07/01/2005 More than 40 years ago, in the early 1960s, the space program began to experience firsthand the effects of molecular contamination. Problems were apparent within the optics-rich vacuum environments well before the first spacecraft was launched.
07/01/2005 When manufacturing in an aseptic environment, it is critical to ensure that the various cleanroom consumables, such as wipers, gloves, swabs, tubing, etc.
07/01/2005 The complexity of semiconductor device manufacturing processes is increasing as scaling of ICs continues with shrinking feature sizes. With this complexity, contamination control of nanosize particles is increasingly becoming more important during fabrication. The ITRS guidelines in Table 1 show the stringent purity requirements for liquid chemicals to be used in the manufacture of next-generation semiconductors.1
07/01/2005 Have you noticed how electronics experts are all searching for the next piece of news, the next new product that will blow away the competition, or that one bit of “secret stuff” that no one else knows about?
07/01/2005 Feature-rich cell phones, pocket PCs, digital cameras, and other handheld consumer products require maximum functional integration, including memory, DSP, ASIC, RF, MEMs, and other devices in the smallest footprint, lowest profile, and lowest cost package available.
07/01/2005 The major assembly and test subcontractors started 2005 with financial results that were surprisingly uniform and generally as projected, but they were negative by most measures.
06/30/2005 (June 30, 2005) Irvine, Calif. — Newport Corp. has purchased the 3,220,300 shares of its common stock issued as part of the consideration for its purchase of Spectra-Physics from Thermo Electron Corp. back in July 2004. Newport paid $13.56 per share, or $43.7 million for the shares, determined by negotiation between Newport and Thermo Electron, and representing a discount from the average closing price of Newport common stock for the last 20 trading days.
06/30/2005 June 30, 2005 - ON Semiconductor has announced its plan to transfer wafer-fab operations from its Site 2 facility in Seremban, Malaysia, to its facility in Phoenix by the end of 2006, resulting in the loss of ~80 jobs. As a result, the company expects to save a total of ~$25 to $30 million over the next five years, beginning in the 3Q06.
06/30/2005 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and NEI Corp. announced they established a cooperative research program in nanotechnology with an Indian government R&D center.
06/30/2005 Nanomix Inc., an Emeryville, Calif., company commercializing a line of nanoelectronic detection devices for industrial and biomedical applications, announced the release of a second detection device based on its Sensation technology platform.
06/29/2005 June 29, 2005 - Rudolph Technologies Inc. has signed a definitive merger agreement with August Technology Corp. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of both companies, is subject to customary regulatory approvals and shareholder vote of each company, and is expected to close in the 4Q05.
