07/24/2007  What's the difference between semiconductor equipment and solar equipment? "A factor of ten, squared," said T.J. Rodgers, chairman of SunPower Corp. and president and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, during his Wednesday (July 18) keynote address at SEMICON West. "If you want to sell a solar fab some equipment, it has to be 10x cheaper" -- e.g., $400,000 instead of $4 million -- "and it has to be 10x faster, say, 800 wafers/hr, not 80 wafers/hr."

07/23/2007  July 23, 2007 - The latest monthly data from SEMI indicates soft demand at the midpoint of 2007, days after the group joined the growing chorus of industry watchers in expressing pessimism that the equipment industry will se anything above a few percentage points of growth this year.

07/19/2007  At SEMICON West, SEMATECH is discussing many of the themes from papers it presented at the VLSI Symposium, including its gate first/high-k metal-inserted poly stack (MIPS) electrode approach instead of FUSI or replacement gates. "We chose a path that was more manufacturable and fits in more easily with existing technologies in terms of scalability, contamination prevention, and integration," said Raj Jammy, director of frontend processes, in a pre-show interview with WaferNEWS.

07/19/2007  Surrey NanoSystems has won a major order for its carbon nanotube growth tool from ITA, the advanced technologies research institute in Trapani, Sicily.

07/19/2007  July 18, 2007 - Jerry Coder, president emeritus of Dupont Electronic Technologies' semiconductor materials business, has been appointed as the new chairman of SEMI's board of directors, succeeding Hermes-Epitek CEM Archie Hwang.

07/19/2007  July 18, 2007 - Keithley Instruments Inc. and European R&D institute CEA-Leti have agreed to jointly research methods for characterizing advanced semiconductor materials and devices that support DC, high frequency, and RF-level signals on both micro- and nano-level structures.

07/18/2007  Participants in Tuesday's Interconnect Symposium hosted by Kulicke & Soffa and Advanced Packaging magazine, examined a list of trends, challenges, and opportunities in advanced packaging (e.g., wire-bonding and flip-chips) that are being thrust into the semiconductor manufacturing spotlight. "If you're an advanced packaging engineer, you're finally getting the recognition you deserve," noted TechSearch International president E. Jan Vardemann.

07/18/2007  Accelrys, maker of computer aided nanodesign (CAN) products, has released a new version of its multi-scale QMERA software, which enables users to include quantum mechanical and molecular mechanic methods (QMMM) simultaneously through a hybrid simulation approach.

07/16/2007  The CL-1000 series of heat spreaders offer a large, flat, and thin surface area to connect components and thermal interface materials (TIMs), or serve as a heat pipe or heatsink. The products are reportedly 44% lighter than pure copper and 10–15× more thermally conductive.

07/12/2007  July 12, 2007 - Taiwan foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and SEMATECH's Advanced Technology Development Facility (ATDF) are extending their year-long collaboration to evaluate "emerging technology products," focusing on specialty technologies such as nanotech and memory designs.

07/12/2007  Xidex Corp. has been awarded a new contract from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop Selective Nanotube Etching, a process designed for manufacturing carbon nanotube (CNT) devices.

07/10/2007  As usual, the challenge for SEMICON West attendees is prioritizing among the many options to make the best use of your time. SEMICON West seems to have more "extras" than ever, and this year many of them are focused on assembly and test.

07/09/2007  June 26, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MARLBOROUGH, MA -- Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials will invest $60 million in leading-edge lithography equipment to support its extensive research and development of advanced 193 nm photoresist and anti-reflective coatings used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.

07/09/2007  June 21, 2007 -- /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WASHINGTON, DC -- DuPont and Environmental Defense today released a comprehensive framework to assist with the responsible development and use of nanotechnology and to help inform global dialogue on its potential risks.

07/09/2007  June 25, 2007 -- ST. PAUL, MN -- Ecolab Inc. announced today a new Hand Hygiene Monitoring Compliance Program for hospitals and healthcare facilities.

07/09/2007  Analyst firm Research and Markets released "Plasma-aided Nanofabrication: From Plasma Sources to Nano-assembly," detailing plasma-based processing techniques, carbon-based structures, and quantum confinement elements in nano-fabrication. Ken Ostrikov, Ph.D., University of Sydney (Australia); and Shuyan Xu, professor, Nanyang Technology University (China), authored the summary of plasma tools and processing.

07/03/2007  Internationally recognized leaders will counsel top nanotechnology company as it furthers its technology platform and pursues joint development and partnership agreements.

07/01/2007  Concepts from the textile industry may soon infiltrate thermal management in advanced packaging, in the form of manufactured spun threads and felted mats composed of single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

07/01/2007  Demands for continuously smaller IC packages with increased I/O capability are requiring tighter wire-bond loop tolerances.

07/01/2007  Taking into consideration the statistics on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), it’s no wonder that the health care industry is looking for simple and cost-effective ways to reduce the number of these infections.