Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

October 10, 2008: In a move to further extend its global distribution network, Nanosurf AG has appointed RL Artal Co. LLC in Budapest as its official agent for Hungary, and Anamet SRO in Prague and Modra, as its distributor for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cooperation with these local sales partners allows Nanosurf to tap into the emerging nanotechnology markets in Eastern Europe, and to better meet the need for easy-to-use and affordable atomic force microscopes (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) for education, research, and industry in this region.

Nanosurf’s main focus is on the research and development of scanning probe microscopes (SPM) and their accessories, with a particular emphasis on making them accessible to a broad user base by paying special attention to their ease of use, affordability, and reliability. Nanosurf’s engineering capabilities and technical know-how have led the Swiss company to be included in NASA’s Phoenix Mars mission with the first AFM to record images on another planet.


AFM scan of a carbon nanotube.

October 10, 2008: The race for the best “gecko foot” dry adhesive got a new competitor this week with a stronger and more practical material conjured by a team of researchers from four US institutions.

Scientists have long been interested in the ability of gecko lizards to scurry up walls and cling to ceilings by their toes. The creatures owe this amazing ability to microscopic branched elastic hairs in their toes that take advantage of atomic-scale attractive forces to grip surfaces and support surprisingly heavy loads. Several research groups have attempted to mimic those hairs with structures made of polymers or carbon nanotubes.

In a paper published in the October 10 issue of Science, researchers from the U. of Dayton, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the U. of Akron describe an improved carbon nanotube-based material that creates directionally-varied (anisotropic) adhesive force. With a gripping ability nearly three times the previous record — and ten times better than a real gecko at resisting perpendicular shear forces — the new carbon nanotube array could give artificial gecko feet the ability to tightly grip vertical surfaces while being easily lifted off when desired.

Beyond the ability to walk on walls, the material could have many technological applications, including connecting electronic devices and substituting for conventional adhesives in the dry vacuum of space. The research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

“The resistance to shear force keeps the nanotube adhesive attached very strongly to the vertical surface, but you can still remove it from the surface by pulling away from the surface in a normal direction,” explained Liming Dai, the Wright Brothers Institute Endowed Chair in the School of Engineering at the University of Dayton. “This directional difference in the adhesion force is a significant improvement that could help make this material useful as a transient adhesive.”


Scanning electron microscope images of the vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes grown for this research. (Credit: Image courtesy of Liangti Qu)

The key to the new material is the use of rationally designed multi-walled carbon nanotubes formed into arrays with “curly entangled tops,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents’ Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. The tops, which Wang compared to spaghetti or a jungle of vines (see image above), mimic the hierarchical structure of real gecko feet, which include branching hairs of different diameters.

When pressed onto a vertical surface, the tangled portion of the nanotubes becomes aligned in contact with the surface. That dramatically increases the amount of contact between the nanotubes and the surface, maximizing the van der Waals forces that occur at the atomic scale. When lifted off the surface in a direction parallel to the main body of the nanotubes, only the tips remain in contact, minimizing the attraction forces, Wang explained.

“The contact surface area matters a lot,” he noted. “When you have line contact along, you have van der Waals forces acting along the entire length of the nanotubes, but when you have a point contact, the van der Waals forces act only at the tip of the nanotubes. That allows us to truly mimic what the gecko does naturally.”

October 9, 2008: A researcher at Arizona State U.‘s Biodesign Institute is using cells as factories to make DNA based nanostructures inside a living cell. The results were published in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Hao Yan specializes in a fast-growing field within nanotechnology — commonly known as structural DNA nanotechnology — that uses the basic chemical units of DNA, abbreviated as C, T, A, or G, to self-fold into a number of different building blocks that can further self-assemble into patterned structures.

“This is a good example of artificial nanostructures that can be replicated using the machineries in live cells” said Yan, discussing his work in a statement. “Cells are really good at making copies of double stranded DNA and we have used the cell like a copier machine to produce many, many copies of complex DNA nanostructures.”

DNA nanotechnology has been limited by the need to chemically synthesize all of the material from scratch. To date, it has strictly been a test tube science, where researchers have developed many toolboxes for making different DNA nanostructures to attach and organize other molecules including nanoparticles and other biomolecules.

“We have always dreamed of scaling up DNA nanotechnology. One way to scale that it up is to use the cellular system because simple DNA can be replicated inside the cell. We wanted to know if the cell’s copy machine could tolerate single stranded DNA nanostructures that contain complicated secondary structures.”

To test the nanoscale manufacturing capabilities of cells, Yan and his fellow researchers, Chenxiang Lin, Sherri Rinker and Yan Liu at ASU and their collaborators Ned Seeman and Xing Wang at New York U., went back to reproducing the very first branched nanostructure made up of DNA- a cross-shaped, four-arm DNA junction and another DNA junction structure containing a different crossover topology.

To copy these branched DNA nanostructures inside a living cell, the ASU and NYU research team first shipped the cargo inside a bacteria cell. They cut and pasted the DNA necessary to make these structures into a phagemid, a virus-like particle that infects a bacteria cell. Once inside the cell, the phagemid used the cell just like a photocopier machine to reproduce millions of copies of the DNA. By theoretically starting with just a single phagemid infection, and a single milliliter of cultured cells, Yan found that the cells could churn out trillions of the DNA junction nanostructures.

The DNA nanostructures produced in the cells were found to fold correctly, just like the previously built test tube structures. According to Yan, the results also proved the key existence of the DNA nanostructures during the cell’s routine DNA replication and division cycles. “When a DNA nanostructure gets replicated, it does exist and can survive the complicated cellular machinery. And it looks like the cell can tolerate this kind of structure and still do its job. It’s amazing,” said Yan.

Yan acknowledges that this is just the first step, but foresees there are many interesting DNA variations to consider next. “The fact that the natural cellular machinery can tolerate artificial DNA objects is quite intriguing, and we don’t know what the limit is yet.”

Oct. 8, 2008 – Semiconductor capital equipment spending had been expected to be lousy through 2008 and into early 2009, but consensus as recently as July was that overall next year would be the beginning of the upswing. No longer — Gartner now expects 2008 capex to slide even further (-25%), and will drop another 13% in 2009, thanks to a full-on collapse in memory investments and economic pressures on consumer spending habits.

“The excess spending of 2006 and 2007 has hit home, and the equipment industry will continue to feel the pinch well into 2009,” writes Dean Freeman in a research note. Memory oversupplies have persisted, and now an economic crisis is spreading to major economies in North America, Europe, and Asia which will impact consumer electronic consumption, which in turn affects foundry and IDM spending, he said.

Gartner now projects total global semiconductor capital spending to slip to $47.1B this year, and fall to $41.1B in 2009. Look for a pickup in 2010 (16.7% to $47.9B) and a bigger surge in 2011 (23.1% to $59.0B), followed by another downturn in 2012 (-10.5% to $52.8B).

Litho remains the strongest segment in wafer-fab equipment (WFE) spending, with “only” a -15% decline in 2008 vs. the sector’s -26.1%, due to increased adoption of 193nm immersion technologies, particularly from memory firms who need them for smaller geometries even if capacity slows. Factory automation (-13% software, -23% hardware) also will outperform the market, Gartner predicts; new fabs will still be built even if they won’t be ramped aggressively, but material-handling systems still need to be in place before any quick ramp in the future is attempted. Deposition, etch, and implant (all around -30%) are the hardest-hit segments; these won’t require the same significant upgrades at leading-edge nodes as litho tools, so shipments will largely depend on capacity additions and not process improvements.

Packaging and assembly (PAE) is seen dropping 18%, more than expected. Automated test equipment (ATE) spending will fall nearly 27% thanks largely to softness in memory testers (though there will also be burgeoning competition in this area as well); though analog and RF test will outperform the rest of the market for the next year.

Among the report’s highlights:

– Memory spending will be down 36% this year (DRAM -44%, NAND flash -23%) and nearly 17% in 2009 (DRAM -14%, NAND -22%), as excess capacity is absorbed and offline capacity is brought back into use. 300mm production rates are being lowered and some 200mm capacity is being taken offline, but “inventories of die banks need to be worked down until memory prices firm,” Gartner writes. Expect “a no-growth mode until 2010.”

– Foundry spending will continue to be slow (-29% in 2008, -15% in 2009) as fabless customers remain conservative in moving to next-gen tech nodes, and in some cases will skip a node to amortize design and mask costs.

– Logic spending in 2008 is impacted by the ongoing “fab-lite” movement, e.g. Sony, STMicroelectronics, and TI. Look for overall declines in this sector of -16% in 2008 and -9.4% in 2009.

– Compounding memory oversupplies, overall industry capital intensity (spending as a % of sales) used to be ~20%, but now has drifted down to ~15% “from this point on,” Gartner analysts note, and this “reset will have a significant impact on semiconductor equipment companies’ future profitability.”

– Assembly and test services (SATS) firms will be comparatively strong vs. the rest of the industry, slipping only ~11% this year due to higher unit volumes, despite soft memory revenues and a shift in mix toward higher-priced packaging types.

– Back-end utilization rates in 3Q were ≤75%, with leading-edge utilization rates “only a couple of points higher.” Memory and display-driver utilization sunk to 60%-65%, and wafer-bumping (notably gold) down to ≤60%. “Packaging manufacturers continue to effectively manage their capex while maximizing their production output. The result will continue to be an extremely cautious capital spending forecast,” Gartner writes.


(Source: Gartner)

October 7, 2008: Micromem Applied Sensor Technologies Inc. (MAST), a wholly owned US subsidiary of Micromem Technologies, has established a corporate office in New York City, part of the parent company’s strategic plan to focus on magnetic sensor opportunities independent of the magnetic random access memory (MRAM) market.

Micromem Technologies has transitioned from research and development to business development with a focus on applying its highly sensitive and accurate magnetic sensors to serve unmet needs and applications heretofore not possible with currently available competing technologies.

MAST’s MRAM sensor properties were discovered through research and development at Micromem Technologies; MAST has since developed GC-0301 for commercialization in the US. With over 200 V/T, GC-0301 is the most sensitive hall sensor on the market across a large environmental operating temperature range without the need for external amplification. The company is prioritizing its targets to focus on aerospace/defense and consumer applications.

“Opening a New York office brings us closer to our US-based clients,” said Micromem CEO Joe Fuda, in a statement. “More important, our sensor is relevant to a number of critical government and military applications, many of which may become protected under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), a policy that requires a US presence and management team. Launching MAST in New York sends a clear message to the market that we are here to stay and are serious about solving difficult application problems for unmet needs.”

Steven Van Fleet, president of MAST, commented: “In the aerospace/defense sector, our business development team has signed an agreement with BAE Systems, one of the largest defense companies in the world, to develop nano-sensor technology for use in military, law enforcement, and homeland security applications. The goal of the agreement is to further develop the design and manufacturability of our technology. MAST intends to use BAE’s foundry, a Department of Defense trusted facility, for the manufacturing of all government and defense related solutions. MAST has also signed an agreement with Global Communications Semiconductors (GCS), a specialty compound semiconductor foundry based in Los Angeles, and intends to use GCS for the manufacturing of all consumer products.”

October 3, 2008: Reacting to strong customer demand, Michelson Diagnostics Ltd. (MDL) is broadening the commercial application of its ‘multibeam’ optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology into markets outside its core target of cancer diagnosis, such as industrial metrology, product inspection, tissue engineering, and developmental biology.

“We are reacting to customers who have realised that the superior image definition provided by our patented multi-beam OCT technology is advantageous in their applications”, said MDL CEO Jon Holmes, in a statement. “For a given depth-of-focus, you get twice the resolution, (or, for a given resolution, four times the focal depth), compared with single beam OCT systems — which means crisper, clearer images.”

He cited applications such as MEMS metrology, inspection of ceramic composite materials and industrial coatings, fine art conservation, gemstone quality, stem cell research, and dentistry as examples.

The company currently markets the EX1301 OCT microscope with <10μm lateral resolution, by virtue of its multi-beam optical design.


EX1301 OCT microscope in use.

by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology

Oct. 1, 2008 – SEMI is acquiring Surplus Equipment Consortium Network (SEC/N), a non-profit trade association for secondary semiconductor equipment markets. SEC/N’s stated mission is fostering cooperation, fair and ethical business practices, and the development and distribution of standards and definitions specific to the secondary equipment market.

Rich Salsman, VP of global sales and membership services at SEMI, told SST that ~60% of SEC/N’s membership are also members of SEMI, so “by combining forces, we can take [SEC/N’s mission] to another level.” SEMI’s global reach encourages a richer agenda by having more people participate, he added.

By acquiring SEC/N, SEMI also plans to tackle challenges that impact the growing secondary market such as having new standards that deal with liability issues, field support, a code of conduct, even the basics such as when equipment should be classified as refurbished, and when it should be classified as used.

As an indication of the interest in the secondary market, SEMI projects that by 2009 this market will be >$8B. Another indication of the growing interest is a survey of mostly North American fab managers SEMI conducted in August, in which more than half (~53%) said they expect to increase their use of secondary equipment within the next 2-3 years.

Salsman also pointed out to SST the inaccuracy of the notion that secondary equipment, whether used or refurbished, is not leading-edge. Some secondary equipment is retrofitted with new features and other IP that enables up-to-date requirements for operational efficiency and agile manufacturing including improved throughput, productivity, and flexibility, he mentioned. — D.V.

September 29, 2008: Norman, OK-based SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc. (SWeNT) has dedicated a new 18,000-square-foot, $3.9 million facility .

“Our mission is to make single-wall nanotubes a commercial reality, and we have overcome all of the barriers that previously prevented that: inconsistent quality, inability to scale up and high production costs,” said CEO David Arthur. “Since moving into the plant in June, we have increased production capacity for high-quality single-wall carbon nanotubes by 100-fold at one-tenth the cost.”

Single-wall carbon nanotubes consist of a hollow cylinder of carbon with a diameter equal to approximately one nanometer — a billionth of a meter. Due to their unusual structure, they exhibit extraordinary optical and electronic properties, tremendous strength and flexibility, and high thermal and chemical stability. These remarkable properties make them suitable for a wide range of applications in the automotive, aeronautics, electronics, displays, energy and healthcare markets.

In July, SWeNT announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will use SWeNT SG65 single-wall carbon nanotubes as the starting material for a Standard Reference Material. SRMs are used to perform instrument calibrations, verify the accuracy of specific measurements and support the development of new measurement methods. Industry, academia and government use NIST SRMs to facilitate commerce and trade and to advance research and development.

September 29, 2008 – Researchers at the U. of Texas at Austin have created a new “graphene-based” material that they claim helps solve the structure of graphite oxide, and could lead to other potential discoveries of graphene, which has applications in nanoelectronics, energy storage and production, and transportation such as airplanes and cars.

Nanomaterial graphene is a lightweight material with exceptional mechanical properties; it also conducts heat better than any other material, and has charge carriers moving through it at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Just an atom thick, graphene consists of a “chickenwire” (or honeycomb) bonding arrangement of carbon atoms — also known as a single layer of graphite.

However, the detailed chemical structure of graphite oxide (GO), a layered material prepared from graphite that was a precursor to chemically modified graphenes, has not been previously resolved because of the pseudo-random chemical functionalization of each layer, as well as variations in exact composition, the scientists note in their paper appearing in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Science.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Rod Ruoff and his co-authors have, for the first time, prepared carbon-13 labeled graphite. They did this by first making graphite that had every “normal” carbon atom having the isotope carbon-12, which is magnetically inactive, replaced with carbon-13, which is magnetically active. They then converted that to carbon-13 labeled graphite oxide and used solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to discern the detailed chemical structure of graphite oxide.

“As a result of our work it will now be possible for scientists and engineers to create different types of graphene and to study such graphene-based materials with solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to obtain their detailed chemical structure,” Ruoff says. “This includes situations such as where the graphene is mixed with a polymer and chemically bonded at critical locations to make remarkable polymer matrix composites; or embedded in glass or ceramic materials; or used in nanoelectronic components; or mixed with an electrolyte to provide superior supercapacitor or battery performance. If we don’t know the chemistry in detail, we won’t be able to optimize properties.”


Mechanical Engineering Professor Rod Ruoff, U. of Texas, Austin. (Source: UT/Austin)

Graphene-based materials are a focus area of research at the university because they are expected to have applications for ultra-strong yet lightweight materials that could be used in automobiles and airplanes to improve fuel efficiency, the blades of wind turbines for improved generation of electrical power, as critical components in nanoelectronics that could have blazing speeds but very low power consumption, for electrical energy storage in batteries and supercapacitors to enable renewable energy production at a large scale and in transparent conductive films that will be used in solar cells and image display technology. In almost every application, sensitive chemical interactions with surrounding materials will play a central role in understanding and optimizing performance.

September 24, 2008: This year’s Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics will be awarded to Phaedon Avouris and Tony Heinz for their pioneering work on the electrical and optical properties of nanoscale carbon materials including carbon nanotubes. The award, accompanied by US$5000, will be presented at the Julius Springer Forum on Applied Physics 2008 at Harvard U. in Cambridge, MA, on September 27, 2008.

Avouris and Heinz’s studies of the electronic properties of nanotubes and graphene aim at developing a future nanoelectronic technology with devices that will be vastly more compact, fast, and energy efficient than current silicon-based devices. The optoelectronic studies aim at uniting and integrating this electronic technology with an optical technology based on the same materials. Their research will aid in the development of future high-speed electronics, communications systems, and sensors for diverse applications. Industries ranging from automobile, aviation, space and energy conversion/conservation to bionanotechnology and medicine are likely to benefit from their research.

Phaedon Avouris received his B.Sc. degree from Aristotle U. in Greece and was awarded his Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry at Michigan State U. He is currently an IBM Fellow and manager of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at IBM’s Research Division at the Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. He has also been an adjunct professor at Columbia U. and the U. of Illinois.

Tony Heinz earned his B.Sc. from Stanford U. and his Ph.D. degree in physics from the U. of California/Berkeley. He is the David M. Rickey Professor in the Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering at Columbia U., where he has been since 1995. Previous to this, he too worked at IBM’s Research Division at the Watson Research Center.

The Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics recognizes researchers who have made an outstanding and innovative contribution to the fields of applied physics. It has been awarded annually since 1998 by the Editors-in-Chief of the Springer journals Applied Physics A — Materials Science & Processing and Applied Physics B — Lasers and Optics.