10/02/2008  Formosa Sumco Technology is rolling out a king-sized version of silicon wafer ingots to make 300mm wafers capable of producing 60% more chips, an upgrade that fits into the firm's plans to boost overall wafer output by 23%.

10/02/2008  EUV lithography is still a long way from manufacturing, not expected for mass production until at least 2012 and the 22nm node. But early work with alpha tools is giving a much better understanding of what the platform's capabilities will be, and where the needs are (optics, resists, sources). And at some point the answers will come only with taking risks and making the investment.

10/01/2008  October 1, 2008: NIL Technology has launched a new line of grating stamps, extending the company's standard stamp product line, targeting a broad range optics and photonics applications.

10/01/2008  While moving towards tomorrow’s high-performance 3D packages with through-silicon vias (TSV) has captured most of the attention in the industry, stacked packages and similar established approaches have many 3D advantages and are making substantial, if quieter, technical and market progress.

10/01/2008  There’s a growing consensus that the semiconductor industry has no place to go but up

09/30/2008  DuPont PerMx Series 3000 is a new version of permanent microlithographic polymer films designed for applications such as redistribution, bonding, and structuring. This multi-purpose film features high resolution, low-temperature cure and reportedly outstanding mechanical properties. These films are available in 10, 15 and 20&3181; thicknesses. It is said to achieve high yield and quality through uniform resist thickness across the entire wafer.

09/30/2008  September 30, 2008: memsstar Technology, a supplier of etch and deposition equipment to the global MEMS industry, announced the successful installation and process qualification of one of its sacrificial vapor release (SVR) etch systems at Fraunhofer IMS.

09/30/2008  IC Insights president Bill McClean discusses the thinking behind his firm's recent forecast downgrade to 4% thanks to worldwide economic changes and persistently sluggish memory pricing -- but also backs up his optimism over inventories and end-use demand.

09/29/2008  This year's annual fall gathering of a SEMI-hosted industry panel discussion with Wall Street watchers didn't quite follow script. The end result was a more open and energetic back-and-forth dialog about the tense relationships between the semiconductor industry, the investment community, and the government.

09/25/2008  Rohm and Haas product exec Kristina White tells SST why the company's new CMP pad groove designs improve slurry delivery across the wafer, minimize slurry loss, and reduce defects -- particularly for tungsten applications.

09/24/2008  A full-day symposium at this year's Diskcon USA explored the lithography implications of sub-ITRS roadmap feature sizes on disk drives, with the challenge that HDD lithography must cost 10× less than NAND flash lithography, the lowest-cost semiconductor process.

09/24/2008  September 23, 2008: ACAMP, the Alberta Centre for Advanced Microsystems and Nanotechnology (MNT) products has appointed Dr. Kevin Yallup as chief technology officer, to lead the center's product development efforts to build a world-class capability in Alberta for the packaging and assembly of micro- and nano-scale technology devices, turning them into market-ready commercial or industrial products and applications.

09/23/2008  The road to grid parity for PV power generation will be difficult, needing five or more years to compete with utility power, unsubsidized, on a large scale, noted analyst Mark Thirsk at a PV forecast luncheon. Host group SEMI also laid out its work giving a PV voice to the equipment and materials segment.

09/23/2008  By Meredith Courtemanche, managing editor, SMT Magazine
"In a perfect world." This is a phrase uttered by many a project leader or product designer compiling a bill of materials (BOM) for a new product, new run of an existing assembly, or modified design. In a perfect world, market trends, materials changes, and technology advances would have no effect on the availability of components. No component would ever be obsolesced.

09/19/2008  September 19, 2008: Micromem recently announced that its foundry tests have demonstrated a number of valuable benefits for a magnetic-based sensor and memory device including high sensitivity, thermal stability, and low-cost manufacturing.

09/18/2008  The complexity design and process interactions at the 22nm node are so great that they will require a new level of computational power. Thus, IBM and select partners have devised a "computational scaling" strategy that provides an end-to-end look at technology development, and how to accept designs into technology for manufacturing.

09/16/2008  KLA-Tencor exec Rahul Bammi tells SST about the company's latest version of its Surfscan SP2^XP defect inspection tool, and two of its key features: custom polarizers to enhance sensitivity, and a well-known image-capture technology borrowed from microscope manufacturers.

09/16/2008  In response to market needs for 300mm process equipment capabilities to demonstrate 3D processes, SUSS MicroTec has introduced The XBC300. The XBC300 is designed for 3D integration and 3D packaging with through silicon vias (TSVs) and is ideal for the CMOS image sensor (CIS) early adopter market.

09/16/2008  Georgia Institute of Technology
There is a need for miniaturization at the IC, module, and system levels. There is stil research and development required to bring this hetero-integration technology to cost-effective implementation with required reliability and performance needs. In addition to the module level, we must focus on performance, form factor, cost, and reliability of the entire system.

09/12/2008  By Peter Salmon, Salmon Technologies
A particularly versatile form of wafer bumping is stud bumping, using either gold or copper wire. The equipment required is an adaptation of a traditional wire bonder. A ball bond is made at a first contact pad using heat and ultrasonic energy. The wire is extended in a precise direction and a flying lead is created by terminating the wire, for example using electronic flame-off (EFO).