01/01/2008  From a device manufacturing perspective, where the front-end leaves off and where the back-end begins has become a subjective point of reference; it really depends on the complexity of the device being manufactured.

01/01/2008  This is the sixth year of the prestigious Small Times’ Best of Small Tech Awards, which recognize the sector’s most exemplary products and people.

12/27/2007  VTI Technologies has developed manufacturing concepts that it says offer better ways of combining MEMS and ASIC technologies.

12/21/2007  December 21, 2007 - Sino-American Silicon Products, a Taiwanese maker of medium-and small-diameter silicon wafers (and second only to Green Energy Technology in terms of domestic wafer capacity), has agreed to buy TI spinoff GlobiTech for $45 million, to extend and upgrade its technology capabilities.

12/21/2007  December 21, 2007 - IBM has agreed to license Infineon Technologies' 130nm embedded flash technologies, expanding IBM's custom foundry services capabilities and giving Infineon an extra manufacturing source.

12/21/2007  December 21, 2007 - ASML and Carl Zeiss SMT say they have agreed to cross-license patents with Canon in their respective fields of semiconductor lithography and optical components, meaning they can market products using technology covered by the others' litho equipment-related patents.

12/21/2007  December 21, 2007 - RF Micro Devices has agreed to acquire Filtronic PLC's compound semiconductors subsidiary for about £12.5M (US ~25.1M) in cash, including the unit's 150mm GaAs wafer fab in the UK, one of RFMD's major GaAs pHEMT semi suppliers.

12/21/2007  December 20, 2007 - Semiconductor equipment spending will slip 9.9% in 2008 in large part due to measures taken to absorb memory oversupplies, though the second half of the year should pick up strength and set the stage for a return to growth in 2009, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

12/20/2007  December 20, 2007 - Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor is finding new applications for its process technologies through a partnership with CMT Medical Technologies to develop and market flat-panel X-ray detectors for medical applications.

12/20/2007  XCOM Wireless Inc., a developer of radio frequency products, and Innovative Micro Technology, a MEMS contract manufacturer, say they have reached a "critical milestone" in producing a joint RF MEMS relay product.

12/20/2007  ; Electro Scientific Industries Inc. has announced that ProMOS Technologies has placed a multiple-system order for its model 9830HDE link processing tool. The tool features a high-throughput, 100-kHz laser and high-velocity stage, and is compatible with ProMOS' existing installed base of ESI 9830 laser systems.

12/19/2007  December 19, 2007 - Keeping with its "flexible manufacturing" (i.e. fab-lite) initiative, Cypress Semiconductor says it will "exit" its Fab 2 chip factory in Round Rock, TX by late 2008, transitioning the production work to its newer 200mm Fab 4 in Bloomington, MN, and to external foundry partners.

12/19/2007  December 19, 2007 - In a bid to extend into wafer probing, Rudolph Technologies has acquired the semiconductor business assets of Applied Precision LLC, a provider of wafer probe card metrology systems and wafer probe process management technologies.

12/19/2007  Steinmeyer, Inc. has announced a new high precision XY linear stage model KT 310 - 210 - DC. Manufactured from high strength anodized aluminum, the standard table promises travel of 200 mm in both axes with positioning accuracy of 5 µm (micrometer), straightness/flatness of 3 µm and repeatability of +/- 1µm.

12/18/2007  December 18, 2007 - Toshiba has extended its two-year collaboration with IBM on 32nm-and below node technologies to now include 32nm bulk CMOS process technology, joining five other participants in the work.

12/18/2007  ; The Dutch rollable display company Polymer Vision has joined the Holst Centre, an initiative of the Flemish and Dutch research centers IMEC and TNO. During the partnership, Polymer Vision will research and develop organic transistor technology and patterning processes in the open-innovation setting of Holst Centre, collaborating with other researchers from other companies joining the program.

12/18/2007  December 17, 2007 - Worldwide semiconductor revenue will increase just 2.9% to $270.3B this year, with mixed performances among the top vendors, notes Gartner in its newest preliminary figures.

12/17/2007  December 17, 2007 - Researchers at Taiwan's National Chung Hsing U., working with the Industrial Technology Research Institute, say they have created a nonvolatile organic memory device (16b), made stable by using gold nanoparticles mixed with a polymer.

12/17/2007  December 17, 2007 - A pair of financial analysts are taking the low road on a pair of big memory firms, citing continued concerns about inventory and soft pricing, though one of them sees light at the end of the tunnel for investors.

12/17/2007  WaferNEWS gets the scoop about Axcelis' new Optima XE high-energy single-wafer ion implanter, and why its broad energy range and even broader range of device applications addresses a particular need for fab managers working with high product mixes.