04/21/2008  April 21, 2008 - Researchers at the Energy research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) say they have developed a method to improve solar cell efficiency in crystalline silicon industrial solar cells, by making them from n-type silicon wafers instead of p-type ones.

04/21/2008  April 21, 2008 - A $40M VC investment in a US-based LED epitaxy technology is generating rumors that TSMC is making a push into this market segment.

04/21/2008  April 21, 2008 - Micron Technology and Taiwan's Nanya Technology have formalized a recently announced partnership to create a new DRAM JV. An analyst tells WaferNEWS who should be most worried and why.

04/21/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
April 21, 2008 - KLA-Tencor's Wafer Plane Inspection software attempts to do with computation what Zeiss' AIMS and Applied Materials' Aera2 try to do with optics: sort printable defects from harmless anomalies and false defects (backed up in a paper coauthored with Intel). Success will facilitate meaningful inspection of complicated OPC masks, and more creative solutions to advanced imaging problems employed in production.

04/18/2008  by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
April 18, 2008 - MEMS foundry and LETI spinoff Tronics Microsystems says its 2007 sales were nearly double the sector's CAGR for the year. WaferNEWS talked with them to find out how this custom component manufacturer is getting it done, what it feels is its key differentiator, and what it's working on next.

04/16/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
April 16, 2008 - With aerial images now having simpler geometry than OPC mask designs, it may be time for aerial image inspection to replace microscopic mask measurement. If it performs as advertised, Applied Materials' reentrance into the mask inspection tool market, the Aera2, could enable more aggressive RET strategies, lower reticle costs, and help make chip yield more predictable at 45nm and 32nm.

04/16/2008  Jordan Valley Semiconductors LTD, a provider of semiconductor metrology solutions, has acquired the business of Bede, effective Monday April 14th. Bede is a supplier of high-resolution XRD (HRXRD) metrology for the semiconductor and compound industries with revenues of $11.6M in 2007. Bede entered into the UK's Administration phase, their equivalent of Chapter 11, on March 31.

04/15/2008  SEMI is gearing up for the SEMICON Singapore, which takes place May 5-7, 2008 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Southeast Asia is reportedly the leading region for test, assembly and packaging (TAP), so the event is expected to draw global semiconductor manufacturing executives from that sector of the industry.

04/14/2008  Cascade Microtech's 20 GHz P30 Pyramid Probe for high-volume wafer testing of RF filters and switches uses unique membrane probe technology to reportedly achieve higher yields, lower maintenance and minimal down time. The P30's lithographic probes accuracy are said to alleviate uncontrolled impedance, which is characteristic of other probe types, and their compact size enables multi-site testing.

04/14/2008  By Gail Flower, editor-in-chief
The ninth annual Burn-in and Test Socket Workshop (BiTS 2008) on March 9-12, 2008 in Mesa, AZ, presented an interactive, growing, and technical successful forum for experts dedicated to sharing knowledge. BiTS brought together 350 conference attendees and 60 exhibitors worldwide from users of sockets, boards, burn-in systems, handlers, packaging engineers, and suppliers to the industry.

04/14/2008  By Gail Flower, editor-in-chief
On March 18-19 2008, a constant stream of visitors flowed in to SEMICON China, held in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, to attend grand new product introductions and educational forums that addressed the latest in growth areas for electronics. What a clip of activity surrounded the conference. All of the familiar players were there doing business.

04/14/2008  ASM Pacific Technology's latest generation large-area chip bonder, the MCM12, is said to address the growing market for MCM, SIP, and hybrid applications. It is a fully automatic multiple die, SMD, and flip chip bonding system with up to 300-mm wafer handling capability. Direct die, flip chip, stack die, and SMD bonding can all be integrated into this single platform tool.

04/14/2008  The Pegasus S200A automatic 200-mm prober from Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. is the latest addition to the company's wafer prober line. Intended for high-volume wafer probing of light emitting diodes (LEDs), it also tests discrete devices and wafers up to 200-mm. Pegasus S200A is integrated with production LED testers to bring a fully automatic test platform to the LED production test floor.

04/14/2008  by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
Apr. 14, 2008 - The major Japanese IDM was the beta customer for a via/contact etch model to satisfy the need for accurately modeled and corrected processes at 45nm and beyond. Ponte chief scientist Valeriy Sukharev discusses details of the new model with WaferNEWS.

04/11/2008  Apr. 11, 2008 - Image sensor sales are poised to return to growth in 2008 after a "rare" off year in 2007, rising about 10% to a record ~$7.6B, according to a new report from IC Insights.

04/10/2008  by Debra Vogler, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
Apr. 10, 2008 - Spansion exec John Nation tells WaferNEWS about the company's production plans for its 65nm and 45nm MirrorBit Eclipse chips for wireless handsets, including the benefits of built-in self test and why a heavy commitment to immersion lithography benefits the firm's flexible manufacturing strategy.

04/09/2008  Apr. 9, 2008 - Industry analysis firm iSuppli is lowering its outlook for semiconductor sales overall to just 4% growth in 2008 instead of a previously projected 7.5% increase -- a few weeks after it warned it would do so, and a day after slashing its outlook for the NAND flash memory sector.

04/09/2008  Apr. 9, 2008 - SEMI has acquired the World Fab Watch database and 300mm Fab report from Strategic Marketing Associates, a year after it bought a number of publications and newsletters from the market research firm and its leader George Burns. SEMIM also will take control of the firm's Web site (scfab.com).

04/09/2008  Mobius Microsystems, Inc. has introduced what it calls "the world's most accurate, monolithic, all-CMOS frequency generators." Mobius hopes its products will displace quartz crystals, which have been the industry standard for decades, plus newer MEMS-based devices -- as Small Times' Barbara Goode reports.

04/09/2008  MEMS-based oscillators are at last beginning to leave the shelves in quantity, says German technology analyst firm Wicht Technologie Consulting (WTC), which was recently acquired by market-research rival iSuppli.