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  Nextreme appointed Paul A. Magill, Ph.D., as VP of marketing and business development, citing his entrepreneurial experience and background in electronics packaging and thermal management. Magill has founded several companies, such as Unitive and Avo Photonics.

06/01/2007  By Mark Danna, Owens Design, Fremont, California, USA

Much has been written recently about the escalating cost of R&D funding required by semiconductor equipment OEMs in order to stay on the IC development trajectory required by the ITRS and Moore's Law. The gap in what is required and what can be supplied, based on the current OEM business model, has shown that this deficit could be as high as $9.3 billion by the year 2010 [1].

05/31/2007  May 31, 2007 - A trio of semiconductor equipment firms have made a range of moves to shore up their balance sheets, boost capital and return profits to shareholders, through several transactions involving shares and convertible notes.

05/31/2007  Small Times' Tom Cheyney reports on a particularly compelling discussion among panelists from industry and academia at the recent NSTI Nanotech 2007 conference. The panel examined technical barriers to -- and recent advancements in -- nanomanufacturing.

05/24/2007  May 23, 2007 - Heavier capex in 1Q from several large IDMs helped push up sales as well as orders for semiconductor manufacturing equipment from North America-based suppliers, according to the latest monthly data from SEMI.

05/23/2007  A ConFab session on "Capital Equipment: Alternative Financing Models" was kicked off by Craig Ignaszewski, director of capital equipment procurement, IBM, with discussion of the rationale for leasing vs. buying equipment. Meanwhile, Zvi Lando, VP at Applied Materials' Israel operation, suggested that upgrades might be capable of carrying leased metrology and inspection equipment through an extra process node.

05/23/2007  Nanophase registers shares for anticipated growth

05/22/2007  May 22, 2007 - Intel Corp. says that its future processors, starting with its 45nm line utilizing high-k dielectrics and metal gates (HK+MG), will incorporate 100% lead-free packaging designs, including pin grid array, ball grid array and land grid array. Next year the company plans to transition its 65nm chipsets also to 100% lead-free technology.

05/21/2007  While the semiconductor industry continues to promise ever higher rewards (with high-single-digit CAGRs for many years to come), few companies will be able to survive the increasing risks of competing in the market unless they form novel heterogeneous manufacturing alliances, similar to the research partnerships that have proven successful in managing escalating R&D costs, according to Ajit Manocha, EVP and CMO of NXP, keynote speaker kicking off this year's ConFab event.

05/17/2007  May 17, 2008 - MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. says it has authorized a share repurchase program for up to $500 million of its shares. Specific timing and amounts were not disclosed; the company said they would vary depending on market conditions and other factors.

05/17/2007  May 17, 2007 - A Japanese firm says that adding carbon nanotubes to antistatic rubber, used to make test benches and transport trays, can improve the strength of the base material and prevent particles from scattering around the cleanroom, notes the Nikkei Business Daily.

05/17/2007  May 17, 2007 - Vtex Corp., a unit of Hitachi Zosen that makes specialty valves for semiconductor equipment, will spend 100 million yen (~US $831,000) to tool up a five-year-old maintenance location in Seoul, South Korea, in order to take aim on new business in the US

05/16/2007  It looks like cotton candy as its being synthesized, but has the strength of carbon steel. It is as electrically conductive as copper at 50MHz and is thermally conductive. It has application possibilities across military, aerospace, and semiconductor markets. Is it any wonder that Nanocomp Technologies, the company that manufactures this carbon nanotube (CNT) textile, received the New Hampshire High Tech Council's "Product of the Year" in 2006?

05/15/2007  The fiber-based picosecond UV laser, developed with proprietary diode laser technology, fiber coupling, and frequency conversions, produces 12-W output power at a 355-nm wavelength. It enables scribing and other processing steps on dielectric, glass, and semiconductor materials.

05/15/2007  The DA-6534 one-part, high-performance thermal adhesive uses silver filler with a silicone-based chemistry to offer flexibility, reliability, and thermal conductivity. It targets thermal management packaging for flip chip BGAs and other advanced components.

05/15/2007  The number of consumer products using nanotechnology has more than doubled, from 212 to 475, in 14 months, says the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.

05/14/2007  Nanocomp Technologies says it has produced a new textile material based on its extremely long (hundreds of microns to millimeters) nanotubes. Company CEO Peter Antoinette says, "we have a product platform with vast real-world functionality and . . . we aim to determine just how broad the benefits can extend."

05/10/2007  TT electronics OPTEK Technology opened an in-house visible LED laboratory with resources to assess LED packages on junction temperature variation, optical performance, and other parameters. The lab aids in design, manufacturing, and test.

05/08/2007  The partnership covers Nanocyl's industrial grade multi-wall carbon nanotubes powder and thermoplastic concentrates.