06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - Balazs Analytical Services, a division of Air Liquide Electronics US, has introduced a new analytical technique that can provide trace analysis of metal concentrations in water and process chemicals down to parts-per-quadrillion (ppq) -- 1ppq equivalent to one in a million billions.
06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) and parent company Toshiba Corp. have developed a multichip package (MCP) memory that incorporates a GB-class NAND flash memory and an SD card interface controller along with standard MCP memories.
06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - Cabot Microelectronics Corp. Aurora, IL, a developer of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing slurries, has agreed to purchase all the assets of QED Technologies Inc., a developer of polishing and metrology systems for high precision optics, in an effort to expand its "engineered surface finishes" lines outside the semiconductor market.
06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - Mosaid Technologies, Ottawa, Canada, and Infineon Technologies and memory spinoff Qimonda AG, have settled a patent dispute involving two sets of litigation in the US.
06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - At this recent Symposium on VLSI Technology, SEMATECH engineers reviewed technical details on metal electrode materials that can be used to build low-threshold-voltage (Vt) nMOS transistors with high-k dielectric, and discussed a new approach for creating advanced, low-standby-power transistors for the 45nm technology generation.
06/16/2006 June 16, 2006 - Spansion Inc., the former flash JV of AMD and Fujitsu, reportedly will invest $1.2 billion over the next three years to build a new 300mm production line at its plant in northern Japan's Fukushima Prefecture.
06/16/2006 Camtek Ltd. announced they have received an order from Toshiba Corp. for multiple Falcon 830 bumped-wafer metrology systems. Toshiba will use the systems in their Oita, Japan, manufacturing plant for in-line bump inspection of 300-mm wafers.
06/15/2006 Magma Design Automation Inc. announced the expansion of its operations in India with the opening of a Noida, India office location. The company also plans to increase its operations in Bangalore.
06/15/2006 June 15, 2006 - European research consortium IMEC says it has achieved "several breakthroughs" on Ni-based fully silicided (FUSI) gates, achieving "excellent" low-power and high-performance specifications that meet ITRS requirements for use in 45nm-process manufacturing. Results of IMEC's work with FUSI were presented at the 2006 VLSI Symposium.
06/15/2006 STATS ChipPAC announced the establishment of a turnkey solutions management team as part of a program to streamline supply chain logistics for wafer bump, wafer sort, package assembly, and final test customers. This customer resource is intended to address supply chain issues from material management to final product shipment, expanding STATS ChipPAC's standard supply chain management services.
06/15/2006 Owlstone Nanotech Inc., a maker of nanotechnology-based chemical detection products, announced that it has received four new purchase orders for Owlstone Tourist components and accessories.
06/14/2006 June 14, 2006 - In a move to join forces to move up the chain in the $8.3 billion silicon wafer market, Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Corp. (SUMCO) has agreed to acquire a 51% ownership in rival Japanese wafer maker Komatsu Electronic Metals Co. Ltd. (KEM), for approximately 36.9 billion yen (US $321.8 million).
06/14/2006 Innovasic Semiconductor announced that they are actively developing a roadmap to address Intel's end-of-life notice (EOL) on products 8051, 251, 8096/196, 188/186, i960, and all versions of the 386 and 486.
06/14/2006 Amtel Corp. and u-blox AG will join forces in the production and availability of their next-generation GPS receiver. The companies will offer an evaluation kit as well as samples of the chip as part of their collaboration.
06/14/2006 June 13, 2006 - Qimonda, the carved-out memory chip arm of Infineon Technologies, said it has won the business to supply graphics RAM for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console.
06/14/2006 June 14, 2006 - NanoNexus, San Jose, CA, a developer of semiconductor interconnect technology, has secured $32 million in an oversubscribed Series A round of financing, with participation from new investor Cypress Semiconductor.
06/14/2006 June 14, 2006 - Researchers at Advance Nanotech Inc. and the Center for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) at the U. of Cambridge, UK, say they have developed novel composites made from organic polymers and nanostructured materials that provide "printable" semiconductors for low-cost inkjet print manufacturing.
06/13/2006 "Sensors," a report by the Freedonia Group, predicts U.S. sensor products will experience a 3.7% annual increase, reaching 12.1B in 2010. The fastest growth is anticipated in advanced, sophisticated sensors serving dynamic applications such as medical equipment and military technology.
