07/11/2011 

At SEMICON West, imec is demonstrating a viable implant-free quantum-well (IF-QW) pFETs with an embedded silicon-germanium (SiGe) source/drain and 3D integration of a commercial DRAM chip on top of a logic IC.

07/11/2011 

David Lam summarizes how the industry does not have to "throw out" optical lithography as it proceeds to more advanced nodes -- complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) is part of the overall solution, "complementary lithography," that can overcome the resolution limitations of 193i technology.

07/06/2011 

Applied Materials debuted 3 systems for next-generation DRAM chip manufacturing: the Applied Centura DPN HDTM system to improve the gate insulator scaling; the Applied Endura HAR Cobalt PVD system for high-aspect-ratio contact structures; and the Applied Endura Versa XLR W PVD system for reduced gate stack resistance.

07/06/2011 

EV Group will contribute its know-how and technology in temporary bonding and debonding, chip-to-wafer bonding, and lithography technology to the Georgia Tech's PRC's Silicon and Glass Interposer Industry (SiGI) Consortium research program.

07/05/2011 

Elpida Memory is now sampling a new 8Gb TSV DRAM consisting of four 2Gb layers based on TSV stacking technology.

07/01/2011 

Researchers at IBM say they have developed a phase-change memory (PCM) that mitigates drift and demonstrates long-term retention of bits stored, with reliability far closer to what will be needed for enterprise applications.

06/28/2011 

At CEA-Leti's Annual Review, STMicroelectronics CTO Jean-Marc Chery reviewed the challenges facing IDM companies focused on SoC markets, and the three primary challenges for IDMs: FinFETs, EUV lithography, and 450mm.

06/28/2011 

At CEA-Leti's Annual Review, Leti CEO Laurent Malier noted how the important role that research and technology organizations should play in strengthening industry in Europe, and how their roles differ from groups in other regions.

06/27/2011 

About a hundred people gathered at the San Jose Marriott on June 22 for the first IHS Global Design & Supply Chain Summit, where a series of speakers presented on everything from spending on consumer gadgets to telecom systems to fabs, lessons learned from the Japan disaster, and why the Pentagon is a poster child for counterfeit parts.

06/24/2011 

Elpida Memory has come up with what it says is the thinnest available DRAM device, a new 0.8mm four-layer package of 2GB DDR2 mobile RAM chips, assembled using package-on-package (PoP).

06/24/2011 

Two TechXPOT sessions at SEMICON West will address the new architectures needed to continue scaling both logic and memory devices, as well as the major challenges facing lithography both for EUV and options for extending 193nm immersion.

06/23/2011 

Photoresist revenues will grow at about 5% for the next several years, says Techcet Group. Consolidation is long overdue among resist suppliers, and EUV may be the last straw. For materials, supply is abundant.

06/22/2011 

IM Flash Technologies, the Micron-Intel JV, plans to expand its NAND flash operations in Lehi, UT, adding 200 positions and spending $1.5B on facility upgrades.

06/22/2011 

As mobile devices -- game consoles, smartphones, tablets -- move to 3D platforms, image sensor demand will rise 130% by 2015, says In-Stat.

06/20/2011 

A standing-room crowd gathered at SEMI for a special NCCAVS usergroup meeting to hear about issues relevant to 3D packaging, including CMP for through-silicon vias (TSV), a DFM methodology for 3D TSV packaging designs, and TSV process integration challenges.

06/17/2011 

Planar CMOS slightly outperforms FinFETs for single SRAM cells, but FinFETs  "clearly outperform" and "are superior to planar" for bigger (>128KB) SRAMs, according to new research from imec.

06/17/2011 

CT-3100/3200 Curve Tracers from Cascade Microtech will provide wafer-level measurement for the growing power device market. The curve tracer units complement CSCD's Tesla probe systems' high-voltage and high-current capabilities.

06/16/2011 

Applied Materials (AMAT) unveiled the extension of its Reflexion GT chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system to include planarization of tungsten films. Sidney Huey, director, CMP product manager, CMP Division, Silicon Systems Group at Applied Materials, discusses the tool and the technology.

06/15/2011 

Verigy (NASDAQ:VRGY), semiconductor test equipment provider, won orders for its V93000 HSM platform to perform volume test on GDDR5 memory devices at a large Korean customer.

06/15/2011 

Avto Metals' Avto Quantum Transistor (AQT) modulates electrical signals via a tunneling electron either constructively or destructively interfering with electrons' wave function in a gate material. Avto credits a "unique surface geometry" for the transistor's properties.