10/04/2012 

Fab equipment spending continues to soften in 2012, and hopes for a reprieve in 2013 are waning, warns one analyst.

10/04/2012 

Applied Materials says it will reduce its work force by between 6% and 9% (900-1300 positions) amid a global realignment deemed necessary to achieve certain strategic objectives, freeing up to $190M annually "to fund key growth initiatives."

10/03/2012 

Even though semiconductor manufacturers in Japan are consolidating and transitioning to a "fab-lite" strategy,  the region still represents a large installed fab capacity and a major market for equipment and materials suppliers.

10/03/2012 

Macroeconomic malaise continues to weigh down global semiconductor sales, although there's a possible ray of hope for a boost by year's end thanks to introduction of much-desired electronics devices (hello iPhone 5).

10/02/2012 

Sand 9 is partnering with GlobalFoundries for high-volume manufacturing of its microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) timing technology, which incorporates silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and through-silicon vias (TSV).

10/02/2012 

Intermolecular says that it is working with both GlobalFoundries and IBM to speed development of manufacturing technologies down to the 10nm node, using its High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) technology.

10/02/2012 

Researchers at the U. of Illinois have devised a method to monitor a semiconductor surface as it is etched, in real time, with nanometer precision.

10/02/2012 

Axcelis Technologies said it has signed a five-year $30M contract with "one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers" to support its implant, cleaning, and thermal processing equipment at multiple fabs in the US.

10/02/2012 

Driven by market demand, the semiconductor industry is progressing toward consensus on building-block standards for automating LED production on 6-in wafers, explains Paula Doe in an article for SST sister magazine LEDs Magazine.

10/01/2012 

STMicroelectronics says it is using Samsung Electronics' foundry services for 32nm/28nm high-k/metal gate (HKMG) process technology, and have taped out a dozen system-on-chip devices.

10/01/2012 

Tezzaron Semiconductor is taking over SVTC Technologies' wafer fab in Austin, TX, amid reports that the semiconductor/MEMS development organization is cutting back activities in Austin and in California.

10/01/2012 

Researchers at Cornell have developed a new laser-based method for ultra-fast anneal of thin photoresist films. The research, sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), has shown that the new anneal outperforms state-of-art hotplate bake for both 193nm and EUV lithography applications.

09/28/2012 

Want another snapshot of who's leading the pack among pure-play foundries, and who's falling off the curve? Look more closely at <45nm offerings, as framed by a recent analysis from IC Insights.

09/27/2012 

A Japanese state-backed domestic partnership has been forged to mull taking over ownership of struggling domestic chipmaker Renesas, in response to a rumored acquisition bid by US-based investment firm KKR.

09/27/2012 

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) say they have developed a novel optical connection process for semiconductors using "photonic wire bonding" that achieves data transmission rates of several Tbit/sec.

09/27/2012 

ProPlus Design Solutions, Inc. unveiled NanoYield, yield prediction and optimization software for memory, logic, analog and digital circuit design.

09/27/2012 

A device that measures very thin quantities of liquid, such as the synovial fluid in knee joints, and a device that measures change in mass when a microdevice adsorbs small amounts of material, earned top honors in Sandia National Labs' annual student MEMS design contest.

09/26/2012 

EV Group says it has received an order for its EVG850 temporary bonding/debonding systems from a leading maker of compound semiconductor-based components, what it says is the first use of its ZoneBOND technology in this area.

09/26/2012 

Sumitomo Chemical has joined the Holst Center's shared research program on printed organic lighting and signage, to contribute to research into multilayer solution processes for high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

09/26/2012 

X-Fab Silicon Foundries says it will invest more than $50M over the next three years in its microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) operations, aiming to grow the business to become among the top MEMS foundries worldwide.