02/10/2010 

Analysts offer their take on the long-rumored, and now official, deal that brings NOR flash firm Numonyx under Micron's wing.

02/10/2010 

Confirming rumors, Chinese flagship foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) says it has appointed several new top execs, and that it is in talks with an unidentified investor for a financial infusion.

02/05/2010 

Progress has been made on double-patterning lithography and EUV, but in the end, chipmakers must decide which technology to use based on availability, cost, and product roadmap requirements, notes Stefan Wurm from SEMATECH.

02/03/2010 

Authorities in South Korea have arrested executives from Hynix Semiconductor and Applied Materials' local office, accusing them of illegally transferring key semiconductor process technology from Samsung.

02/03/2010 

The move to the 2Xnm NAND flash node gives Intel and Micron a big step ahead of competitors in terms of cost and pricing, an advantage they will likely ride out as profit instead of squeezing prices further, according to an analyst.

02/02/2010 

Breaking down the quarterly numbers and forecasts from top chip spenders TSMC and Samsung, analysts determine the main thrust is that the anticipated spending cycle isn't peaking in 1H10 after all, and could instead become heavier in 2H10 and spill into 2011.

01/28/2010 

The EuroPIC project aims to facilitate access by small companies to cost-effective photonic integrated circuit (PIC) manufacture in Europe. It also will encourage research on manufacturing methods to develop an open-access industrial generic foundry production capability for Europe. EuroPIC is a collaborative project formed by a consortium of experts, consisting of a mix of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry, and academic partners in the fields of component manufacturing, PIC design and applications, photonic CAD, and packaging.

01/27/2010 

After slow adoption, 2009 became "the year of the e-reader." Semico Research's Michell Prunty breaks down the rise of e-readers and the technology inside them, and what new functionalities, content, and technology are next.

01/25/2010 

Demand for semiconductor capital equipment continued to increase in the final month of 2009, and with the key book-to-bill ratio now six straight months above parity suggests growth still lies ahead, according to the latest industry data.

01/25/2010 

Execs from Novellus Systems describe how the company's new Sola xT ultraviolet thermal processing system addresses high-volume manufacturing of advanced logic devices at 45nm and below -- and how it potentially stacks up in wafer-to-wafer performance vs. competitors' offerings.

01/22/2010 

ASM exec Shawn Thomas explains to SST how the company's new PowerFill process, which enables void-free filling of deep trenches with doped, epitaxial silicon, addresses needs for smaller die sizes and on-state resistance of power management devices.

01/22/2010 

The Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) will host two 90-minute online sessions with Bob Willis, ASKbobwillis.com, on package-on-package (PoP) applications and implementation. The Webtorials will take place February 4 and February 11, 2010 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm EST.

01/19/2010 

Veeco exec Jim Jenson explains the workings of the company's new MOCVD tool targeting high-volume high-brightness LED manufacturing, a market expected to triple in the next four years to $15B.

01/15/2010 

Researchers at Northeastern U.'s Electronic Materials Research Institute have created a 3D nanolens from metamaterials to provide more accurate and detailed imaging of nanoscale objects.

01/13/2010 

X-Fab Semiconductor Foundries AG and semiconductor printing startup Semprius have agreed to a partnership for turnkey silicon wafer fabrication, under which X-Fab will invest $1.5M in the company and become its designated foundry.

01/12/2010 

Because of the limitations of 193nm lithography, much of the shrink capability comes from computational lithography, with software-driven advancements in optical proximity correction (OPC) and resolution enhancement technology (RET). James Word and Xima Zhang from Mentor Graphics discuss solving the computational load challenges that arise from the industry's increasing complex lithography roadmap.

01/12/2010 

After quickly moving to work down bloated inventories amid the onset of the 2009 industry slowdown, global semiconductor suppliers are seen with lean stockpiles heading into 1Q10, according to data from iSuppli Corp.

01/11/2010 

A two-step plasma cleaning process proves to be a fast and effective method of maintaining a high uptime and high productivity for ALD of Ti- and Ta-based electrode materials, reports Aviza Technology and Pivotal Systems.

01/10/2010 

01/10/2010