Issue

The semiconductor industry is used to ups and downs, so a downturn like this is nothing new. But 2001, according to last year's glowing forecasts, was supposed to be a continuation of a strong upswing.

Inventory overhang, macroeconomy keep sales in slump; Three companies partner to design new chip; What goes up, must come down...

Bell Labs plastic superconductor; New "nanobelts" hailed for more promising nanodevices...

Even though lithography has been "the whipping boy of the industry for so long," there will be greater problems as the industry approaches the wall of CMOS technology, said Dennis Buss, VP of silicon technology development at Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX, to the attendees of SPIE's 26th International Symposium on Microlithography.

Sparks fly at ISS Japan over national research projects; Outlook from Japan: Cloudy.

Communications applications once constituted the ugly brother of the PC world in terms of its relationship to the growth of the semiconductor market. These systems were generated in relatively low volume and represented minimal profit opportunity/device.

Industry events during May to October 2001.

Thermal products web site; LPCVD silicon nitride trap brochure; ASIC system on a chip report...

Compact wafer reader; Low-k dielectric for 100nm designs; Advanced passivation process; Accurate wire sawing...

Automated parametric test; Overhead wafer transport; FT-IR metrology tool; 3-dimensional metrology systems...

An industry-wide survey of some of the latest 300mm equipment and materials shows that the challenges of processing 300mm wafers are being understood and addressed.

Texas Instruments is nearly on track with its goals of being the "second or third IC manufacturer to ramp up to 300mm-wafer fabrication."

After delivering customer "first silicon" on 300mm wafers in 2000, today TSMC is actively processing customer designs on 300mm.

At this point, the global semiconductor industry has announced some 17 new wafer fabs using 300mm technology by the end of 2002 (according to IC Insights and Solid State Technology).

In addition to stability and collapse issues facing 193nm resists, there is concern regarding a decrease in linewidth when exposed to an electron beam during critical dimension measurements.

Jet electrochemical deposition plating [1-2] has shown excellent capability for void-free Cu filling of narrow openings with very large aspect ratios.

Alternating high flows of acid vapors and hydrogen with additional toxic and pyrophoric gases presents a new challenge for exhaust treatment. These processes can be sensitive to exhaust pressure surges, limiting the use of switching between dual exhaust systems.

Modifications to a standard silicon foundry process flow are being used to manufacture liquid crystal on silicon microdisplays. Key improvements are in the areas of planarization and reflectivity.