06/03/2008  June 2, 2008 - Novellus Systems execs last week laid out their midquarter business views in an analyst presentation, saying business hasn't really changed much in the past two months, still "weak" but not as bad as historically worst-case. In general, signs still point to a rebound in foundry and memory investments later this year or 2009.

06/02/2008  June 2, 2008 - Worldwide semiconductor sales were about flat in April vs. March levels, at $21.2B (+0.4%), and up 5.9% from a year ago, results that "are in line with historical industry patterns," noted the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), in a statement.

05/29/2008  May 29, 2008 - Fundamentals in the memory industry are stable and "incrementally improving," with DRAM prices rising again and NAND flash demand seen improving in general, according to analyst firm FBR Research. The next big market indicator is rapidly approaching, in the late-June timeframe with an update of devicemakers' back-to-school build rate schedules.

05/29/2008  May 19, 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ SAN JOSE, CA -- Novellus Systems today announced two new industry-leading dry strip and clean systems, each targeting different photoresist removal requirements at fabs and foundries worldwide.

05/29/2008  May 29, 2008 - Intel and Micron's announcement that they have developed a 34nm NAND flash device could give the companies a better cost/profit profile vs. competitors, and/or help stretch an already painful oversupply situation well into the next year, according to a report from Objective Analysis. Meanwhile, Gartner notes that the two need to make some related capacity decisions soon if they want to leverage their short-lived technology lead on the competition.

05/27/2008  May 27, 2008 - Japan's top seven chip companies -- Toshiba, Elpida, Sony, Renesas, NEC Electronics, Matsushita, and Fujitsu Microelectronics -- plan to cut their combined capex by 21.8% in fiscal 2008 to ¥806.7B (US $7.81B), mainly due to a shift away from the weak memory market, notes the Nikkei Business Daily.

05/27/2008  Barry Industries has introduced a line of semiconductor packaging featuring high temperature cofired ceramic (HTCC) technology for aerospace, RF/microwave, semiconductor, and optoelectronic devices.

05/27/2008  May 27, 2008 -- The Micromachined Diamond Device Initiative (MIDDI), led by UK researchers at Element Six Ltd in collaboration with the Institute of Photonics at The University of Strathclyde has concluded, and its "successful outcomes have already underpinned the formation of a new subsidiary by Element Six. Diamond Microwave Devices Ltd is aiming to develop the world's first commercial high frequency, high power diamond transistors," the partners say.

05/23/2008  by Katherine Derbyshire, contributing editor, Solid State Technology
May 23, 2008 - Controlling the interface between the metal gate and the hafnium-based dielectric has been one of the most difficult issues for high-k integration schemes. ASM now says it has ALD processes for both LaOx and AlOx, and that its Polygon platform and Pulsar process modules offer a reliable platform for sequential deposition of dielectric and cap layers in a gate-first process.

05/22/2008  by Ed Korczynski, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 22, 2008 - Philips arguably pioneered the fab-lite business model 20 years ago, and was one of the earliest investors and customers of TSMC. Its chip spinoff NXP Semiconductor continues the relationship with R&D and arguably most-favored customer status at the world's leading foundry. Peter Yates, SVP at NXP, talked at this week's Confab about his company's strategy to navigate troubled-waters in many nimble ships.

05/21/2008  by Ed Korczynski, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 21, 2008 - Masaaki Kinugawa, GM of Toshiba's Oita operations, discussed the tough challenges faced by fabs developing advanced processes today in his Confab talk, including increasing complexity of process and device technologies (and proportionally rising costs) -- and an ugly truth waiting around the corner at the 32nm node.

05/21/2008  by Ed Korczynski, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 21, 2008 - While manufacturing of 3D ICs is today limited mostly to memory chip stacks and cell-phone camera modules, the next huge application seems to be the embedded memory in microprocessors. Subramanian Iyer, distinguished engineer and chief technologist of IBM's systems and technology group, explained the economic considerations behind 3D microprocessors at the ConFab in Las Vegas.

05/21/2008  by Bob Haavind, Editorial Director, Solid State Technology
May 21, 2008 - There's a tough road ahead for lithography, with double patterning and complex computation as well as requirements for more litho-friendly design, explained ASML's Martin van den Brink, EVP of marketing & technology, speaking at the Next Generation Lithography session at The ConFab.

05/21/2008  by Debra Vogler, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 21, 2008 - This year's SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference saw glimmers of hope that EUV might be ready in time for 22nm hp. Speaking at the ConFab event, Kazuo Ushida, president of Nikon Precision Equipment Co., agreed that EUV was still the most promising solution for 22nm, and the only one that would keep the industry on track to meet cost/bit reductions needed to stay within historical guidelines.

05/19/2008  May 19, 2008 - ASM International's US subsidiary, ASM America, says it has a new atomic layer deposition (ALD) process targeting 32nm-node chip manufacturing with lanthanum oxide (LaOx) and aluminum oxide (AlOx) high-k cap layers that enable high-k metal gate stacks using a single metal, instead of two different metals required previously for CMOS.

05/19/2008  by Pete Singer, Editor-in-Chief, Solid State Technology
May 19, 2008 - Cascade Microtech says its new Edge test system measures flicker noise in ICs, seen as a barrier to lowering device operating voltages as geometries shrink. The company also is launching an initiative to integrate measurements systems to provide users with measurement accuracy assurance.

05/19/2008  Designed to solve excessive programming times in current in-system, JTAG, and in-circuit programming production methods, the 3000FS automated handler from BPM is modeled from the current BPM 3710 handler and contains four Flashstream programming sites. Rated at 1100 devices per hour, It is flexible enough to handle parts in tray, tube, or tape for device input or output.

05/16/2008  May 16, 2008 - Comments from Japanese chip equipment execs echo comments from Applied Materials earlier this week suggesting chip industry capex will be soft well into 2H08 and maybe not rebound until early 2009. Not everyone is optimistic yet, though.

05/15/2008  by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 15, 2008 - The acquisition of Ponte Solutions by Mentor Graphics not only takes one of the last pure DFM companies off the table, it also answers the question about what side of the chipmaking wall DFM belongs, and terminates an inflection point that might not be seen again for a decade or more.

05/15/2008  by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 14, 2008 - Industry projections of a soft 2008 aren't nearly soft enough, according to AMAT president/CEO Mike Splinter -- he projects capex could be down 35% or more this year. "There's not a good story" being told in any chipmaking sector, he told listeners in a quarterly results conference call, adding that capex levels will be similar to those from 2003.