08/26/2008  August 26, 2008: IBM says it has integrated and controlled an electrically driven light emitter based on a single carbon nanotube, which it says is a first step in developing nanotube-based integrated electronic and nanophotonic devices.

08/21/2008  SST's Debra Vogler gets some inside technical details about Dow Corning's new thermally conductive compound, and why it's being pitched for multi-chip packaging applications.

08/20/2008  Chipmakers' pullback in capital investments that has dented tool orders for the better part of a year has finally caught up to the sales side of the equation. The latest updated monthly data from SEMI shows declines in both bookings and billings that haven't been seen since the last cyclical slump in 2003 -- and even the industry's 2001 dark age.

08/18/2008  Worldwide silicon wafer demand area shipments had been sluggish in previous quarters, but picked back up in 2Q08 to typical seasonal levels, according to data from SEMI's Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG).

08/18/2008  Using stencil, screen printing, and spin coating techniques, Henkel's Ablestik 8000 series, wafer backside coating (WBC) reportedly enables the deposition of die-attach materials to the wafer backside down to a thickness of 20 µm on wafers as thin as 100 20 µm and up to 300 mm in diameter. Unlike conventional dispensing methods, printing or spin coating materials onto the wafer is said to deliver a tightly controlled, high UPH for high-volume die attach adhesive deposition.

08/18/2008  August 18, 2008 -- Cancer researchers have long faced the challenge in chemotherapy of how to get the most medication into the cells of a tumor without "spillover" of the medication adversely affecting the healthy cells in a patient's body. Now researchers at Stanford University have addressed that problem using single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery vehicles.

08/14/2008  August 14, 2008 -- Oxantium Ventures closed a B Series funding round with RF Nano Corporation, a developer of radio frequency devices from carbon nanotubes. Dr. Richard Wirt, a managing director at Oxantium, joins RF Nano's Board.

08/14/2008  August 13, 2008 -- Shocking Technologies, Inc. is preparing to ramp up commercial scale production by moving to a new 51,000 square foot facility in San Jose, California. The facility will house Shocking's nanotechnology research and development labs as well as manufacturing for its XStatic voltage switchable dielectric material.

08/14/2008  August 13, 2008 -- ZEOX Corporation's subsidiary, ZEOX Performance Materials, LLC (ZPM), a developer of products utilizing nanostructured materials for coatings, nanoparticle reinforced composites, and nanostructured polymers, has developed a new class of surfactant technology based on a newly developed molecular structure, called Lipotrope. Surfactants are surface active agents required in the chemical processing of many industrial products.

08/14/2008  August 12, 2008 -- Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen) has signed a collaboration and equipment supply agreement with Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) where REC will evaluate thin-PV substrate samples made using SiGen's PolyMax "kerf-free" wafering process. REC will also collaborate with SiGen to develop and optimize high-volume manufacturing (HVM) equipment and develop silicon ingot shaping requirements.

08/04/2008  The PE-200-RIE Convertible, from Plasma Etch, is a convertible RIE configuration of the companies PE-200 plasma etching/cleaning system. Designed for anisotropic etching of nitrides, oxides, and polyimide, the system features a 13

08/01/2008  Power dissipation and small packages are creating heat fluxes that must be addressed at either the package or system level. Designers face such challenges as thermal management as a gating factor and integration of small dies in larger packages. Contact and spreading resistance are mitigating factors for design success.

07/31/2008  July 31, 2008 -- Using the same technology with which they created the world's first fully functional nanotube radio, researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) at Berkeley have fashioned a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) that can function as a scale sensitive enough to measure the mass of a single atom of gold.

07/31/2008  July 31, 2008 -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will use SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc.'s (http://swentnano.com) SWeNT SG65 single-wall carbon nanotubes, manufactured by the CoMoCAT process, as the starting material for a Standard Reference Material (SRMs).

07/25/2008  Following its acquisition of the Adhesives and Electronics Materials businesses from National Starch and Chemical Company, Henkel has announced its executive team to take the company forward. Under the direction of Alan Syzdek, corporate senior V.P. the electronics group of Henkel will be organized on a global basis by industry sector.

07/22/2008  With the Magellan XHR SEM, FEI Company has launched a class of instruments called extreme high-resolution scanning electron microscopes that allow scientists and engineers to view 3D surface images at different angles and at resolutions below one nanometer. The Magellan XHR SEM images samples at very low beam energies, avoiding distortions otherwise caused by the beam penetrating into the material below.

07/18/2008  Unlike its flashier competitors, Global Solar has quietly achieved fully commercialized solar products involving depositing CIGS films and solar cells for modules designed for crystalline silicon. Tim Teich, VP for sales and marketing, tells SST more about the company and its seemingly low profile in Tuscon, AZ, and where he sees the most promising growth ahead.

07/17/2008  ISMI provided SST with tidbits from its closed-door meeting on Wednesday where discussions continued between its members and equipment suppliers about key programs and topics including the next-generation fab (NGF) targeting 300mm improvements and the 450mm transition, including updates on the interoperability test bed for 450mm wafer automation and handling.

07/17/2008  In a round table discussion over lunch, Scott Kulicke, CEO, Kulicke & Soffa, responded with candor to questions posed by analysts from Prismark Partners, VLSI Research, and TechInternational; and editors from a variety of industry publications. Topics ranged from the success of the company's recent tool launch, last year's acquisition of Alphasem, the transition to copper wire bonding from gold wire, and the state of the industry

07/16/2008  Where to turn for inspiration in a tough year 2008 for semiconductor suppliers? Try Yankee baseball great Yogi Berra and famously underappreciated comic Rodney Dangerfield, according to analyst John Housley of Techcet, in a Wednesday talk about materials forecasts at SEMICON West.