01/04/2005  By J. Robert Lineback, Senior Technical Editor
Researchers at IMEC in Belgium have embarked on an ambitious program to change the meaning of "design for manufacturing." During IMEC's Annual Research Review Meeting this fall, managers outlined a new system-level integration program that will explore circuit and system design concepts, addressing the growth of technology barriers as IC feature sizes are scaled smaller at the 45nm and below process nodes.

01/04/2005  January 4, 2005 - In an effort to accelerate the development of new-generation transistors, Soitec has announced its participation as the SOI substrate supplier in a development program led by the Advanced Technology Development Facility (ATDF), the new independent subsidiary of Sematech for advanced semiconductor R&D in Austin, TX.

01/03/2005  (January 03, 2005) San Jose, Calif. — Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew to $19.02 billion in November 2004, an increase of 1.3% from the $18.8 billion in October 2004, and an increase of 18% from the $16.12 billion in October 2003, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reports.

01/03/2005  January 3, 2005 - Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew to $19.02 billion in November, an increase of 1.3% from the $18.8 billion in October, and an increase of 18% from the $16.12 billion in October 2003, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today.

12/22/2004  December 22, 2004 - Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will invest 60 billion yen (US$575 million) in fiscal 2005 and 2006 to boost production of semiconductors at Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corp, according to Kyodo News International.

12/21/2004  December 20, 2004 - Artisan Components Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has agreed to support 0.18-micron process technologies from a pair of Chinese foundries: Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co. Ltd. (HHNEC), and HeJian Technology Suzhou Co. Ltd.

12/20/2004 

12/16/2004  December 16, 2004 - Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. said Wednesday they have jointly developed some key technologies for magnetic random access memory, or MRAM, chips for use in future mobile electronic gadgets, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

12/14/2004  Dec. 14, 2004 -- Samsung Electronics has developed a fingernail-sized, low-power multimedia memory card (MMC) for mobile phones, about one-third the size of typical multimedia memory cards.

12/13/2004  December 13, 2004 - At today's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, IMEC is expected to announce that it has achieved the smallest triple-gate device SRAM cell reported to date. IMEC's device is a fully working 6-transistor SRAM cell with an area of only 0.314 x 0.314 mm.

12/08/2004  (December 8, 2004) Minneapolis, Minn. — Speakers at the first International Wafer-Level Packaging Congress (IWLPC), held October 10-12, 2004, in San Jose, Calif., addressed leading-edge IC packaging and test technologies with special emphasis on 3-D stacked packaging. As rated by the attendees, the Best Paper Award was presented to Dr. Udo E. Frank of FEINFOCUS GmbH.

12/08/2004  (December 8, 2004) Irvine, Calif. — Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to innovation in power semiconductors, Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) announces TSSOP Advance, a new, smaller packaging technology that extends the company's diverse packaging options for power MOSFETs.

12/02/2004  December 2, 2004 - Noting that the laws of physics will eventually limit the implementation of CMOS scaling technology, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has announced a research program -- called the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) -- aimed at assuring US leadership in information technology well into the future.

11/30/2004  November 30, 2004 - KLA-Tencor and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. Ltd. have announced they are partnering to commercialize advanced process solutions designed to address key manufacturing challenges associated with next-generation semiconductor devices.

11/30/2004  In the same way that digital cameras boosted demand for flash memory, high-resolution cameras, cell phones and digital camcorders are expected to drive demand for next-generation portable storage. Firms developing MEMS-based memory think that these applications will most likely be the first market for their devices.

11/24/2004  (November 24, 2004) Hsinchu, Taiwan—Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announces that volume production is available for its 0.18-micron process technology with 40-V capability. The high-voltage process will allow designers to produce single-chip TFT LCD drivers for portable applications that reduce chip count and save space and power.

11/23/2004 

11/18/2004  November 18, 2004 - Spansion LLC of California will invest more than 100 billion yen (US$961 million) to build a flash memory chip production line in Japan capable of handling advanced 300mm wafers, company officials said, according to Kyodo News International.

11/17/2004  November 17, 2004 - The total investment planned for the STMicroelectronics and Hynix Semiconductor joint-venture project to build a front-end memory-manufacturing facility in China is US$2 billion, said the companies. It will be financed with equity from both partners (Hynix 67%, ST 33%), US$250M of long-term debt from ST, as well as a financing package from Chinese local financial institutions, which will involve debt and a long leasehold.

11/11/2004  (November 11, 2004) The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announce their co-sponsorship of a contest open to North American university students and faculty to create novel, low-power SoC designs that demonstrate the value of greater systems integration in IC design.