09/05/2003  Nanometrics, Milpitas, CA, has introduced a pair of integrated metrology tools combining optical critical dimension spectroscopic ellipsometry with deep UV spectroscopic reflectometry.

08/22/2003  Guest Column: The MEMS industry has seen mixed success over the last decade. Today, there are only a few high-volume MEMS products available. Despite a major infusion of funds, efforts have not yet produced working MEMS in high volumes. The customer-foundry relationship is a significant factor. The “foundry” must be more than just a foundry; it must be a true manufacturing partner.

08/18/2003  August 18, 2003 - FASL Japan Ltd., the Japanese arm of a joint venture between AMD and Fujitsu, and GE Global Electronic Solutions have completed a $100 million sale and leaseback of equipment, including machines for lithography, metrology, deposition and tech, and furnace equipment.

08/14/2003  Sensitive electrical measurements provide the underpinning for many nanotechnology discoveries, particularly in the areas of materials and nanoelectronics. They help academic and industrial scientists and engineers fully understand the electrical properties of new materials, and the electrical performance of new nanoelectronic devices and components.

08/05/2003  August 5, 2003 - Camtek, Migdal Haemek, Israel, a developer of optical inspection systems, has unveiled its Falcon system for inspecting wafers in the final manufacturing stages. The tool, which offers surface inspection and 3D metrology for wafers up to 300mm, is aimed at wafer-level in-line inspection processes at end-of-line, bumping, and packaging facilities. Camtek says it will install the first Falcon systems by the end of 2003.

08/05/2003  Gerd Binnig still recalls what it felt like in 1981 when he tested his technical innovations and saw atomic structures for the first time. “It was like a dream to discover all this,” said Binnig, a fellow at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory who shared a Nobel Prize in physics for designing the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and helped create the atomic force microscope (ATM). “It was like being for the first time on the moon.”

08/04/2003  August 4, 2003 - Nikon Semiconductor Inspection Technologies Group (SITECH) has unveiled a metrology tool designed for the 90nm node and below. The NRM-3100 is designd to measure lithographic exposure with enough bandwidth to accommodate the 70nm node, and boasts throughput of over 150 wafers per hour. Additional options include a focus mark measurement and stepper and angle management systems.

07/29/2003  July 29, 2003 – Veeco Instruments Inc., a Woodbury, N.Y.-based provider of metrology tools and process equipment, reported a $1.1 million net loss for the second quarter, or 4 cents per share, versus a $1.6 million net loss for the second quarter of 2002.

07/11/2003  AmberWave Systems, Salem, NH, and ADE Corp., Westwood, MA, are joining forces to qualify ADE's line of inspection and metrology tools to measure strained silicon wafers.

06/20/2003  It wasn’t a headline that the scientist liked much: “Clayton Teague Thinks Small,” blared the Georgia Tech University student newspaper. That was 1968, and Teague was a graduate student at the time. Now, he’s the first full-time director of the federal National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), and he’s thinking even more infinitesimally.

06/19/2003  June 18, 2003 - San Jose, CA - Ultratech (formerly Ultratech Stepper) has added a new metrology system to its nanotechnology initiative.

05/01/2003  There's a buzz surrounding the topic of advanced process controls (APC) in the semiconductor manufacturing community; and like many freshly evolving, technologically-based concepts, the terms and applications are almost constantly being re-engineered.

03/27/2003  Applied Materials Inc. announced it will lay off 14 percent of its work force this year as part of an overall cost-cutting plan.

03/14/2003  Therma-Wave Inc., a Fremont, Calif., manufacturer of process control metrology systems, appointed Papken Der Torossian as chairman, according to a company news release.

03/12/2003  Veeco Instruments Inc., a Woodbury, N.Y., provider of metrology tools and process equipment, said it has opened an office in Shanghai, China, to support recent orders in the country.

03/12/2003  FEI Co., a Hillsboro, Ore., developer of metrology products, announced release of a new scanning electron microscope.

Automated micro-defect monitoring for 300mm lithography

02/24/2003  By: Kay Lederer, Infineon Technologies SC300, Dresden, Germany
Barry Saville, Ingrid Peterson, KLA-Tencor, San Jose, CA

As the semiconductor industry continues to push toward the 90nm node, controlling defect density in the lithography cell becomes ever more critical to the success of the overall manufacturing process. MORE

02/05/2003  Feb. 5, 2003 - Marlborough, MA - Shipley Company LLC, has opened its Advanced Technology Center (ATC), a facility dedicated to the development of lithography, interconnect, low-k dielectric and other critical materials.

01/29/2003  FEI Co., a Hillsboro, Ore., provider of nanoscale metrology and fabrication tools, reported a fourth quarter loss of $3.5 million, or 11 cents per share, versus earnings of 24 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2001.

01/28/2003  Jan. 28, 2003 - Leuven, Belgium - IMEC's board of directors has announced the construction of a new 300mm cleanroom.