05/20/2008  by Pete Singer, Editor-in-Chief, Solid State Technology
May 20, 2008 - Taking a page out of the Toyota playbook, AMAT CTO/CMO Iddo Hadar challenged the audience at his Confab presentation to focus not on improving productivity but eliminating waste, including what he called "redistributed" waste across many semiconductor processes.

05/20/2008  by Debra Vogler, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology
May 20, 2008 - Among the fab design trends noted by ConFab presenter Rick Whitney, COO of US operations at M+W Zander: The rapid rise in the cost of advanced processing equipment has outpaced the cost of building fabs in the last few years, though increasing facility costs are now in line with the consumer price index. And advances in cleanliness and footprints are allowing fab design rules to be a bit less stringent.

05/19/2008  The Pyramax 75A reflow oven from BTU International was developed for situations where footprint is an issue, or where high volumes are not required. It features 75? of heated length and six zones, 350

05/16/2008  CVD Equipment Corporation -- designer, manufacturer and supplier of equipment for use in manufacturing nanotechnology such as carbon nanotubes and nanowires, as well as semiconductors and solar cells, and for surface mounting of components onto printed circuit boards -- has announced record first quarter revenues and its fourteenth consecutive profitable quarter.

05/16/2008  May 16, 2008 -- Researchers at the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN) at Northeastern University say they have discovered "an innovative technology that will have a tremendous impact on the nanotechnology industry." And they plan to demonstrate a prototype next month.

05/15/2008  by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
May 15, 2008 - The acquisition of Ponte Solutions by Mentor Graphics not only takes one of the last pure DFM companies off the table, it also answers the question about what side of the chipmaking wall DFM belongs, and terminates an inflection point that might not be seen again for a decade or more.

05/07/2008  May 7, 2008 - Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments were roughly the same in 1Q as they were in 4Q, reflecting the industry's overall conservative environment, according to data from SEMI.

05/07/2008  May 7, 2008 -- VT International Corp. says it has completed its acquisition of Nanotailor Inc., which last year licensed the rights to a NASA-developed manufacturing process for creating single-walled carbon nanotubes.

05/05/2008  May 5, 2008 - A new technique to literally melt away defects in etching microchip structures, and significantly reduce line-edge roughness (LER), has been revealed by scientists at Princeton U.

05/05/2008  Oerlikon Esec, provider of automated chip assembly equipment and system solutions for the semiconductor industry, formally introduced the introductory platform of an entirely new product family at an official unveiling during SEMICON Singapore. The Die Bonder 2100 xP targets the high-volume epoxy die attach market.

05/02/2008  Hysol FF6000, from the electronics group at Henkel, is a reflow curable material formulated to provide flux for lead-free solder joint formation and, when cured, delivers protection against mechanical stress. Unlike traditional capillary underfill processes, this material enables an in-line alternative that affords thorough device protection as well.

04/29/2008  April 29, 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ -- ST. LOUIS, MO -- The 5,000-sq.-ft. facility consists of an ISO 4 cleanroom, a distillation suite, and office space.

04/24/2008  After a brief surge in February, when the book-to-bill ratio for North American semiconductor equipment reached .92, it has slipped back to 0.89 for March 2008, the same average as January, 2008. On the bright side, total billings for March — 1.29B — was only 1% lower than February's 1.31B, and slightly more than January's billings of 1.28B.

04/23/2008  by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
April 23, 2008 - SEMI is set to release results of a yearlong study detailing real-world challenges that its member companies have experienced protecting their IP. WaferNEWS talks with SEMI's Vicki Hadfield to sift through the report's findings -- including why customers (i.e., chipmakers) and the North America region are high on the list for IP concerns.

04/23/2008  PowerMetal Technologies Inc., supplier of nanotechnology enhanced materials to the sporting goods and consumer products industries, says that PGA Tour professional Trevor Immelman won the 2008 Masters using its EPIC shaft, a golf shaft designed in conjunction with Grafalloy to enable golfers to hit longer and straighter golf shots thanks to its proprietary nanofuse construction.

04/22/2008  Angstron Materials LLC says it is the first to offer large quantities of single-atom-thick nano-graphene platelets (NGPs), which the company says have thermal conductivity 5x that of copper, and surface area 2x that of carbon nanotubes.

04/22/2008  For the fifth consecutive year, Oerlikon Esec was recognized by Infineon Technologies, Sdn. Bhd; but for the first time, the company received awards in both Best Performer and Best Supplier catgories for 2006/07. The two companies have been working together on the realization and implementation of a copper wire bonding project.

04/18/2008  Apr. 18, 2008 - Even the quarterly-ending month couldn't muster enough strength to give the industry a positive boost, as demand continues to show softness in the semiconductor equipment sector, according to the latest data from SEMI.

04/18/2008  University of Pittsburgh scientists have claimed a nanotechnology breakthrough: The newfound ability of organic molecules to conduct electricity opens door to smaller, cheaper, and more powerful technologies.

04/16/2008  Jordan Valley Semiconductors LTD, a provider of semiconductor metrology solutions, has acquired the business of Bede, effective Monday April 14th. Bede is a supplier of high-resolution XRD (HRXRD) metrology for the semiconductor and compound industries with revenues of $11.6M in 2007. Bede entered into the UK's Administration phase, their equivalent of Chapter 11, on March 31.