12/04/2009 

Tokyo Electron Ltd. has raised its expectations for chip tool orders in the current quarter, and reportedly will resume plans to build a new factory near Sendai, according to local reports.

12/03/2009 

Samsung says it has ramped to volume production on a "30nm-class" 3-bit multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash memory and an asynchronous DDR version, to be used in modules initially for 8GB microSD memory cards.

12/03/2009 

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have combined the self-assembly ability of DNA with electronic properties of carbon nanotubes to address the problem of organizing CNTs into nanoscale electronic circuits.

12/01/2009 

X-Fab Silicon Foundries Group has agreed to transfer ownership of its wafer fab in Plymouth, UK, to Swindon, UK-based Plus Semi, reuniting two former Plessey operations and avoiding feared shutdown/layoffs.

11/30/2009 

Giving the keynote address at the Silicon Valley Engineering Council's Nov.10 open house, HP senior Fellow Stan Williams discussed research by his group and others on memristors, and hinted on upcoming developments in this area.

11/17/2009 

Gartner has added its updated chip forecast to the chorus of renewed optimistic outlooks. The firm is reducing its 2009 decline expectations to -11.4% (vs. -17%), and says 2010 chip growth will bounce back 13% to 2008 levels of $255B.

11/14/2009 

Updates to a pair of reports from Yole Developpement aim to help better identify remaining integration challenges and high-volume production implementation strategies for 3D ICs and through-silicon vias (TSV).

11/13/2009 

Taiwan's efforts to consolidate its memory chip industry have hit another roadblock, with the government's denial of an application for funding -- leaving the future of the effort even more in doubt.

11/10/2009 

Samsung Electronics says it has begun focusing its R&D on advanced logic process development for its foundry business, leveraging synergies with its memory development and work with partners and consortia.

11/10/2009 

The suffocating downturn will make 2009 overall one of the toughest in the industry's history, but four firms are still in position to increase sales from a year ago, based on year-to-date tallies compiled by IC Insights.

11/04/2009 

Micron Technology says it is now sampling a multichip package combing its 34nm-based 4Gb SLC NAND flash and 50nm-based 2Gb low-power DDR DRAM memories, a combination it says offers better cost and power savings for mobile devices.

11/04/2009 

A new study suggests that through-silicon vias (TSV) with higher aspect ratios (20:1 or 10:1, vs. 5:1) offer a significant payback by saving space on a die, up to $700 per wafer.

11/03/2009 

Mentor Graphics is launching what it calls a comprehensive test and yield analysis platform incorporating homegrown and acquired technologies, to help customers drill down through failure analysis data to better identify defects and fix them, thus saving time and improving yields.

10/29/2009 

Intel and Numonyx say they have built a "vertically integrated" 64Mb test chip enabling stacking of multiple layers of phase-change memory (PCM) arrays within a single die, paving the way for devices that can scale well beyond conventional memory with more capacity, lower power consumption, and taking up less space.

10/27/2009 

Spansion Japan plans to sell its 300mm/65nm  fab in Aizu-Wakamatsu as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, according to the Nikkei daily.

10/26/2009 

Embedded computing modules employing "silicon circuit board" technology as an alternative to expensive ASIC developments offer advantages in performance and power for integrating memory and logic -- and are a practical alternative to 3D integration due to thermal and supply chain issues, explains siXis' David Blaker.

10/26/2009 

Researchers from SEMATECH have come up with a better model to help pinpoint defect characteristics from low-frequency noise data in advanced gate stack transistors, seen as a key step in defect analysis and elimination needed for device scaling.

10/23/2009 

A DARPA-backed program to develop graphene-based RF circuits with "game-changing" potential for electronics systems has achieved a new milestone: development of graphene-on-silicon FETs at full wafer scale.

10/23/2009 

Cost and performance between silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and bulk finFETs are "for all practical purposes equivalent," but finFETs are more challenging to manufacture due to increased process variability, according to results from a study from the SOI Industry Consortium.

10/23/2009 

Researchers from the US have created a new multiferroic material, and another group from the US and the Netherlands say they can control such multiferroic properties -- achievements that have implications in future electronics and particularly memory devices.