07/25/2005  July 25, 2005 KLA-Tencor and Aprio Technologies today announced their intent to collaborate on the development of an integrated advanced mask design inspection and repair tool. Both companies assert that this partnership will encourage better collaboration between their customers' design and manufacturing teams. As part of this collaboration, Aprio will provide new functionality to products under development at KLA-Tencor that address automated mask layout inspection.

07/22/2005  July 22, 2005 - Ultratech Inc. has announced the appointment of Andrew Hawryluk, Ph.D., to the position of senior VP of engineering for lithography and laser processing. Hawryluk, 51, has over two decades of experience in the semiconductor industry, including high-level positions at Photon Dynamics and KLA-Tencor Corp.

07/19/2005  By Bob Haavind, Editorial Director

Fabs are filling dielectrics with air bubbles, sunning them under UV lamps, and putting on caps to keep molecules in place, but after a decade of development, really low-k (k<3) still has not made it into volume production.

07/19/2005  Soon educators may get another tool they hope will help students better understand nanotechnology and develop nano-related skills.

07/18/2005  July 18, 2005 - Ushio Inc. said Friday it will acquire an equity stake of 50% in Xtreme Technologies GmbH of Germany, a developer of lithography devices used to make semiconductor chips, from Lambda Physik AG of Germany, reports Jiji news.

07/08/2005  SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 07/07/2005 -- The advanced chip industry is moving rapidly into nanotechnology, a trend that will be presented by global experts at next week's 2005 ITRS Public Conference of the draft 2005 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

07/07/2005  (July 7, 2005) Corning, N.Y. — Intel Corp. and Corning Inc. are joining forces in an agreement to develop ultra-low thermal expansion ULE glass photomask substrates required for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. These substrates are needed to develop low-defect EUV photomasks to enable 32-nm node high-volume production using EUV lithography. The joint development program will help to enable chip production using EUV technology by 2009.

07/07/2005  July 7, 2005 - Intel Corp. and Corning Inc. have entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop ultra-low thermal expansion (ULE) glass photomask substrates required for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. The JDA will help to enable chip production using EUV technology starting in 2009.

07/06/2005  July 06, 2005 - EV Group, a leading manufacturer of MEMS, nano and semiconductor wafer-processing equipment, announces the installation of an EVG620 precision alignment system for nanoimprint lithography (NIL) at Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) in Stanford, CA.

07/06/2005 

Integration issues pose challenges for fabs, foundries, and fabless

07/05/2005 

07/05/2005  By: Dr. Paula Doe, Contributing Editor

Narrowing process windows, emerging tools for statistical analysis of design, and model-based simulations of yield results may soon push designers to actually design for manufacturability, argued experts at Semi's Strategic Business Forum in Welches, OR, May 9-11.

07/01/2005  July 1, 2005 - Nikon Corp. said yesterday that it has developed a stepper capable of fabricating semiconductor chips with a linewidth of 50nm or smaller, for launch late this year, according to JIJI and other press reports. The NSR-S609B, an ArF immersion scanner with an NA projection lens of 1.07, is targeted at mass production of 55nm and development of 45nm devices.

07/01/2005  July 1, 2005 - The US government's Naval Air Warfare Center (NAVAIR), under DARPA sponsorship, has granted JMAR Technologies Inc. a two-year extension valued at $7.5 million to its existing three-year $10 million contract to continue development of sub-100nm feature x-ray masks for next generation lithography and production of Zone Plate optics for x-ray microscopes and nanoprobes.

07/01/2005  AUSTIN, TX-With the second quarter of 2005 already underway, research consortium SEMATECH (www.sematech.org) is looking ahead to technical challenges facing the semiconductor industry in 2006. From lithography and various device components to metrology, manufacturing effectiveness, and environment, safety, and health (ES&H), the consortium sees significant contamination-control concerns-particularly with lithography and new materials.

07/01/2005  MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-Recent independent testing of filter technology developed by Donaldson Company Inc. (www.donaldson.com) offers optimism in the battle against sulfur-dioxide (SO2) contamination in semiconductor manufacturing.

06/16/2005  (June 16, 2005) Washington, D.C. — SEMI is persuading Congress to pass the "Investment in America Act of 2005" (S. 627 & H.R. 1736) to strengthen and permanently extend the R&D tax credit to foster innovation and promote the industry's continued investment in the research and development of new microelectronics technologies.

06/15/2005  (June 15, 2005) New York, N.Y. — There exists great concern about the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risks of nanoparticles — tiny, engineered particles of matter might harm workers, consumers, or the environment. Such EHS risks can be appropriately addressed using well-established risk management techniques, according to a new report from Lux Research, titled "A Prudent Approach to Nanotech Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks."

06/15/2005 

06/14/2005  June 14, 2005 - Ultratech Inc. has announced that it has received multiple-system orders from several southeast Asian customers for its NanoTech 190 lithography systems. The NanoTech 190 tools, specifically designed for thin-film head (TFH) applications, will be utilized for back-end rowbar processing -- the processing step required to add the aerodynamic surface to rows of TFH devices before wafer singulation.