06/12/2007  June 12, 2007 - The image sensor market is projected to grow 14% in 2007, following 30% growth in 2006 to roughly $6 billion, and will slow through the next several years, with many providers jostling for position, according to a report from Strategies Unlimited.

06/11/2007  June 11, 2007 - Mentor Graphics has acquired Sierra Design Automation for $90 million in a half-and-half cash/stock deal, bolstering its design offerings. Mentor says the deal will be "slightly accretive" for FY07 (ending Jan.31 2008), and shave about $0.02 off of its anticipated FY08 earnings.

06/08/2007  June 8, 2007 - Intel Corp. appears to be pushing out all orders and shipments for equipment relating to the upgrade of its fab in New Mexico from 200mm to 300mm-compatible, just three months after announcing it would make that facility into its fourth 45nm production site, according to an analyst report.

06/07/2007  June 7, 2007 - The market for lithography photomasks continued to slow in 2006, reaching $2.2 billion (5.4% growth), but should pick up again in 2007 thanks to increased demand from the logic segment which uses more and higher-priced masks, according to a report from The Information Market.

06/06/2007  The nascent nano supply-chain and production infrastructure shows signs of moving beyond R&D, says Small Times' Tom Cheyney, in our third report of findings from NSTI Nanotech 2007. He quotes keynoter John Hofmeister of Shell Oil (right).

06/05/2007  Microfabrication software provider GenISys GmbH, has formed a technology development partnership with microscope developer JEOL, Ltd., and Cornell University's Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility to develop solutions for direct write e-beam data preparation and electron process correction (nano-EPC) technologies for nano-scale structures.

06/04/2007  June 4, 2007 - GenISys GmbH, JEOL Ltd., and Cornell U. are partnering to develop advanced technologies for direct-write e-beam data preparation and electron process correction technologies for nanometer-range structures.

06/04/2007  EV Group (St. Florian) installed an EVG620 precision mask and bond aligner system at repeat-customer Danish Advanced Nanotech Center for Highly Integrated Production (DANCHIP) facilities at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU — Lyngby). The machine will be used for research, education, prototyping, and small-scale production of micro- and nanotechnology.

06/01/2007  June 1, 2007 - Japan's government-affiliated New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) says it has drawn circuit patterns with just 26nm linewidths (isolated and dense lines), which would vault Japan back among the frontrunners for achieving chip manufacturing at the 32nm node using EUV, according to local news reports.

06/01/2007  PROLITH has long been the most popular tool for optimizing lithography processes before exposure, enabling accurate simulations on small circuit regions with a library of calibrated resist and other material parameters. But running it under Windows on a PC has always seemed too slow to help wavefront engineers optimize entire chip designs. To address this, KLA-Tencor has introduced LithoWare, a new Linux-based product enabling semiconductor circuit designers to run PROLITH on large server farms.

06/01/2007  Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with help from the U. of Maryland and Howard U., have devised a fabrication method that creates tiny ultraviolet light-emitting diodes from nanowires, and NIST says the technique is "well-suited" for scaling to commercial production.

05/29/2007  May 29, 2007 - Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with help from the U. of Maryland and Howard U., have devised a fabrication method that creates tiny ultraviolet light-emitting diodes from nanowires, and NIST says the technique is "well-suited" for scaling to commercial production.

05/29/2007  May 8, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Influenza virus H5N1, which caused the recent outbreak of avian flu, may have a new enemy.

05/25/2007  May 24, 2007 - Korean memory chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor Inc. has joined IMEC's 32nm memory R&D program, which now boasts participation from the top five global memory chipmakers (Samsung, Elpida, Micron, and Qimonda).

05/24/2007  May 23, 2006 - Five of the "Common Platform Alliance" partners -- IBM, Chartered, Samsung, Infineon, and Freescale -- say they will extend their current technology development agreements through 2010 and beyond, incorporating 32nm bulk CMOS process technologies and joint development of process design kits.

05/23/2007  Anyone trying to follow the topic of design for manufacturing (DFM) the last few years would be hard-pressed to accurately dissect the nuanced boundary lines that identify what each company that plays in the DFM space actually does and how users of DFM/EDA should evaluate their return on investment for the tools. ConFab panelist Joe Sawicki, VP & GM at Mentor Graphics, thinks we should look at the "DFM" label in a new way.

05/23/2007  Chip design, foundry/fab, and packaging partners must work in concert to reduce risk on new technology offerings, according to Mike Barrow, SVP, flip chip technologies, Amkor. Giving the packaging group early access to advanced silicon can result in chip and package interaction (CPI) solutions that are market-ready upon silicon node release. Further, package and laminate design are in the critical path, and need to be co-designed with the silicon to deliver cost-effective solutions.

05/21/2007  May 21, 2007 - Laser-produced plasma sources, once seen as a "dark horse" technology for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, seem to be gaining steam as the most promising power source for the future litho equipment, according to SEMATECH, citing feedback from a recent workshop.

05/21/2007  Developed for the repair of flat panel displays, micro circuits, and wafers, the new IX-70 ChromAblate on-target inspection and short deletion system from J.P. Sercel Associates promises precision and power in a small package.

05/17/2007  Nano-Terra Inc. has announced a multi-year development and licensing agreement with 3M. The partners plan to use Nano-Terra's nanoscale fabrication methods in 3M products.