Category Archives: LEDs

July 19, 2006 – NanoDynamics, a manufacturer of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, appointed Jeffrey Jordan as vice president of technology for the company’s NanoCluster Devices Inc. subsidiary.

Formerly project manager for NanoDynamics’ ND Innovations business unit, Jordan will now guide development and commercialization of the company’s advanced nano-cluster based devices for the semiconductor, sensor and electrostatic discharge protection markets.

The company says NanoCluster Devices’ method for fabricating circuits via self-assembling silicon, copper and palladium nanowires would give the electronics industry a more easily adopted route to smaller, faster chips and that it is compatible with standard industry tools and processes.

Jordan joined NanoDynamics from Praxair Inc. where he served as manager of electronics materials for the company’s electronics and analytical R&D division. In that capacity, Jordan led the development and commercialization of atomic layer (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursors for use in semiconductor applications.

by Phil LoPiccolo, Editor-in-Chief

In a revealing keynote address at SEMICON West last week, Micron Technology chairman and CEO Steve Appleton offered a behind-the-scenes look at his company’s experience in forming business partnerships, and offered some hard-won insight into why partnerships fail and what can be done to ensure their success.

According to Appleton, business relationships are a lot like marriages, in that the majority of them do not succeed. To the many laws governing the science and business of semiconductor manufacturing, we must now add one more, he suggested — “the Law of Partnerships,'” which states that 40%-50% of all business partnerships, and 70% of all acquisitions, will fail. Appleton citied the extensive experience Micron has had over the years in building partnerships, most notably with Intel and Toshiba, as well as with lithography, etch, and materials suppliers and customers.

There are a number of reasons why partnerships fall short, according to Appleton, who offered advice on how to avoid common pitfalls. One big mistake companies make is going into partnerships thinking they are going to change their partner, and as in marriages, that rarely happens, he said. While it’s true that companies do change over time, such as when transitioning from a start up to a mature company, these changes need to be allowed to happen internally, he explained.

Another reason partnerships fail is because expectations are not set correctly, Appleton said. As an example, he pointed to Micron’s operation in Lehi, Utah, which after completion was scaled back to a test facility because of collapsing market conditions. “Despite the fact that we spent a billion dollars on the facility and hired hundreds of people for the test operation, we were very heavily criticized by the people of Utah and the media,” he said.

To avoid such issues, expectations have to be well designed and understood, Appleton asserted. For Micron’s new joint venture with Intel, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), the two companies spent months negotiating the details of the project, which as a result is governed by 43 contracts, each of which totals some 200-300 pages. “Part of this is a case of attorneys gone wild,” he said, “but the contracts describe the expectations and goals all the way from the business plans to the investments to the timing, so that we have a good understanding of what the expectations are on their part and on our part. And that’s critical to making sure you have a good partnership.”

Partnerships also fail when the goals of the participants are not aligned. Appleton cited an agreement from the 1980s in which Intel invested about a quarter of a billion dollars in Micron, and ended up making a 4X return on investment — but still was disappointed because only six or seven of its 10 goals were accomplished. Fast-forward to a few years ago, when Intel made a similar investment in Micron, and the goals of both companies were completely aligned, related to developing next-generation technology, bringing it to market, investing in advanced capacity, etc. Intel didn’t make nearly as much money, but they were a lot happier about the partnership, and it ultimately led to the duo’s new all-out IMFT joint venture announced in January to manufacture NAND flash memory products, Appleton said.

Speaking about the new JV, Appleton noted the tool-installation schedule calls for the implementation of some 100 tools/month, which means that some 4000 training events must occur prior to full production. “We have to work together, or we can’t possibly get this accomplished,” he added.

Forming partnerships wasn’t always a priority for Micron, Appleton admitted, but he said it’s now one of the key objectives for improving the value of the company. He noted that Micron is now working to implement 35nm technology, and that partnerships have been the key to enabling them to “to get this far this fast.” Moreover, Micron is extending its partnerships further. During SEMICON West, the company announced that it has joined IMEC to conduct research on sub-32nm CMOS and advanced flash memory.

“Partnerships are difficult, to say the least,” concluded Appleton, “but they are necessary, and if done correctly for the right reasons, they can lead to a tremendous benefit. We’ve proven that they can work — and we’ve proven that they can’t work if you don’t have the right approach.” — P.L.

July 13, 2006 – Evident Technologies Inc., a developer of quantum dot applications and products, released two next generation products for use in life science applications: T2-MP EviTag labels and EviFluor conjugates.

The new T2-MP (Molecular Plated) EviTags are quantum dot-based, conjugation-ready fluorescent labels with a bioactive surface that features Evident’s Molecular Plating surface technology. The company says the T2-MP EviTags provide improved brightness, photostability, flexibility and sensitivity and that they enable multiplexing. They are available with either amine or carboxyl terminal groups or with a non-functional bioactive surface.

The new EviFluors are ready-to-use, activated quantum dot conjugates coupled to secondary antibodies and other proteins. They are created from the Molecular Plated EviDot and EviTag technologies and are available conjugated to secondary antibodies, streptavidin and biotin.

T2-MP EviTags and EviFluors are available with Molecular Plating technology in traditional Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) formulations. They are also available in Evident’s proprietary non-cadmium Indium Gallium Phosphide (InGaP) material systems.

July 13, 2006 – Nano-Tex Inc., a textile technology company providing nanotechnology-based enhancements to the apparel and commercial interiors markets, announced that James Curley has been appointed president and chief executive officer of the company and named to its board of directors.

Curley joined Nano-Tex as chief financial officer in June 2005 and was responsible for all financial and administrative functions of the company, as well as supply chain management. In December 2005, Curley was named interim CEO, responsible for the company’s leadership and direction, after Nano-Tex’s contract with previous CEO Donn Tice expired and Tice left the company.

In his new position, Curley will continue to oversee all aspects of the company’s worldwide business operations including its continued expansion into the apparel and commercial interiors markets.

Prior to joining Nano-Tex, Curley was chief financial officer of LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., where he was part of the senior team that led LeapFrog to become the nation’s third largest toy manufacturer with sales of $680 million. From 1992 to 1998 he was chief financial officer and chief administrative officer of The Gymboree Corp.

July 12, 2006 – Semiconductor Research Corp., a university-research consortium for semiconductor technologies, has opened a Non-Classical CMOS Research Center for five universities to collaborate to develop III-V compound semiconductors.

Under a three-year/$7 million project (funded by SRC member companies and matched by the universities), researchers will focus on facilitating the introduction of III-V compounds for sustaining CMOS viability in future end-use applications, such as communications, computing, automotive, and consumer electronics. Work will be led by UC-Santa Barbara, with participation from Stanford, UC-San Diego, U. of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the U. of Minnesota.

Results from the research are projected to enhance speed for CMOS gates and lower power dissipation in circuits, with significant impact on chip manufacturing expected as early as 2012-2014, according to the SRC. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors calls for alternative materials to be available to address semiconductor production at the 22nm level, around 2016-2019.

“We plan for the Non-Classical CMOS Research Center to ensure that Moore’s Law will be alive and well for several more generations,” stated Jim Hutchby, director of device sciences for the Global Research Collaboration (GRC), a unit of the SRC. “When the day comes that Moore’s Law for classical silicon CMOS is no longer a viable solution, we’ll have developed a new set of materials and devices for improvements to speed and power of the historically successful CMOS technology.”

“We expect that a new class of compound semiconductors can provide better peak velocities and lower voltages and allow the industry to supplement silicon’s critical paths for speed and power,” added Prof. Mark Rodwell, UC-Santa Barbara, and the Center’s director. “This new research effort proposes to benefit a long line of applications and users.”

July 12, 2006 – A projected 28% compound annual growth rate for the flip-chip packaging sector will give a big boost to vendors of lithography and etch systems, according to data from The Information Network.

Flip-chips represented 5.3% of all ICs shipped in 2005 (5.9 billion out of 111.0 billion total chips), and will double to 10.6% of all ICs shipped by 2009 (16.7 billion out of 156.9 billion), noted the New Tripoli, PA-based market research firm. That 28% CAGR is nearly four times the growth rate of overall IC unit shipments projected over the same period.

As a result of flip-chip demand, the market for bumping and advanced packaging equipment is also expanding rapidly. The lithography market is seen growing an eye-popping 75% in 2006, and will exceed $50 million in 2009, for a CAGR of 32%. Under-bump metallization wet etch tools are seen growing at a 49% CAGR clip to nearly $100 million by 2009.

Ultratech led the lithography sector in 2005 with more than 60% share, but faces strong competition from other litho techniques and emerging nonlithographic pattern delineation methods, noted Robert Castellano, president of the research firm. SEZ led the wet etch tool market with a 50% share, focusing on its single-wafer process approach.

July 10, 2006 – Synova, a privately held Swiss developer of water jet-guided laser technology, said it will open a micromachining center in Silicon Valley to be open by January 2007, serving as a competence center for demonstration, sample testing, and application development, and offer micromachining services to the local industry. Joseph Battaglia, formerly with Speedline Technologies and Cookson Electronics in various product marketing and bizdev roles, will oversee the facility’s activities.

Expanding operations to the US demonstrates the company’s growth, but also a desire to tap new regionally active markets, according to the company. “The US poses large market opportunities for us in the areas of inkjet printer head MEMS, hard disk drive (HDD) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) sectors,” stated CEO Bernold Richerzhagen. Synova noted the compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for inkjet printer head MEMS, HDDs and OLEDs forecasted worldwide at 8.8%, 15.5%, and 74%, respectively.

Synova’s flagship “laser microjet” technology replaces traditional cutting technologies such as conventional lasers and diamond blade saws, for applications in inkjet print head MEMS, HDDs, and OLEDs to help prevent damaging the materials due to their thermo-mechanical stress sensitivity.

July 10, 2006 – BlueShift Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of a wafer-processing platform with what it calls “linkable linear geometry,” has secured a Series B round of financing totaling $12 million, including participation from Intel Capital, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Atlas Venture. The funds will be used to accelerate product launch activities, and fuel expansion into international markets.

“This substantial funding by major investors reinforces our contention that BlueShift’s wafer handling system represents the future of semiconductor vacuum processing, providing significant advantages over current fab systems,” said BlueShift president and CEO Peter van der Meulen.

The company’s QuickLink platform targets vacuum automation for both 300mm and future 450mm wafer processing. The system incorporates proprietary vacuum robotic hardware and software modules, designed for 20 million MCBF and featuring auto-align, auto-teach, auto-correct and hard interlocks to slot valves. With no motor windings, bearings or encoders in vacuum, vacuum surface area is minimized, resulting in very low out-gassing and reduced molecular organic contamination, the company claims. The system reportedly offers better vacuum and process isolation, higher throughput (benchmarked at 190 wafers/hr), and supports “adaptable” vacuum processing to mix multiple processes on a single platform, e.g., CVD, PVD, etch, and ashing. Options include integrated metrology, process chamber facilities, and the ability to remove wafers from the rear (enabling processing linearity, and better throughput). Cost/performance benefits include up to 30% reduction in vacuum handling costs and smaller equipment footprint, resulting in 40%-50% better space utilization, the company claims.

Most of BlueShift’s executive management hails from automation and vacuum systems supplier Brooks Automation. CEO Peter Van der Meulen formerly served as GM of Brooks’ equipment frontend business, and ran the company’s vacuum systems business for seven years. He also previously worked for Varian Ion Implant Systems where he designed the E500 implanter. Patrick Pannese, CTO, and VP of software, founded Cauldronsoft, source of BlueShift’s software architecture, and previously was director of next generation controls and architecture for Brooks Automation. VP of engineering Christopher Kiley worked as director of robotics technology at Brooks, and before that led development of Class 1 cleanroom robots at ADE and BTTU International. Ray Ritter, VP of sales and marketing, was director of business development at Brooks. Hiroshi Omori, VP and GM, was a founder of Brooks Automation Japan KK. Bob Whitney, VP of operations, was executive director of global operations at MKS Instruments.

Staktek’s DRAM stack technology led naturally into the flash memory market, said Wayne R. Lieberman, president and CEO, Staktek. He added that Toshiba would experience a beneficial product expansion with Staktek’s IP.

July 5, 2006 – Researchers at the U. of Pennsylvania and St. Josephs U. are pursuing work on “chromophores,” which linked together enable transfer of electrical charges that exceed mobility in today’s best organic semiconductors by a factor of three.

Chemically speaking, a chromophore is a molecule or part of a molecule that is responsible for its color — i.e., light hitting the chromophore excites an electron, which then emits light of a particular color. The researchers determined that introducing a charge to a chain array of chromophores enables electrons to “quickly hop from one chromophore to the next,” according to Michael Therien, a professor in Penn’s Department of Chemistry and lead researcher on the project. Key to getting the electrons to zip around freely is making sure the chromophore structures are long with short links in between. “This arrangement of linked chromophores leads to small structural changes when holes and electrons are introduced into these structures, and these physical changes help propagate the charge,” stated study co-author Paul Angiolillo of St. Josephs U.

The scientists say they’ve built chromophore circuits that could, for example, serve as functional elements in plastic electronics, RFID tags, drivers in active-matrix LCDs, and organic LEDs, as well as for lightweight solar cells. Results suggest that molecular conductive elements can be produced on a 10nm length scale, “providing an important functional element for nanoscale circuitry,” Therien said.

Findings of the research, which is supported by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, are presented in the current issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.