07/30/2010 

The Diamond series atmospheric robots use ultra low inertia, high-response brushless servomotors coupled with zero-backlash Harmonic Drive gears to achieve greatly enhanced dexterity and precision.

07/30/2010 

TSMC beat estimates with its 2Q10 results, but analysts are taking a more cautious stance amid worries of inventories on the rise and capacity additions slowing down.

07/29/2010 

IC Insights analyst Bill McClean explains why he's becoming a little more conservative about 2H10 semiconductor industry growth. (Hint: it's about inventories, and rubber bands.)

07/29/2010 

Graphene has been found to have a unique property that could make it even more suitable for future electronic devices. When subjected to a 3-point stretch, graphene sprouts nanobubbles with electrons moving as if subjected to a strong magnetic field. The discovery was made by physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

07/28/2010 

In this video interview, Philip Garrou, microelectronics consultant and Advanced Packaging blogger, offers information on his blog, Insights from the leading edge, and summarizes reasonable roadmaps for 3D technology and TSV in particular. 2012 mainstream adoption seems too aggressive to Garrou.

07/28/2010 

McPherson’s vacuum ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer, Model 234/302, is now available with improved efficiency over a wide wavelength range. New platinum-coated gratings suit use at windowless wavelengths, shorter than 120nm (>10eV).

07/27/2010 

In this video interview, Dave Stepniak, Texas Instruments, talks about a wafer-level packaging (WLP) trends paper he presented at SEMICON West. He summarizes the paper for senior technical editor Debra Vogler.

07/27/2010 

Spin Transfer Technologies (STT) is collaborating with Singulus Technologies AG to apply advanced deposition techniques to support commercial development of STT’s novel MRAM memory devices.

07/26/2010 

Wrap-up of what we heard and saw at SEMICON West 2010. Lesson 4: The semiconductor/equipment/component supply-chain went from ice-cold to red-hot in a matter of months, which brings its own unique challenges to the industry.

07/26/2010 

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have cultivated many thousands of nanocrystals in what looks like a pinscreen or "pin art" on silicon (Si), a step toward reliable mass production of semiconductor nanowires for millionths-of-a-meter-scale devices such as sensors and lasers.

07/23/2010 

With the US reeling from record unemployment, many are wondering how the MEMS job market is fairing. Neha K. Choksi talks with Jason Weigold, founder and president of MEMStaff, about his observations based on clients' hiring and consulting needs.

07/23/2010 

In these three video interviews from SEMICON West 2010, Leti research directors speak with senior technical editor Debra Vogler. Yannick Le Tiec discusses cleaning; Michel Brillouet speaks on 3D packaging work, and Didier Louis updates us on advanced lithography.

07/23/2010 

Mark Privett, Brewer Science, says that new technologies allow use of higher temperatures as well as room-temperature processes, such as wafer de-bonding. The 3D industry is nearly ready for high-volume, yet still without industry standards.

07/23/2010 

10 European R&D project consortia focusing on silicon photonics will coordinate their efforts to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology and strengthen the European electronics industry’s ability to compete globally.

07/22/2010 

In this video, Hans Meiling, ASML, touches on EUV's three required three components: process (resist), mask infrastructure and metrology, and exposure tool.

07/22/2010 

The biggest change in 2009 was Mentor passing Cadence to become number two in product sales in EDA. This is an indication of the market shift caused by the move into the ESL Methodology. Synopsys remains a strong number one.

07/21/2010 

Imec reports promising results in its extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) mask cleaning program for defect-free EUV masks that are crucial in achieving high chip manufacturing yield.

07/21/2010 

IME, a research institute of A*STAR, announced a collaborative partnership with Stanford University to develop silicon-nanowire-based circuits that are inspired by the brain. Under the research collaborative agreement, IME and Stanford will jointly develop silicon-nanowire-based neuromorphic computational elements (silicon neurons) that take advantage of the capabilities of nanowire technology.

07/20/2010 

In this video interview, Franklin Kalk, Toppan Photomasks, comments on the big EUV news annouced at SEMICON West. Technical challenges of EUV remain defect management -- finding and fixing defects in masks. Pattern mask inspection may not be ready until 2016.

07/20/2010 

In this video interview from SEMICON West 2010, Walden Rhines, Mentor Graphics, discusses 3D technologies. EDA tools need to be extended to meet the needs of 3D -- parasitic extraction and timing, place-and-route, and other steps are different with 3D. The tools are evolving for the various 3D technologies. He also touches on lithography evolution.