04/29/2008  Apr. 29, 2008 - IBM and Spansion have signed a seven-year patent cross-licensing agreement that is expected to widen Spansion's reach into flash memory design and manufacturing, and support both companies' end-market interests in China.

04/29/2008  Apr. 29, 2008 - IBM and Matheson Tri-Gas, a subsidiary of Japan's Taiyo Nippon Sanso, have signed a four-year deal to jointly develop new high-purity gases and delivery systems for use in semiconductor manufacturing starting at the 32nm node.

04/29/2008  Apr. 29, 2008 - Suss MicroTec and Philips Research say they are partnering to develop a new nanoimprint lithography technology targeting a niche in sub-50nm patterning between small rigid stamps and larger soft stamps.

04/29/2008  SUSS Microtec and Philips Research, Eindhoven, Netherlands, announced a license agreement to develop an enabling technology called substrate conformal imprint lithography (SCIL). The intention is to bring existing equipment platform with additional nanoimprinting (NIL) feature to the market, enabling new approaches to large-area imprint applications.

04/28/2008  by James Montgomery, News Editor, Solid State Technology
Apr. 28, 2008 - ASM International has come up with an extensive new plan to return its frontend business to profitability. Key points for improvement: no more rapid-thermal processing (RTP) tools, more work sent to Singapore, and standardizing on one single-wafer platform.

04/26/2008  Apr. 25, 2008 - Industry analysis firm iSuppli is upgrading its rating of near-term DRAM market conditions to "neutral," up from a "negative" assessment back in November, saying future conditions look to be positive and indications suggest "the worst is over for DRAM suppliers" -- but the road back to market balance and profitability will still be bumpy in the near term.

04/25/2008  Apr. 25, 2008 - Japan's Elpida Memory plans to buy an ownership stake in 2nd-tier firm ProMOS Technologies through a private placement, even as it explores a DRAM JV with Qimonda and an existing far-reaching JV with regional rival Powerchip Semiconductor, according to local reports.

04/25/2008  Apr. 25, 2008 - Researchers at Chuo U. have developed technology that could slash costs for high-output long-wavelength lasers by 90%, reports the Nikkei Business Daily.

04/25/2008  Tohoku University has joined the network of Finland's Picosun Oy, developer of tools for the nanotechnology application of atomic layer deposition (ALD). "Our co-operation will lead to new results in implementation of ALD in nanotechnology applications and further strengthen the market position of our SUNALE ALD process tools in Japan," says Picosun. ALD, a gas phase chemical process, is used to create nano-scale thin coatings for various applications including MEMS and CMOS manufacturing.

04/25/2008  Apr. 25, 2008 - Germany's Qimonda AG and Japan's Elpida Memory have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop DRAM chips, targeting 40nm processes by 2010 and subsequently scaling to 30nm.

04/25/2008  Apr. 25, 2008 - The European Commission's 7th Framework Program (FP7) is funding a new program on maskless lithography for IC manufacturing -- MAGIC -- to explore and promote maskless lithography technologies developed by a pair of European companies, including developing infrastructure on data preparation, proximity effect corrections, and processes.

04/24/2008  Colibrys, supplier of MEMS motion sensors, has appointed Don Stoops to the role of VP, Global Operations. Colibrys is a world-leading supplier of standard and semi-custom MEMS-based motion sensors to the harsh-environment (military, aerospace and energy) and safety critical (industrial and instrumentation) applications.

04/23/2008  Apr. 23, 2008 - Taiwan's Macronix plans to push into NOR flash for handsets within the next three years, placing it in direct competition with Spansion and Numonyx, according to a local report.

04/23/2008  Apr. 23, 2008 - A pending memory recovery later this year and more migrations to smaller technology nodes will spur another round of immersion tool orders for ASML, according to an analysis from FBR Research.

04/23/2008  by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
April 23, 2008 - WaferNEWS chats with Mfg Vision CEO John O'Donnell about the significance of what the company calls the "Web 2.0" capabilities of its FloorVision enterprise yield management system, and the results being generated at Cirrus Logic.

04/23/2008  by Ed Korczynski, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
April 23, 2008 - Cleaning has always been essential for mask manufacturing, but today there is increasing concern to the point where fabs may soon clean masks in-house to prevent haze buildup. Meanwhile, EUV and NIL don't use pellicles, which almost certainly will mean cleaning masks in production. Seeking to address this need/opportunity is Applied Material, with its new Tetra Reticle Clean tool.

04/23/2008  NIL Technology has introduced a "high-accuracy but low-cost photonic stamp in silicon" to the company's product line geared to enable future photonic devices.

04/22/2008  Apr. 22, 2008 - Renesas Technology and European R&D consortia IMEC have entered into a strategic research collaboration to develop 45nm RF transceivers for Gbit/sec cognitive radios, building on previous work with 130nm RF transceiver (results published at last year's ISSCC).

04/22/2008  Apr. 22, 2008 - Hynix Semiconductor has made an investment in Taiwan's design house Phison Electronics in a bid to prop up its NAND flash memory business, according to local reports.

04/22/2008  April 22, 2008 - Qimonda AG reported a big loss in its fiscal 2Q08, indicating it is still mired in "extremely difficult market conditions," and laid out further cost reduction plans, including some changes to its technology partnerships.