03/17/2008  The Flashstream Flash Vector programming system offers a fast flash programming of NAND and NOR flash memory at speeds as low as 2.5% over theoretical programming minimum. This speed is due to the creation of this company's proprietary co-processor technology called Vector Engine, which accelerates flash memory waveforms during the programming cycle.

03/17/2008  Mar. 17, 2008 - IBM says it has developed a silicon broadband optical switch, a key component to enable on-chip optical interconnects. The device helps "direct traffic" of electrical signals, converted into light pulses so optical messages can efficiently get form one processor core to another -- enabling up to 100x more information to be sent between cores, using 10x less power.

03/17/2008  March 17, 2008 - Intel has given a nod to four dozen of its key suppliers from its roster of thousands of supply-chain partners, ranging from capital equipment manufacturers to materials, components, and service providers, as the 2007 winners of its awards for Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) and Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI).

03/17/2008  Tegal Corp., a designer and manufacturer of plasma etch and deposition systems used in the production of integrated circuits, MEMS, and nanotechnology devices, has signed an agreement with WESI Technology (China) for sales distribution as well as service and technical support of Tegal's plasma etch and PVD products in China and Taiwan.

03/17/2008  ; The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee has awarded a job development investment grant (JDIG) to Tessera Technologies Inc., a provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry. This grant will support Tessera's consumer optics plans, enabling the company to add 185 jobs and invest approximately $30 million in its Charlotte-based wafer-level optics facilities during the next five years.

03/14/2008  ; A U.S.-based personal computer maker has qualified Dow Corning's TC-5121 thermally conductive compound for use in its manufacturing operations in China. TC-5121, introduced in December, is designed for mid-range electronic systems such as desktop computers and graphic processing units.

03/13/2008  Mar. 13, 2008 - Ten outperforming suppliers have been honored with awards by Singapore chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor, for their efforts providing equipment, materials, and service. Dainippon Screen Singapore Pte. Ltd., Sumco Techxiv, and IBM Singapore Pte Ltd were named top suppliers for 2007 in their respective categories.

03/13/2008  Mar. 13, 2008 - JSR says it has achieved 32nm line and space patterns for 22nm node semiconductor devices with a new "freezing material" used in double patterning. Results were presented at last month's SPIE Advanced Lithography conference.

03/12/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
Intel chose this SPIE conference to present five papers on pixelated masks, an apparently abandoned program on pixelated masks that had pre-occupied litho engineers for several years. Elsewhere, prospects for high-index immersion technology seem to be dimming, and progress remains sluggish on a promising medium-throughput e-beam direct write for imprint litho. (Third in a four-part series)

03/12/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
Progress continued in EUV lithography, but at a rate well below that needed for insertion at 32nm. AMD described the patterning of an entire metal-1 layer for a full exposure field chip and the integration of EUVL into the process flow. Sources remain an issue, though some think solid state lasers could help improve efficiency. Others are thinking ahead to 22nm. (Second in a four-part series)

03/12/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
Since high-volume EUV lithography is delayed, the first 32nm generation chips will have to be printed with double patterning technology (DPT) for critical layers and much of the conference focused on the various options, none of which seemed fully developed. (First in a four-part series)

03/12/2008  by M. David Levenson, Editor-in-Chief, Microlithography World
Avoiding unprintable structures will be essential for manufacturing 45nm and smaller circuits, and that was reflected in a series of papers on design for manufacturing and design rule restrictions, some of them quite aggressive. (Fourth in a four-part series)

03/12/2008  Mar. 12, 2008 - A report from FBR Research says wafer sales to the semiconductor industry should decline about 6%-7% in 1Q08, but that will be cancelled out by strength in the spot market and by solar wafer demand, and that MEMC's strategy of signing long-term solar contracts over currently surging spot market prices is still an attractive model.

03/12/2008  EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology, and semiconductor markets, announced that Austrian technology-research company NanoTecCenter Weiz Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (NTC Weiz) has purchased an EVG620 precision alignment system for installation in its new R&D facility focused on organic/plastic electronics.

03/11/2008  March 11, 2008 -- /PRNewswire/ -- ST. FLORIAN, AUSTRIA -- EV Group announces that Austrian technology research company NanoTecCenter Weiz Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (NTC Weiz) has purchased an EVG620 precision alignment system for installation in its new R&D facility focused on organic/plastic electronics.

03/11/2008  Tronics Microsystems SA, a manufacturer of custom MEMS components for demanding applications, and IMEC, representing Europractice IC Service, announced their collaboration to enable Europractice IC Service to add MEMS to its Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) programs.

03/11/2008  by Bob Haavind, Editorial Director, Solid State Technology
An insightful update on three key semiconductor technologies -- SOI, TSV/3D, and SOI -- sparked a lively Q&A following a SEMI-sponsored breakfast near Boston (Mar. 5). Here, Gregory Denbeaux, assistant professor of nanotechnology at the U. of Albany, gave an overview of progress needed in EUV to make it suitable for high volume manufacturing.

03/11/2008  by Bob Haavind, Editorial Director, Solid State Technology
An insightful update on three key semiconductor technologies -- SOI, TSV/3D, and SOI -- sparked a lively Q&A following a SEMI-sponsored breakfast near Boston (Mar. 5). Here, Sitaram Arkalgud, head of SEMATECH's 3D interconnect program in Albany, discusses the expected evolution of through-silicon vias (TSVs) and 3D chip stacks for future electronics.

03/11/2008  by Bob Haavind, Editorial Director, Solid State Technology
An insightful update on three key semiconductor technologies -- SOI, TSV/3D, and SOI -- sparked a lively Q&A following a SEMI-sponsored breakfast near Boston (Mar. 5), held at an MKS Instruments facility. Here, Gordon Starkey, a senior engineer in technical operations for IBM, explained how silicon-on-insulator (SOI) has made a transition from a niche to mainstream technology.

03/11/2008  Mar. 10, 2008 - The current sluggish growth and mounting economic worries are calling into question whether the semiconductor industry can regain momentum and manage any growth this year, and the second quarter -- traditionally a period of accelerating growth -- will be the key, according to a recent report by iSuppli.