11/28/2006  November 28, 2006 - Brion Technologies and Hitachi High-Technologies are collaborating on a DFM platform that will enable chipmakers to detect, measure, and monitor optical proximity correction (OPC) defects during volume production of advanced semiconductors. Brion and Hitachi say the combined technologies in one interface will "vastly reduce the amount of time and number of operations required to generate a several-hundred point CD-SEM recipe for OPC evaluation."

11/21/2006  November 21, 2006 - Days after a business unit reorg and executive shuffle, Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. has announced layoffs of about 8% of its workforce in all parts of the organization, but mainly in R&D and operations and including management positions. The company will take a $300K charge in 4Q06 to cover termination expenses and other costs, but foresees saving $2 million in 2007.

10/26/2006  October 26, 2005 - Nanometrics Inc. and ASML Holding NV have entered into a cross-licensing agreement to incorporate Nanometrics' overlay and critical-dimension control metrology technology into ASML's lithography systems.

10/26/2006  Nanometrics Inc., a Milpitas, Calif., supplier of advanced integrated and standalone metrology equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced it has entered into a cross-licensing agreement with ASML, the provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry based in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.

10/20/2006  The UK government has published a progress report which provides an update on the government's direction and details of progress made on research into possible risks posed by engineered nanoparticles to human health and the environment.

10/17/2006  October 17, 2006 - ASML Holding NV says it has received the first order from an unidentified customer for a pre-production EUV system, following shipments of two alpha tools earlier this year to IMEC and Albany Nanotech.

10/10/2006  The special Friday session of BACUS '06, organized by Bob Naber of Cadence, addressed the question of industry progress and readiness for DFM, and discussed the remaining challenges as well as proposed solutions. Mark Mason of Texas Instruments pointed out that "DFM is a journey, not a destination," and worried that management did not yet understand how hard it was going to be.

10/10/2006  Chris Moore, CEO of metrology equipment supplier Philips AMS (now known simply as AMS -- Advanced Metrology Systems) talks with WaferNEWS about the decision to break free from former parent Royal Philips, the new reality of semiconductor market cycles, and where the company is pushing new inroads for its trench-measurement technology.

09/19/2006  September 19, 2006 - SEMATECH and its manufacturing-oriented subsidiary, the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), have signed an agreement to incorporate ASML Holding NV's resolution enhancement techniques (RET) in order to qualify imaging performance of advanced logic patterns, metrology structures, and defect designs for the 45nm, 32nm, and 22nm technology nodes.

09/14/2006  September 12, 2006 -- /MARKET WIRE/ -- MIDDLEFIELD, CT -- (Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIGO), a leading worldwide optical metrology supplier, today announced that it has received a follow-on order from a leading North American semiconductor manufacturer as part of a multi-million-dollar commitment to use ZYGO's Z3D 7000(tm) metrology tool for high volume manufacturing process control.

09/13/2006  September 7, 2006 -- Flanders, New Jersey -- Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC), a worldwide leader of high-performance process control metrology, defect inspection, and data analysis systems for semiconductor manufacturing, today announced significant new orders received in July and August 2006 for advanced all-surface macro defect inspection tools from a major U.S.-based memory manufacturer.

09/06/2006  FEI of Hillsboro, Ore., announced that Japan's JFE Steel Corp. has ordered a Titan 80-300 for its research center in Kawasaki. JFE Steel, a leading global supplier of steel products, is the first Japanese customer to order the Titan S/TEM.

09/06/2006  September 6, 2006 - Nova Measuring Instruments, Rehovoth, Israel, is soliciting bids from approximately 100 companies to license six of its patents relating to use of a lithography tool with integrated metrology, and will even accept bids for outright ownership of the technology.

09/06/2006  September 6, 2006 - Nova Measuring Instruments, Rehovoth, Israel, is soliciting bids from approximately 100 companies to license six of its patents relating to use of a lithography tool with integrated metrology, and will even accept bids for outright ownership of the technology.

09/01/2006  It is well-known in semiconductor manufacturing that fast process feedback leads to better process control, which results in higher yield.

08/30/2006  Ambios Technology, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based maker of high performance, low cost bench top metrology and measurement equipment, announced its Isochamber, an environmental isolation system designed to optimize the performance of AFMs and other surface imaging tools.

08/30/2006  August 30, 2006 - Semiconductor manufacturers are increasingly trying to cut expenses and spending, and the first casualty appears to be metrology equipment investments, according to a new report from The Information Network.

08/25/2006  August 25, 2006 - Bede X-ray Metrology and European research consortium IMEC have entered into a collaboration to investigate the use of X-ray metrology for process control and characterization of new semiconductor materials used at the 45nm node and below.

08/15/2006  August 15, 2006 - Ultratech Inc., San Jose, CA, has officially acquired certain assets of Oraxion Inc., a maker of surface-metrology and stress-analysis equipment for semiconductor and related industries, finalizing a nonbinding letter of intent signed in early July.

08/11/2006  August 10, 2006 - Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd., Rehovoth, Israel, said that its two cofounders and top execs have stepped down, amid a transition into a new phase of growth.