05/29/2012 

Rudolph Technologies Inc. will deliver 14 NSX Series 320 inspection systems to a large outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) provider.

05/29/2012 

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) measures a 70% increase in fab process steps from 90nm to 32nm semiconductor nodes. This doubles the critical inspection steps required, report Citi analysts.

05/29/2012 

In this first installment of a series called "Process Watch,” experts from KLA-Tencor explain why a defect might be classified as “Not Found” or “SEM Non-visual (SNV),” and how a SNV count can disguise or hide real problems.

05/28/2012 

Stanford University researchers, sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), have created contact hole patterns for logic and memory semiconductors using a next-generation directed self-assembly (DSA) lithography process.

05/26/2012 

Intel will invest more than $40 million over the next 5 years in a worldwide network of university research centers called "Intel Collaborative Research Institutes." Academia -- in hub and spoke universities -- will collaborate with industry on technology R&D.

05/25/2012 

Flash memory chip maker Spansion Inc. (NYSE:CODE) debuted its first family of single-level cell (SLC) NAND products using 4Xnm floating-gate technology. Spansion plans to roll out 3X and 2Xnm node versions of the NAND chips in the near future, without obsoleting the more mature designs.

05/25/2012 

Michael A. Fury reports on the NCCAVS CMP Users Group meeting, held on May 16th.

05/25/2012 

At imec's International Technology Forum, An Steegen, Senior Vice President Process Technology at imec, discusses the three technology knobs that are key for a further system scaling.

05/25/2012 

At imec's International Technology Forum, the research consortium's CEO, Lec van den Hove, draws attention to the need for the industry to solve the world's health problems.

05/25/2012 

At imec's International Technology Forum, Greg Bartlett, CTO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, said the key to survival in the semiconductor industry is adaptability and collaboration.

05/25/2012 

THE BEST rankings from VLSIresearch identify the highest-rated suppliers of wafer processing, assembly, and test equipment. Check out the top-rated suppliers of wafer processing equipment, by company size and customer ranking.

05/25/2012 

At imec's International Technology Forum, SEMI's Denny McGuirck describes how Moore's Law has been the major driver in the semiconducotr industry.

05/25/2012 

VLSIresearch polled semiconductor manufacturers about their tool suppliers, asking chipmakers to rank equipment providers on customer satisfaction. This year’s results show renewed focus on fab needs.

05/24/2012 

Intel's Jackie Sturm will bring to light some of the emerging, growth markets for semiconductors, and what they mean for chipmakers and the fab suppliers in the first session of The ConFab, “The Economic Outlook for the Semiconductor Industry.”

05/24/2012 

The market for power management semiconductors grew for 7 quarters before declining grossly in Q4 2011, flattened in Q1 2012, and is now “on its way to discernible growth in Q2,” reports IHS.

05/24/2012 

Micron is the generally favored acquirer for bankrupt Elpida. But this did not stop Elpida from displacing MU in the Q1 DRAM supplier rankings in Q1, noted IHS. DRAM as a whole declined in Q1, despite predictions of a strong 2012.

05/23/2012 

EpiGaN NV opened its GaN epitaxial material production site, on the Research Campus Hasselt in Belgium. EpiGaN’s GaN-on-Si material is used in next-generation power electronics.

05/23/2012 

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation developed a prototype forced-air-cooled three-phase 400V output inverter with all-silicon carbide (SiC) power modules and direct lead bonding that has a power density of 50kVA per liter.

05/23/2012 

Axus Technology introduced the Titan Carrier Upgrade for IPEC and Strasbaugh legacy CMP chemical mechanical polishing/planarization (CMP) tools for semiconductor and related manufacturing.

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.