03/02/2007  Two of Taiwan's top DRAM makers, Inotera Memories and Nanya Technologies, are eyeing plans to issue hundreds of millions in corporate bonds and syndicated loans to help fund planned capacity increases, according to local reports.

03/02/2007  March 2, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has ramped to mass production of 1Gb DDR2 DRAM using 60nm process technologies, which it says offers 40% production efficiencies vs. 80nm shrinks the company has deployed since early 2006.

03/02/2007  Samsung begins mass production of 60-nm memory chips

03/01/2007  Freescale was recently honored with a product award for its magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) product, the Freescale MR2A16ATS35C 4-Mbit MRAM.

03/01/2007  Small tech for food safety applications, a high-voltage CMOS process with embedded flash, an interstellar compass, and more…

03/01/2007  Stan Williams and his colleague Greg Snider at HP Labs in Palo Alto, Calif., have completed research that could lead to making field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) up to 8x denser-while using less energy for a given computation-than those currently being produced.

02/26/2007  February 26, 2007 - IBM and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing have formally extended their joint development efforts to include 32nm CMOS technology, building on their initial partnership begun in late 2002 starting at 90nm.

02/23/2007  February 23, 2007 - A wide-ranging restructuring plan unveiled by NEC Electronics Corp. aims to improve profitability over the next few years, by consolidating its facilities in Japan from nine to four; moving a variety of backend manufacturing overseas to elsewhere in Asia; and cutting back capex levels by 30% starting in 2008 once it finishes the bulk of its 300mm manufacturing investments.

02/23/2007  February 23, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has increased data transfer speeds in its GDDR (graphics double data rate v.4) graphics memory by two-thirds to 4Gbit/sec (2.0GHz), 66% faster than today's 2.4Gbit/s GDDR4.

02/16/2007  February 16, 2007 - Researchers at the U. of California-Riverside have designed the building blocks for a memory device that uses telescoping binary or three-stage carbon nanotubes as high-speed, low-power microswitches.

02/15/2007  Micron Technology, Inc., will incorporate its next-generation 1Gb mobile DRAM into "bundle" packages with the company's NAND flash memory. The multichip packages (MCPs) will target high-end mobile phone applications.

02/15/2007  The development of a highly sensitive biochip based on silicon nanowire technology promises to advance the detection and analysis of RNA and DNA, which is central to many life sciences endeavors, ranging from uncovering and diagnosing disease to the discovery and screening of new drugs.

02/14/2007  February 14, 2007 - Applied Materials Inc. delivered fiscal 1Q07 results that were down sequentially as expected. But an anticipated recovery by the foundry sector and sustained strength in NAND flash could help the company exceed overall projected industry capex growth, executives said in a conference call discussing the numbers.

02/13/2007  February 13, 2007 - Renesas Technology Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. say they have developed a technique that achieves stable operation with 45nm bulk CMOS, instead of silicon-on-insulator (SOI), for SRAM that can be embedded in system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices and microprocessors.

02/13/2007  The industry is a-changin', but there's both good and bad news as a result, suggested a panel of top Wall Street analysts (with an occasional bit of prodding from the moderator) at the recent Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) at Half Moon Bay, CA. There was agreement that fast-rising consumer markets, especially in Asia, are indeed putting growth back on a somewhat faster track, though some participants are still proceeding with caution.

02/08/2007  February 8, 2007 - Silicon Laboratories Inc. has agreed to sell its cellular communications business to NXP Semiconductors (nee Philips' chip business) for $285 million in cash, in what NXP's top exec deemed a first step in the upcoming wireless industry consolidation."

02/08/2007  February 8, 2007 - Market conditions for NOR flash memory weren't as harsh as in 2005, but it's still no picnic with ASPs still getting pummeled, especially in the mobile phone sector, according to data from iSuppli Corp.

02/08/2007  IMEC admitted Guido Groeseneken and Paul Heremans to the level of scientific fellow for their work in CMOS device technology and solar/organic technology, respectively. IMEC's scientific career program ranges from senior scientist to senior fellow, rewarding researchers who advance IMEC's technical position and contribute to technology transfers to industry partners. Promotions are based on research, global recognition, and academic activities.

02/06/2007  Moving beyond its pilot production efforts with logic manufacturers worldwide, Ultratech Inc. highlighted application of laser spike annealing (LSA) to DRAMs in a joint paper with Samsung at the recent IEDM conference. Company execs Art Zafiropoulo and Yun Wang summarized key findings for WaferNews and offered insights on the company's future direction for the technology.

02/06/2007  Perhaps like no other time in the history of the industry, several key IC market indicators are moving into alignment, setting the stage for double-digit market growth through 2011, according to Bill McClean, president of IC Insights, speaking at the market research firm's annual seminar last week in Boston, MA. In fact, a robust five-year outlook could mean the historic IC market trend line needs to be revised -- and we might see another 30%+ growth year on the horizon.