02/11/2011 

Avantor Performance Materials, Inc. (formerly Mallinckrodt Baker, Inc.) plans to open an electronics applications laboratory in Taiwan in 2Q11, to conduct customer demos, perform process-of-record (POR) development, and support the company's global electronics technologies development.

02/11/2011 

TSMC's Morris Chang has laid out a surprisingly bullish timeline for the foundry's 450mm wafer-size transition. Analysts weigh in on whether TSMC's goals are achievable, and what it means for the rest of the industry.

02/10/2011 

Nanolasers grown directly on a silicon surface could be a starting point for better microprocessors, biochemical sensors, and other optoelectronic products. UC Berkeley researchers grew nanopillars made of indium gallium arsenide, a III-V material, onto a silicon surface at 400°C.

02/09/2011 

FleX Silicon-on-Polymer replaces the mechanical substrate of a traditional silicon wafer with a pliable polymer. Compatible with CMOS wafers from varioius foundries, FleX is a wafer-scale process that can be used to produce single die up to full 200mm flexible wafers.

02/09/2011 

After beta testing and product analysis, CyberOptics Semiconductor has released the WaferSense Airborne Particle Sensor for wafer processing equipment. The sensor identifies particle sources in tools, moving through semiconductor process equipment and automation material handing systems to monitor airborne particles. It reports information in real-time on wafer contamination.

02/08/2011 

Xitronix Corporation, a developer of advanced measurement systems designed to control key process steps in semiconductor manufacturing, received a final judgment invalidating KLA-Tencor Corporation patent claims against the company.

02/08/2011 

ElectroIQ caught up with Suresh Ramalingam, director of advanced package design and development at Xilinx, at the January MEPTEC luncheon, where he gave a presentation on the company's stacked silicon interconnect technology. In an interview with Debra Vogler, Ramalingam discusses SSIT in relation to die stacking and TSV.

02/08/2011 

On March 2, Solid State Technology and LEDs Magazine will co-host "Light and Color Measurement of Today's LED Technology," a free webcast sponsored by Konica Minolta Sensing Americas. The company's presenters will provide in-depth information on optical measurement techniques of LED technology, such as lighting, color theory, and LED structure.

02/07/2011 

Siltronic completed the SIGMADT research project, which aimed to adapt the properties of silicon wafers to the requirements of future three-dimensional transistors. To achieve higher efficiencies and lower energy consumption for future electronics densities, the transition into the third dimension for transistors is an important step, say researchers. The starting material -- the silicon wafer -- was the focus of this work.

02/07/2011 

Researchers at imec -- Danae Delbeke and Francesco Pessolano -- discuss announcements made in conjunction with Photonics West regarding the research consortium's NVISION program (for advanced imaging solutions) and silicon. Imec's silicon photonics platform allows for the miniaturization of complex photonic functions on a single chip.

02/04/2011 

During the past ten years, Clarkson University has received more than $1.4 million of direct and indirect (through Semiconductor Research Corporation) funding from Intel Corporation.

02/04/2011 

Intel's recall of its new and highly touted Sandy Bridge chipset due to a design issue has created ripples for the DRAM market, PC sellers that now are recalling products, and Intel itself. Though the error was caught less than one month after shipments started, a silicon fix rather than software patch will drive up the cost of the blunder. Updated on February 8, 2011.

02/03/2011 

Arizona State University's Hongbin Yu and Hao Yan are exploring how to use top-down lithography combined with modified bottom-up self-assembling nanostructures to guide the placement of nanostructures on silicon wafers.

02/03/2011 

Barbara De Salvo, Head of the Advanced Memory Technology Laboratory at Leti, discussed two papers presented by the consortium at IEDM. The researchers reported on the impact of N-doping in GeTe as a way to boost data retention in phase-change memories (PCMs). They also studied the role of H-related defects in Al₂O₃ blocking layer on charge-trap memory retention.

02/02/2011 

All the major semiconductor players are embracing 3D integration, says Simon Deleonibus. The CEA-Leti scientist and IEEE Fellow wants to see TSV mature and new technologies develop based on wafer bonding. He speaks with Debra Vogler.

02/02/2011 

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) has advanced differential signaling for SoC-to-memory interfaces to 20Gbps and developed innovations that can extend single-ended memory signaling to 12.8Gbps. Rambus has also developed technologies to allow a seamless transition for memory architectures from single-ended to differential signaling.

02/01/2011 

Leica Microsystems and Digital Surf announced an agreement whereby Leica Map surface imaging and metrology software, based on Digital Surf's Mountains Technology, will be used with the Leica Application Suite (LAS) for Leica industrial microscopes.

02/01/2011 

DelfMEMS and KFM Technology signed a common agreement to combine their expertise in RF micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and thin film packaging (TFP) technology. DelfMEMS will use the collaboration to provide packaged MEMS switches, fixed capacitors, and high-Q inductors on the same chip.

02/01/2011 

King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology signed an agreement with imec to host researchers from KACST-INTEL consortium Center of Excellence in Nano-manufacturing Applications at imec facilities in Belgium starting September 2011, for a period of three years.

02/01/2011 

Eulitha AG and Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) say they have successfully patterned 4-in Si wafers with Eulitha's "PHABLE" technology, creating uniform photonic crystal patterns with 600nm period and hexagonal symmetry.