04/11/2008  Apr. 11, 2008 - UK-based Oxford Instruments says it has acquired Silver Spring, MD-based Technologies and Devices International, a developer of hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) technology and processes, in a bid to expand its offerings for makers of high-brightness LEDs.

04/11/2008  Apr. 11, 2008 - Elpida memory expects a ¥20B (US $197.7M) group operating loss for the just-ended fiscal year, the company's first such loss since its market listing in late 2004. Meanwhile, TEL chip equipment orders during fiscal 4Q08 were at their lowest level in nearly three years.

04/09/2008  Apr. 9, 2008 - Sunovia Energy Technologies and EPIR Technologies say their R&D efforts have achieved "breakthroughs" in infrared sensors that will enable multijunction solar cells with high efficiencies and lower costs, through using less expensive IR system materials and manufacturing processes.

04/09/2008  The Microsystems Packaging Research Center at Georgia Tech will hold its workshop to introduce its global industry-academia consortium on "Nano Packaging, Materials, Components & Systems (NanoPack)" on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. The purpose of NanoPack is to investigate going beyond nano materials and devices to form system level components leading to nano modules.

04/02/2008  The new Trident 256Jet-D inkjet printhead can print high viscosity materials, is inert to corrosive materials, promises an industry-leading lifespan, and can produce up to 5x higher resolution components than can screen printing.

04/01/2008  Seven months after public introduction of its Organic Metal Nanofinish, Ormecon International says that mass production of printed circuit boards using the coating has begun. During April, the production amount is expected to reach 10,000 ft² per month.

04/01/2008  The global semiconductor materials market grew 14% in 2007 and is forecasted to grow over 11% in 2008 according to the latest materials forecast from SEMI. While the semiconductor industry grew 3% in 2007 to reach the $256B published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the global semiconductor materials market grew 14% in 2007 to reach a record $42 billion.

04/01/2008  As part of DuPont Microcircuit Materials' (MCM) participation at IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe, which focuses on thin film and organic electronics, Kerry Adams, Ph.D, market development lead, DuPont, will discuss the company's developments in inks and imaging for printed electronics. The event will be held at Maritim Hotel and Congress Centre in Dresden, Germany on April 8

04/01/2008  April 1, 2008 -- /SAN JOSE, CA/ -- The global semiconductor materials market grew 14 percent in 2007 and is forecasted to grow over 11 percent in 2008 according to the latest materials forecast from SEMI.

04/01/2008 

04/01/2008  Die-attach technologies improve throughput

04/01/2008  Compiled by Jason Andrukaitis

03/31/2008  The Acoustic Surface Profile (ASP) module from Sonoscan allows its C-SAM acoustic microscopes to reveal the external surface topography of a device at the same time as its internal features. It reportedly requires no additional scanning time because profile data is taken at the same time as the acoustic image data. If a part is tilted, ASP corrects for tilt before profiling the surface.

03/25/2008  ; SEMI has reported that worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $42.77 B in 2007, representing a year-over-year increase of 6%. The data is available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report, now available from SEMI.

03/25/2008  ; Sonoscan has introduced a new capability for its line of C-SAM acoustic microscopes that reveals the external surface topography of a device at the same time as its internal features. Known as the acoustic surface profile (ASP) module, this important mode can be used to measure warpage of plastic integrated circuits, flip chips, substrates, circuit boards

03/25/2008  Mar. 25, 2008 - Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased about 5.7% in 2007, almost entirely due to a spending splurge by Taiwan firms and to a lesser extent Korea, and underpinned by extensive memory investments and the continued ramp of 300mm wafer manufacturing, according to the latest data from SEMI.

03/24/2008  by Katherine Derbyshire, Contributing Editor, Solid State Technology
Traditionally, achieving high resolution with negative imaging has been difficult. Research presented by Fujifilm Electronic Materials at this year's SPIE Advanced Lithography conference showed how to tune the resist imaging threshold to clear "dark" and "bright" regions, and ultimately double the pitch frequency and thus the density of lines and spaces.

03/24/2008  March 19, 2008 -- /SAN JOSE, CA/ -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.23 billion in orders in February 2008 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 according to the February 2008 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.

03/19/2008  by Katherine Derbyshire, Contributing Editor, Solid State Technology
Conferences like the recent SPIE focus on the leading edge (e.g., EUV, double patterning, immersion lithography), yet process technologies remain commercially important long after the leading edge has moved on. Case in point: KrF-based litho, currently used in >30% of 65nm DRAMs and poised to increase substantially. Here's what resist suppliers like Fujifilm Electronic Materials are doing to support this trend.

03/19/2008  As nanotechnology aids in improving the performance of wireless handsets, the market for nanotech-enabled wireless components is expected to grow rapidly.