Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

October 17, 2007 — DuPont (NYSE: DD) has introduced its Light Stabilizer 210, which uses extremely small particles of titanium dioxide to absorb ultraviolet light and protect plastic from the sun’s rays.

But this is more than a simple product release announcement for DuPont. Because a sizeable percentage of the titanium dioxide particles in the Light Stabilizer 210 are nanoscale, the company has chosen the product as a test case for application of a Nano Risk Framework that DuPont and Environmental Defense introduced in June.

The framework is a systematic and disciplined process to evaluate and address the potential risks of nanoscale materials.

DuPont is the world’s largest manufacturer of titanium dioxide, which is widely used as a pigment in the coatings, plastics and paper industries. DuPont’s Light Stabilizer 210 is the first in a family of products based on breakthrough DuPont titanium dioxide process technology, according to the company. A “risk assessment worksheet” (PDF 401KB) of the product is available for download at the Environmental Defense Website.

DuPont and Environmental Defense began working together in 2005, when DuPont’s chairman/CEO and ED’s president co-authored a Wall Street Journal article, entitled “Let’s Get Nanotech Right.” DuPont has pioneered research into the effects of nanomaterials on the environment, including DuPont toxicologist David Warheit’s 2004 study on the effects carbon nanotubes can have on the lungs of rats. Until the U.S. government began sponsoring research into nanomaterials and toxicity, Warheit was among only a few scientists researching nanomaterial toxicity.

DuPont’s product is an additive designed for use in plastics to help protect products from cracking, fading and other types of solar degradation. Potential applications include sporting goods, outdoor furniture, fabrics and carpet fibers — virtually any plastic product that will be exposed to sunlight. It also can be used in plastic films and sheeting to protect plants in greenhouses or packaged goods from UV light.

“Our titanium dioxide manufacturing technology has transformed several times in the more than 70 years since it entered the DuPont product family,” Richard C. Olson, vice president and general manager of DuPont Titanium Technologies, said in a news release. “It’s extremely gratifying to see this material transform yet again into a high performance product made using DuPont nanoscale science.”

Gary K. Whiting, a global venture manager for the new product, said the Light Stabilizer 210 is the first product to use the Nano Risk Framework during the development process.

“Because a portion of the product is less than the threshold 100 nanometers in size, we decided to examine it fully, strictly adhering to the framework,” Whiting said in a news release. “The Nano Risk Framework is an additional tool that allowed us to critically examine and thoroughly understand our product.”

The product works by absorbing ultraviolet rays and changing them into small amounts of heat, which dissipate quickly without damaging the structure of plastic.

October 16, 2007 – A team of scientists at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center say they have used Raman spectroscopy to measured the electron density in <2nm-dia. carbon nanotubes (CNT) by examining the interactions between electrons and phonons. The work will help better gauge how the CNTs release heat and impede electrical flow, thus measuring their suitability for use in future semiconductors.

More than a year ago IBM built an IC around a single carbon nanotube molecule, and have been improving performance of CNT transistors. But reproducibility has been a problem because the CNT’s electrical charge is influenced by environmental factors, so being able to measure local electron density changes is essential.

Their latest work, published online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is based on showing how Raman frequency in both metallic and semiconducting CNTs shifts in response to changes in charge density induced by an external gate field. The team monitored the color of the light scattered from a CNT and measured small changes in the color of the light corresponding to changes in electron density. Changes in the Raman spectra offer a way to probe local doping in CNTs, or charge carrier densities induced by environmental actions, they note. Behavior of the “G mode” (vibrational mode at 1580 cm-1), which shifts to higher frequency and narrows in linewidth in metallic carbon nanotubes at large fields, is analogous to that of graphene, they claim. But in semiconducting CNTs induced changes only shift the phonon frequency and do not affect linewidth.

The researchers claim they’ve devised a model to quantitatively explain the spectral changes, involving renormalization of the CNT phonon energy by the electron-phonon interaction as the carrier density in the CNT is changed. “These changes in the Raman spectra provide us with a powerful tool for probing local doping in carbon nanotubes in electronic device structures, or charge carrier densities induced by environmental interactions, on a length scale determined by the light diffraction limit,” they wrote.


Vibrations give color to light, allowing local measurement of charges in a nano structure. (Image: IBM)

October 16, 2007 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists say they have measured the distribution of electrical charges carbon nanotubes. The technique, which relies on the interactions between electrons and phonons (atomic vibrations), provides a detailed understanding of the electrical behavior of carbon nanotubes. Further, it enables a way to measure their suitability as wires and semiconductors inside of future computer chips.

“The success of nanoelectronics will largely depend on the ability to prepare well characterized and reproducible nano-structures, such as carbon nanotubes,” said Phaedon Avouris, IBM Fellow and lead researcher for IBM’s carbon nanotube efforts. “Using this technique, we are now able to see and understand the local electronic behavior of individual carbon nanotubes.”

To date, researchers have been able to build carbon nanotube transistors with superior performance, but have been challenged with reproducibility issues. Carbon nanotubes are sensitive to environmental influences. For example, their properties can be altered by foreign substances, affecting the flow of electrical current and changing device performance. These interactions are typically local and change the density of electrons in the various devices of an integrated circuit, and even along a single nanotube.

A better understanding of how the local environment affects the electrical charge of a carbon nanotube is needed to allow the fabrication of more reliable transistors. Therefore, the ability to measure local electron density changes in a nanotube is essential.

IBM’s achievement was published online October 14, 2007 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The team monitored the color of the light scattered from the nanotube (Raman Effect), and measured small changes in the color of the light corresponding to changes in the electron density in the nanotube. The technique takes advantage of the interaction between the motion of the atoms and the motion of the electrons, so that electron density changes can be reflected in changes of the frequency of the vibrational motion of the nanotube atoms.

October 15, 2007 – IMEC and Georgia Tech’s Microsystems Packaging Research Center (PRC) say they want more help to research next-generation flip-chip and substrates to address “IC-to-package-to-board” packaging interconnect issues for ICs at the 32nm node and beyond.

The two groups are setting up an industrial affiliation program to explore, develop, and invent new solutions to interconnect high-density ICs with very tight I/O pitches (down to 40-20µm peripheral) to low-cost packages and printed circuit boards, targeting novel packaging approaches to reduce the mechanical stress on the IC after packaging and assembly — packaging techniques that “become indispensable” with Cu/low-k on-chip interconnections, the groups say in a statement.

The two-year program will target technologies to solve four major barriers to next-gen flip-chip packaging of scaled ICs and ultralow-k dielectric ICs:

– Organic package interposer substrates that minimize stress at die and package level, and enhance the wiring density, fine I/O pitch routing capability, and high-frequency signal performance of substrates;
– New fine-pitch flip-chip under-bump metallization and barrier metallization technologies that meet the electromigration and thermo-mechanical reliability targets of flip-chip scaling;
– Novel solder and non-solder interconnect approaches, including advanced underfill materials and processes, to meet future current density, geometry, and reliability requirements; and
– Thermo-mechanical modeling, design, and verification for improved reliability.

“We are excited to start this unique open program with PRC where we intend to bring together 20-30 expert researchers from industry and academia worldwide,” said Eric Beyne, IMEC’s program director for interconnect, packaging and systems integration. “Only by joining expertise and know-how from leading players in the packaging and semiconductor field, we will be able to realize highly reliable solutions beyond the traditional flip-chip
interconnections.”

Prof. Rao Tummala, Director of Georgia Tech’s PRC, added that PRC and IMEC offer “synergy in expertise and facilities in ICs, packages and systems” that will be “critical to address the barriers in flip-chip reliability, electromigration, ultra-fine pitch I/O substrates and IC-package interconnections.”

October 9, 2007 – A scan of recent headlines nets several stories of interest to the solar/photovoltaics sector, including growth plans by Japanese firms and Taiwan automation tool suppliers, and a US firm’s expansion efforts through M&A in Europe.

Japan firms target solar cell growth

Fuji Electric Systems Co. is investing 37 billion yen (US $317.6M) over the next four years to achieve a 12x increase in annual production of light, flexible solar panels, to around 150MW, according to the Nikkei daily.

The unit of Japan’s Fuji Electric Holdings Co. started mass production of thin-film amorphous solar cells this past spring at a factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, and plans to start construction on an adjacent second site next year and a third site in 2009, each with annual production of ~50-60MW, the paper reports.

Fuji Electric Systems claims it’s the only company in the world that mass-produces its type of amorphous solar cells — a battery layer is formed on a polymide film (also used in circuit boards for mobile phones), and then covered with a protective resin film. Power generation efficiency is only about two-thirds of polysilicon solar cells, but it’s half as thick (~1mm) and weighs just 1/13 (1kg/sq. m) as much as polysilicon cells, at roughly equal production costs.

The company aims to sell the product in Europe and China for use in rooftop solar panels and portable battery chargers targeting at more than 10 billion yen in fiscal 2009.

The Nikkei notes that other Japanese firms are exploring nonsilicon solar cells, including Honda Motor Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. also is focusing on amorphous solar cells, the paper notes.

Amtech buys French automation tool firm

Amtech Systems Inc. has acquired R2D Ingenierie, a solar cell and semiconductor automation equipment manufacturing company based in Montpellier, France, to bolster its solar equipment offerings.

The deal’s pricetag of $6.1 million is being set up in payments that will be contingent on R2D making improvements to its product line and production and technology transfer capabilities. Amtech also is providing a $1.0M “working capital infusion” to help build up the firm’s solar business.

R2D, which posted an operating profit of about $800K on sales of about $4.9M in 2006, sells mass transfer systems, sorters, long-boat transfer systems, load station elevators, buffers and conveyers, using what it calls “unique vacuum technology” in its solar wafer transfer systems to ensure high throughput. The firm says “key personnel” have signed three-year employment agreements to stay with Amtech.

“This acquisition advances our strategic objective to increase our share of the rapidly growing solar market and is part of our ongoing effort to truly become a multi-product provider to solar cell manufacturers,” said J.S. Whang, president/CEO of Amtech, in a statement.

Taiwan automation tool suppliers brace for solar surge

Equipment suppliers in Taiwan hope to reap big business opportunities in the solar sector, amid expectations that demand for thin-film solar cells will trigger reciprocal demand for their automation equipment, and that contract business will come their way from bigger international suppliers like Applied Materials, notes the Taiwan Economic News.

Thin-film solar cells are only used in about 3% of all solar cell-based products, but a shortage of refined silicon is pulling more interest away from polysilicon-based solar cells into alternative technologies, the paper notes. With domestic big-names including UMC, CMC Magnetics, and Tatung Group all started manufacturing thin-film models, the market for related automation equipment could be in the tens of billions of (US) dollars.

Mirle Automation Corp., the island’s biggest automation tool supplier, is best positioned to win lucrative business from Applied, the paper notes. Also preparing for growth from the sector are Gallant Precision Machining Co. Ltd. and Marketech International Corp., which will likely “carve out niches” either through contract manufacturing or by supplying equipment directly to the solar firms.

The paper notes that Applied already has stated its intention to order hundreds of millions (US$) worth of automation equipment from domestic suppliers, particularly for its FPD business. Currently the firm makes tools for ~8.5G display panels and is expected to ramp to 10G in the future.

But Applied is also very publicly ramping its business selling thin-film solar cell manufacturing equipment, and Taiwan suppliers are in line to benefit. Mirle already has seen “overwhelming” orders this year with some production lines booked through January 2008. Pretax profits through August were up 13% from a year ago (to $15.7M), and the firm is reinvesting 5% of sales on new lines for thin-film solar cells.

Mirle is betting that solar cell makers are being pressed to incorporate more automation in their manufacturing, and will turn this pressure into tool orders “as soon as possible.” Mirle sees about $2.5-$3.1M coming from its first solar line, with “significant” growth in the next year.

AE announces two-site win for PV inverters

Two recent commercial PV installations in northern California from SunPower are using Advanced Energy Industries’ grid-tie photovoltaic inverters, which sport 97% CEC-weighted efficiency ratings, the company noted. Each site has >300kWp power generation capabilities, and will eliminate the equivalent of ~230 tons of CO2 emissions each year. AE claims its grid-tie inverters provide PV system integrators with better ROI by producing targeted output power levels with fewer solar modules.

October 8, 2007 – BASF says it has joined IMEC’s Industrial Affiliation Program to research and develop IC cleaning solutions and advanced interconnects, with an eye toward commercialization for the 32nm in 2010.

The collaboration aims to develop new chemical cleaning technologies offering better performance and reduced complexity, and also fewer number of IC process steps. “”New and less complex manufacturing processes are a must for future IC technologies to be viable,” stated Serge Vanhaelemeersch, department director for advanced materials and process steps at IMEC, noting that such achievements going forward “can only be overcome by joint interdisciplinary teams.”

“By combining IMEC’s strengths with BASF’s broad chemical and application know-how, we can develop innovative cleaning solutions for enabling IC manufacturing processes using 32nm technology,” stated Andreas Klipp, manager of semiconductor materials development in Europe for BASF Electronic Materials.

BASF is already working with IBM to develop 32nm materials, with research done in both the US and Germany.

October 8, 2007 – Germany’s Aixtron AG has agreed to acquire UK-based startup Nanoinstruments, a manufacturer of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and plasma enhanced CVD research systems for nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, to extend its portfolio “in the mid- and long term within the nanotechnology application space.”

The combined company, AIXTRON Nanoinstruments, will focus on both R&D and industrial scale carbon nanotube equipment, combining the U. of Cambridge spinoff’s technical expertise with Aixtron’s technical resources, manufacturing capabilities, and international sales/service/support network, the firms explained in a statement.

“This emerging technology is highly complimentary to our core skill set,” stated Paul Hyland, president/CEO of AIXTRON, noting that since its spinoff in 2005 Nanoinstruments has already supplied systems “to key research and industrial institutions around the world.”

Nanoinstruments founder Ken Teo added that “AIXTRON is the right partner to take our technology to the next level,” adding that the deal will help tighten ties with customers through Aixtron’s subsidiaries in the US, Europe, Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan.

October 5, 2007 – AmberWave Systems and the U. of California/Santa Barbara (UCSB) have agreed to collaborate on and fund materials science research targeting mesoporous materials, in a move to open non-semiconductor business doors for the company.

Mesoporous materials are a class of engineered materials including silicas, refractory oxides, carbons, and multi-component composites, possessing qualities of high porosity, processability, functionability, and single- and double-digit nanometer pore sizes. Applications being pursued at UCSB include electrical generation and storage in the form of fuel cells, high-performance batteries, and ultracapacitors.

“Early identification, in-licensing, and development of materials innovations are key to our growth strategy,” said AmberWave president/CEO Richie Faubert in a statement, adding that the UCSB platform “gives AmberWave a springboard into a broad range of markets.”

Amberwave is known for its strained silicon IP, having signed a multiyear licensing deal with Intel back in March. It also working with Purdue U. to jointly develop technologies for integrating semiconductor devices on III-V materials.

October 3, 2007 – Memory firms’ investments have continued longer than expected, but the ride’s about to get bumpy, with tool sales grinding to flat growth and capex backing into negative territory over the next year, according to new forecasts by Gartner Inc.

The firm now projects semiconductor capital equipment sales will rise 4.1% (to $43.67B) and total capex will inch up 1.5% (to $57.14B) in 2007, better than its predictions in July of 2.7% for equipment and 0.6% for capex. The reason: DRAM firms’ aggressive investments driven by competition and 300mm retooling plans, unexpectedly carried into 3Q07, “contrary to common sense” and despite “rampant overcapacity,” Gartner admonishes, in a new report. That softened the blow for a decline in capex from MPU manufacturers, who were mired in a price war, and foundries who haven’t seen a demand pull from leading-edge technologies (e.g., 65nm accounts for only 3% of TSMC’s revenue) and have thus shifted focus to less-expensive, more mature manufacturing. A brutal 1H07 pricing environment that killed profits for many memory firms means there’s nothing to fund more increases, Gartner notes.

But as has happened before, so shall happen again: the industry is robbing Peter to pay Paul. “The stronger 2007 is borrowing from 2008, and the second-half softening will have ramifications on growth in the coming years,” the firm says. Gartner sees a 4.4% decline in capex in 2008, instead of a previously predicted 4.8% increase, and a flat equipment market (0.3%) vs. anticipated 6.2% growth. (Look for 1Q08 to be unusually soft, Gartner notes, as it’s normally buoyed by Japanese firms closing out their fiscal year.) DRAM and logic IDM spending will be down, but flash and foundry spending is on the rise.

By tool category, wafer fab equipment (WFE) sales are seen rising 6.4% this year, getting a boost as chipmakers start to ramp 45nm manufacturing (led by Intel, which is now starting initial production at a number of sites, as well as several foundries). Investments in 90nm and 65nm tools still “dominate the picture,” though, Gartner says, as does memory equipment, which will continue to account for the lion’s share of tool sales in 2008. The WFE segment will dip -1.3% in 2008, but rebound strongly in 2009 with 11.4% growth, Gartner notes. The packaging/assembly (PAE) and automated test equipment (ATE) segments will slow way down this year — PAE from 18% in 2006 to -3.4% in 2007, ATE from ~10% in 2006 to -4.8% –but rebound to mild single-digit growth in 2008 (5.5%, 7.3%) and 2009 (3.7%, 4.1%). All chip industry segments should get back on the same spending page starting in 2009, according to Gartner, which predicts nearly 10% increases in both capex and equipment sales.

Gartner’s revised semiconductor equipment outlook
(US $B and % growth)

………………2007………………..2008………………..2009………………..2010………………..2011

Semiconductor capital equipment:
……………43.67 (4.1%)…..43.80 (0.3%)…..48.06 (9.7%)…..43.08 (-10.4%)……….48.54 (12.7%)
vs. July 11:
……………43.10 (2.7%)…..45.78 (6.2%)…..49.67 (8.5%)…..43.69 (-12.1%)……….48.95 (12.0%)
vs. jan2:
………….42.07 (-0.7%)…..50.80 (20.8%)…..44.29 (-12.8%)…..45.49 (2.7%)…….52.91 (16.3%)

Semiconductor capital spending:
………………2007……………2008……………2009……………2010………………..2011

……………57.14 (1.5%)…..54.60 (-4.4%)…..59.79 (9.5%)…..54.57 (-8.7%)……….58.56 (7.3%)
vs. July 11:
……………56.61 (0.6%)…..59.31 (4.8%)…..64.75 (9.2%)…..57.46 (-11.3%)……….61.96 (7.8%)
vs.jan2:
…………..56.62 (1.0%)…..65.73 (16.1%)…..60.28 (-8.3%)…..58.70 (-2.6%)……..68.32 (16.4%)

WaferNEWS source: Gartner Inc.

October 1, 2007 — RASIRC, a steam purification company, reports research findings indicating that the addition of pure water vapor during formation of carbon nanotubes affects all aspects of their development, including length, shape, and purity.

One barrier to widespread commercialization of carbon nanotubes is difficulty producing them in bulk with uniform sizes, shapes, and properties.

The paper, Water Vapor and Carbon Nanotubes, by Jeffrey Spiegelman, says that precisely delivered pure water vapor in the production of carbon nanotubes has been shown to significantly improve their the growth rate and uniformity. Water vapor controls the length, structure, contamination of metals and amorphous carbon, continuity of the tube wall, and performs post chemical vapor deposition cleaning of the carbon nanotubes.

Pure water vapor is manufactured and delivered via a new technology developed by RASIRC. The company says its RainMaker Humidification System starts with industrial grade deionized water, then uses a special non-porous membrane to remove molecular oxygen and other contaminants from the water supply, so the process is repeatable and stable.

The paper explains each area of carbon nanotube development and improvements that result from the delivery of pure steam at each point in the process.