05/23/2012 

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor fab equipment posted $1.60 billion in orders and $1.45 billion in billings in April 2012 for a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10, according to SEMI.

05/15/2012 

SÜSS MicroTec AG has increased its shareholding in SUSS MicroOptics S.A. to 100%. SUSS MicroOptics is a leading company for high-quality refractive and diffractive micro-optics.

05/14/2012 

Advantest Corporation uncrated the next-generation high-speed DRAM test system, T5511, offering 8Gbps test speed. It can be deployed from R&D through to volume production.

05/08/2012 

SEMI-GAS Systems, ultra-high-purity gas source and distribution system maker, will outfit the University of Nebraska - Lincoln’s new Nanoscience Metrology Facility. Applied Energy Systems will provide field services.

05/08/2012 

President Barack Obama toured the SUNY - Albany Nano-Tech Complex today, speaking about the economy and education in the CNSE NanoFab Extension Building.

05/07/2012 

A leading, US-based IDM ordered about $5 million of front- and back-end semiconductor automatic optical inspection (AOI) tools from Camtek Ltd.

05/02/2012 

CEA-Leti has introduced the “LETI-3S” concept, for “Silicon Specialty Solutions.” The research is oriented to start-ups, component integrators, fabless or fablite chip companies, and equipment/consumable suppliers.

05/01/2012 

Solid State Technology and SEMI will present the 2012 Best of West product awards at SEMICON West 2012, July 10-12 in San Francisco. Best of West recognizes important product and technology developments in the microelectronics industries.

04/25/2012 

Carl Zeiss won orders for its EUVL actinic aerial image metrology system, AIMS EUV, from 2 of the 4 members of SEMATECH’s EMI partnership. The tool allows chip makers to review defects in advanced masks needed for EUVL.

04/23/2012 

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) debuted the CIRCL suite high-throughput defect inspection/metrology/review system for implementation at lithography, outgoing quality control (OQC) and other process modules in semiconductor manufacturing lines.

04/23/2012 

Hexagon Metrology released the Optiv Classic 321GL tp benchtop vision-measuring metrology system for the North American market. It suits electronics and precision parts inspection, including micro-holes, fiber optics, filters, and more.

04/23/2012 

Strong lithography spending, as well as several acquisitions and divestures in the space, brought changes to the critical subsystems of semiconductor/related markets sector, says VLSIresearch. 

04/20/2012 

With a book-to-bill ratio of 1.13, North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment saw a sixth climb in the ratio, which has steadily improved since it hit 0.71 in September 2011, shows SEMI.

04/18/2012 

The 23rd Annual SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC 2012) will be held May 15-17 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The conference will feature presentations of more than 85 peer-reviewed manuscripts covering critical process technologies and fab productivity. This year’s event features a panel discussion on “Competing for R&D Dollars,” moderated by Solid State Technology Editor-in-Chief Pete Singer.

04/13/2012 

04/12/2012 

Intel Corporation announced its 2011 Intel Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) awards, selecting 19 of its thousands of suppliers. Two suppliers received Intel’s Achievement Award.

04/10/2012 

Barclays Capital compiled its 2011 analysis of semiconductor wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending, with a look at the top players and underlying trends by process step.

04/10/2012 

Barclays Capital compiled its 2011 analysis of wafer fab equipment spending, with a look at the top players and underlying trends by process step. CJ Muse looks at the growth areas for test.

04/10/2012 

Barclays Capital compiled its 2011 analysis of wafer fab equipment spending, with a look at the top players and underlying trends by process step. CJ Muse considers the rebound in process control due to weak yields at smaller chip nodes.

04/09/2012 

Barclays Capital looks at wafer fab equipment trends in 2011, based on Gartner data. Top 5 takeaways? The top 5 vendors continue to gain market share, Intel is a key customer, segment-leading vendors strengthened their holds, intensity edged higher, and changes are in store in 2012.