12/13/2005 By Ed Korczynski, Senior Technical Editor
The ISMI Symposium on Manufacturing Effectiveness in Austin, TX, in October provided insights into the near future of high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. With fabs ramping 90nm and 65nm node processes, new mindsets and techniques are needed to manage the inherent complexity of manufacturing nanometer-scale IC structures.
With the economy looking up and some chipmakers talking about ramping production, Japan's semiconductor supply chain is suddenly looking downright optimistic as well. Japan's GDP growth is now running at a surprisingly healthy 3.3% annual rate. Economists are cheered by the sweeping reelection of prime minister Junichiro Koizumi with his plan to push economic reform.
Opportunities may be limitless for the future of nanotechnology-based products, but for hundreds of startups, many of them at the NanoCommerce/NanoForum (organized by Small Times, the NanoBusiness Alliance, and SEMI), reaching success will mean a lengthy struggle through what is being called the "Valley of Death." While the potential may be great, it won't help if the company's money runs out before research turns into profitable products.
12/13/2005 December 13, 2005 - Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. have entered into a strategic foundry partnership where Cypress will transfer its programmable system-on-chip mixed signal array, CMOS image sensor, WirelessUSB, and PC clock process technologies to Grace and in turn receive preferential volume access to Grace's foundry capacity.
12/12/2005 Hsinchu, Taiwan, and Sunnyvale, CA — ChipMOS Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of ChipMOS, has entered into an assembly and testing agreement with Spansion LLC, the Flash memory venture of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Fujitsu Limited. ChipMOS Taiwan will become an outsource provider of assembly and testing services for Spansion under the terms of the agreement.
12/12/2005 The Foresight Nanotech Institute announced on Friday the appointment of Marc Lurie as president. Lurie succeeds Scott Mize, who will return to the for-profit sector.
12/12/2005 Veeco Instruments Inc., a supplier of instrumentation to the nanoscience community, introduced the BioScope II, an atomic force microscope (AFM) designed to facilitate advanced bioscience research.
12/09/2005 December 9, 2005 - A European Commission-sponsored research project said it has achieved a significant breakthrough with development of a 800W EUV light source.
12/09/2005 December 8, 2005 - NEC Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. said they have developed a new device technology for low-power, high-performance systel LSI capable of enhancing functionality of sub-10nm transistors.
12/09/2005 December 9, 2005 - SCHOTT is expanding its activities in the FPD market by investing US$195 million in its melting and processing capacity for TFT-LCD glass for FPDs. SCHOTT has entered a joint venture, SCHOTT Kuramoto Processing Korea Co. Ltd., for the processing of large format TFT-LCD glass substrates of generation five and upwards with Kuramoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd., based in Japan's Miyagi prefecture.
12/09/2005 The grants will fund the creation of two new university-based nanoelectronics research centers -- one in California and the other centered in New York -- as well as support additional research at five National Science Foundation nanoscience centers and at a research group in Texas.
12/09/2005 Arrowhead Research Corp, a developer of nanotechnology research and companies, announced that it has created a wholly owned subsidiary NanoPolaris Inc. in order to assemble a portfolio of intellectual property in the area of carbon nanotubes. The intent, according to a company release, is to facilitate and enable the manufacture of nanotube-based products.
12/08/2005 December 8, 2005 - Intel and STMicroelectronics have developed a common flash memory subsystem aimed at creating a "second source" for 90nm and beyond NOR flash products and subsystems, in order to lower long-term development costs for handsets and mobile phones.
12/08/2005 December 8, 2005 - European R&D consortium IMEC is installing two 300mm coater/developer tools from Tokyo Electron Ltd. for use in EUV and 193nm immersion lithography work.
12/08/2005 December 8, 2005 - ASML said it plans to ship 20-25 immersion lithography systems in 2006, including shipments to Japan, and is now receiving components for its first EUV alpha tools being delivered next year to IMEC and Albany NanoTech.
12/08/2005 December 8, 2005 - At IEDM 2005, IMEC presented breakthroughs demonstrating FUSI as a leading candidate for integration of Hf-based dielectrics with metal gates for (sub)-45nm.
12/08/2005 December 8, 2005 - The leading manufacturers of semiconductor equipment project 2005 sales to reach $32.95 billion, according to the just-released, year-end edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Consensus Forecast.
