11/28/2012 

Persistent global economic uncertainty from Europe to the US to China is weighing down the WSTS' expectations for semiconductor sales for the next two years, with a slow climb back to single-digit growth by 2014.

11/26/2012 

Despite lingering clouds obscuring near-term visibility for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, signs of macroeconomic life bode well for sales of electronics devices, and by association the chip technologies that power them.

11/23/2012 

Growth in the industrial electronics semiconductor market is set to fall short of previous expectations in 2012 as the business is buffeted by weakening global economic conditions, with the LED market the sole bright spot, says IHS iSuppli.

11/21/2012 

A reference book from the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) and IC Insights puts foundry information at the fingertips of those who need it the most.

11/21/2012 

Sales of electronic gases are seen growing a modest 3.2% growth overall in 2012, following a 15% increase in 2011 to $3.1B, according to an updated report from Techcet Group.

11/20/2012 

Dr. Phil Garrou reports from the 2^nd annual Georgia Tech 2.5D Interposer Conference: what's the market projection for silicon and glass interposers, what's preventing high-volume manufacturing, and is there a crossover with flat-panel display glass manufacturing?

11/20/2012 

Smart TVs, LED technology, and emerging markets will boost the IC market for TVs, says a new IC Insights study. Another trend: younger tech-savvy consumers are watching TV via the Internet and mobile devices.

11/19/2012 

Researchers from Rice U. say they have developed a micron-scale spatial light modulator (SLM) built on SOI that runs orders-of-magnitude faster than its siblings used in sensing and imaging devices.

11/13/2012 

Updating its "top 20" semiconductor supplier rankings from earlier this year, IC Insights finds most of the same trends holding true: a tough year overall for chipmakers, but fabless and foundry firms still showing very good growth.

11/13/2012 

Alchimer SA says it is seeking partnerships with various semiconductor equipment and materials companies as it welcomes two top execs: Bruno Morel is the company's CEO since May of this year, and product development director Fr

11/13/2012 

Soitec says it has more than doubled production of bonded silicon-on-sapphire (BSoS) substrates to meet increased demand from partner Peregrine Semiconductor, which has surged its own production capacity for RF switches used in cellular handsets, including the newest iPhone 5.

11/12/2012 

imec announced two research collaboration efforts to advance STT-MRAM technology, an alternative high-density memory technology. The developments include working with Canon Anelva Corp. on its deposition tool and working with Tokyo Electron (TEL) on its Tactras etch tool, both installed in imec’s 300mm cleanroom.

11/12/2012 

Wide bandgap semiconductor materials can significantly outperform traditional silicon-based devices in power electronics and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), but they're vastly more expensive. So where's the midpoint where GaN's capabilities and extra costs align to make it the preferred technology for each application?

11/12/2012 

X-Fab Silicon Foundries has inked a deal with Anvo-Systems Dresden to offer high-speed non-volatile memory (NVM) combining SRAM, DRAM, and SONOS flash technologies in a compact design.

11/12/2012 

This year's International Conference on Planarization/CMP Technology (ICPT) encompassed five themes describing use of CMP: new device structures, equipment and methods, Cu interconnects, consumables, and new CMP methods and processes.

11/09/2012 

Materials experts from across the supply chain gathered at the 2012 Strategic Materials Conference 2012 in San Jose in October, discussing key materials needs for micromanufacturing outside the CMOS mainstream: OLEDs and GaN-on-silicon power semiconductors, graphene, CNTs, and self-assembling polymers.

11/08/2012 

X-Fab Silicon Foundries is now offering what it calls the industry's first 200V SOI foundry technology, a trench dielectric isolated SOI foundry technology that allows blocks at different voltage levels to be integrated on a single chip.

11/08/2012 

Fujitsu Semiconductor says it has built a server power-supply unit with 2.5kW of output power using gallium nitride (GaN)-based power devices, and will ramp volume production of the power devices in late 2013.

11/08/2012 

Growing use of disposable devices and respiratory monitoring are underpinning growing use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) used as pressure sensors in medical electronics, according to IHS iSuppli.

11/08/2012 

Researchers from IBM and Georgia Tech have disclosed significant progress in manipulating carbon nanotubes in transistors and interconnects, in ways compatible with traditional fabrication techniques, advancing toward using the materials for next-generation devices.