10/23/2007  October 23, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has developed 64Gb multilevel cell NAND flash memory chip using 30nm process technology, built using double-patterning lithography, with commercial chips ready in about a year.

10/22/2007  October 22, 2007 - Sarnoff Corp. says its silicon wafer foundry has been accredited as a "microelectronics trusted source" for the US Department of Defense and all other US government users, able to offer foundry services for military quality microelectronics applications.

10/22/2007  October 22, 2007 - Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan foundry UMC have agreed to jointly develop a copper low-k backend process for both advanced DRAM and phase-change random access memory (PRAM).

10/19/2007  October 19, 2007 - Strong shipments of memory devices and automotive-related analog ICs are the main reasons why IC unit shipments will grow by double digits in 2007 (10%), continuing an "unprecedented" streak of six straight solid years of growth, according to data from IC Insights Inc.

10/18/2007  October 18, 2007 - Making official what had been reported for weeks, Sony and Toshiba have announced an agreement to transfer Sony's Cell microprocessor production lines to Toshiba under a new joint venture, reportedly at a price approaching 100 billion yen (about US $870 million).

10/18/2007  October 18, 2007 - Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor says it has begun volume manufacturing of image sensor products for Taiwan's Vision Integration Technology Inc. (ViTi), with output of the home security and closed-circuit TV sensors being done at its Fab 1 manufacturing site using 0.35-micron processes.

10/18/2007  October 18, 2007 - Elpida Memory reportedly plans to complete its migration of DRAM production from 200mm to 300mm wafers by the end of this current fiscal year (March 2008), six months earlier than planned, in order to sooner focus on cost-competitive products

10/16/2007  ; IMEC and the Packaging Research Center (PRC) at Georgia Tech have put out the call for interested parties to join in their advanced research program on next-generation flip chip and substrate technology. The program addresses key IC-to-package-to-board packaging interconnect issues for 32nm ICs and beyond.

10/16/2007  In what it claims is validation for imprint lithography for 22nm CMOS, Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) is touting results from Toshiba, reported at the 33^rd International Conference on Micro-and Nano-Engineering (MNE, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 23-26), which show defect levels "very similar" to those seen in the early days of immersion lithography.

10/16/2007  October 15, 2007 - IMEC and Georgia Tech's Microsystems Packaging Research Center (PRC) say they want more help to research next-generation flip-chip and substrates to address "IC-to-package-to-board" packaging interconnect issues for ICs at the 32nm node and beyond.

10/16/2007  October 15, 2007 - The first of four planned 300mm fabs from Rexchip Electronics Corp., the JV between PowerChip Semiconductor Corp. and Japan's Elpida Memory Inc., is open for business. And while providing good business for tool suppliers and other partners, the new DRAM operation is causing some to worry about opening the floodgates and causing further slumps in DRAM pricing.

10/15/2007  October 15, 2007 - IMEC has launched a research effort into DRAM metal-insulator-metal capacitor (MIMCAP) process technology to address the material and integration requirements to scale DRAM MIMCAP to 50nm and beyond technology nodes.

10/15/2007  October 15, 2007 - The Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) coalition of memory suppliers, formed in mid-2006 to develop a chip-level standard interface for NAND flash memory, has added another specification -- a block abstraction to simplify host controller design.

10/15/2007  October 15, 2007 - Toshiba Corp. and Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corp. have opened a new 200mm semiconductor production fab in Ishikawa Prefecture targeting devices that control current flow and voltage conversion in end-use products such as TVs, mobile electronic products, and even hybrid vehicles.

10/15/2007  At the Fab Manager's Forum, held at SEMICON Europa, representatives of Europe's semiconductor fabs gathered to discuss relevant topics to operating primarily mature fabs. On the agenda were the importance of yield improvements in mature fabs, and the benefits derived from fault detection besides yield improvement; how to manage APC in worldwide DRAM fabs; and the dynamics of the used equipment market.

10/11/2007  October 11, 2007 - Lam Research posted mixed results for its fiscal 4Q07, with sales flat and shipments and margins down sequentially. But some of the more interesting numbers came from CEO Steve Newberry's comments in the conference call Q&A, where he expressed optimism for flat industry capex in 2008, vs. growing consensus of a negative year.

10/11/2007  October 11, 2007 - Taiwan foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) says it has qualified and begun accepting customer design-ins for its 65nm RF-CMOS process, targeting wireless SoC applications such as WiFi, WiMax, wireless USB and cellular.

10/11/2007  Discera Inc., a developer of CMOS MEMS oscillators and resonators, and provider of next-generation timing solutions, is one of four semiconductor companies singled out for the Technology Innovation Awards by The Wall Street Journal.

10/10/2007  October 10, 2007 - SEZ Group, Villach, Austria, says 3Q orders came up about 26% shorter than expected to 28 million Swiss francs (about US $40.5M), mainly due to slow business from the DRAM segment.

10/09/2007  October 9, 2007 - Jazz Semiconductor is releasing a silicon radio platform that it claims allows complete integration of higher-frequency radio components in a wireless device on a single piece of silicon -- transceiver, antennae, power amplifier, and controllers -- without the need for discrete GaAs devices. Target applications include cell phones, wireless LANs, and WiMAX systems.