the Exchange can access proprietary chemical vapor deposition (CVD) services and thermal, mechanical, and wear properties of diamond technology.
07/26/2006 NEC Electronics, a Japanese semiconductor corporation, joined the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), a manufacturing-oriented microchip consortium, to access manufacturing infrastructure, methods, standards, and productivity, while collaborating in various programs.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 - Mosaid Technologies Inc. said it has initiated new litigation in Texas against memory chipmakers Micron Technology Inc., Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., and ProMOS Technologies, alleging infringement of nine US patents concerning DRAM technologies. Meanwhile, Micron has filed for declaratory relief in a separate court hearing.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 - Photronics Inc., Brookfield, CT, has officially opened its photomask manufacturing site in Shanghai, China, about three years after announcing plans for its formation. A production ramp is planned by 4Q06 at the facility in the Zhangjiang Semiconductor Industrial Park, which the company noted is the first merchant photomask fab to be brought online in the Shanghai region in more than a decade.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 - Entegris Inc. and Japanese firm Miraial Co. Ltd. (formerly Kakizaki Manufacturing Co. Ltd.) have settled litigation over disputed patents concerning 300mm semiconductor wafer handling technology, with terms undisclosed.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 - Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc., through their joint venture IM Flash, say they have started sampling 4Gbit NAND flash memory devices using 50nm process technologies, and plan to ramp to mass production across a range of memory densities within the next year.
07/26/2006 July 26, 2006 -- /IEST/ -- ROLLING MEADOWS, IL -- The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) announces its 53rd annual technical meeting and exposition, ESTECH 2007, to be held April 29-May 2, 2007 at the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois (convenient to Chicago O'Hare International Airport).
07/26/2006 NaturalNano Inc., a company whose primary business is discovering, refining, and marketing naturally occurring nanomaterials, announced the appointment of Cathy Fleischer as chief technology officer.
07/25/2006 Camtek, an automatic optical inspection (AOI) company, will offer film plotters based on Mania Technologie's SilverWriter and Calibr8tor under an OEM agreement.
07/25/2006 The MEMS market is currently fragmented in terms of the types of devices being produced and the companies producing them, but over the next ten years MEMS components will increasingly be integrated into modules that will replace existing electronics systems, and manufacturing will be absorbed by mainstream semiconductor companies. That was the message delivered at SEMICON West by Jean-Christophe Eloy, GM of market research firm Yole Developpement.
07/25/2006 A roundup of midyear forecast updates for semiconductor sales, equipment sales, and capital expenditures indicates general agreement that 2006 will shape up to be a boon year overall, particularly in the first half of the year, and strongest on the equipment side. But growth this year will come at a cost, as the same analysts generally agree that 2007 looks to be downright gloomy.
07/25/2006 Continuing his report on this year's SEMICON West, senior editor M. David Levenson looks at the latest tools for immersion lithography and e-beam, new metrology from startup firms, and innovations from companies involving mask substrate tuning and automating OPC.
07/25/2006 July 25, 2006 - NEC Electronics Corp. has joined the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), bringing a background of technical depth and consumer-market experience. The firm says it is particularly interested in ISMI's programs on benchmarketing and productivity improvement.
