08/01/2007  Working with HP licensee Nanolithosolution Inc., OAI (Optical Associates Inc.) is offering nano imprint lithography as an option for all of its mask aligners -- which can then be used as imprint systems or as standard mask aligners.

08/01/2007  Despite the high technology, the semiconductor industry is conservative, preferring to stick to what is known and works rather than trying something new-unless, of course, there’s no alternative.

08/01/2007  Whether the topic of discussion was yield management, reducing cost of production and test, the next area of industry expansion, or where a company is realizing the greatest revenue, back-end assembly and test was the focus at SEMICON West 2007.

08/01/2007  Demand for continuous reductions in semiconductor package height are coming from several directions, most notably memory chip vendors seeking increased density to meet aggressive price-performance roadmaps.

07/31/2007  July 19, 2007 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- At SEMICON West 2007, Cymer, Inc. announced the company has been selected by ASML Holding NV (ASML) as the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source supplier for its EUV scanners for high-volume manufacturing.

07/31/2007  In video interviews at SEMICON West, Dave Gross of AMD pleads AMD's case for collaboration to maximize the effectiveness of R&D dollars. Alain Diebold (U. at Albany) summarizes unresolved metrology issues at 45nm and discusses the future at 32nm. And John Allgair (ISMI assignee from AMD) outlines the group's current plans as it gears up for a larger presence in Albany and expand its metrology program -- look for intentional defect array wafers to be ready for mass production in 2-3 months.

07/31/2007  Mobility enhancements in ICs have typically been implemented using strain and mostly the same materials, but the industry is now working with high-k dielectrics and metal-gates (HK+MG). Applied Materials has released an ALD chamber for hafnium-oxide HK dielectric in its Centura platform that appears to be part of an excellent integrated HK+MG solution.

07/31/2007  Not surprisingly, analysts at a SEMICON West Bulls&Bears session found themselves at odds on several fronts, including the outlook for memory, 450mm wafers, and industry consolidation. But they also generally agreed that the semiconductor equipment market is in a pause right now, but it will not be severe and some even see a nice pickup next year; that the wild cycle swings of the past have moderated; and that major equipment buying sectors are not as synchronized as in the past.

07/31/2007  Amid many debates over 45nm- and 32nm manufacturing challenges, photolithography wasn't the hottest topic at this year's SEMICON West, possibly because the first 45nm-capable immersion scanners have been shipped and no one seems to know how 32nm might be achieved economically. There were spirited discussions, though, about potentially radical ways to significantly increase throughputs by the time double-patterning is required, and whether DFM is really ready for the burden being asked of it.

07/31/2007  July 31, 2007 - Intel, Samsung, and TI remain in their familiar positions atop the list of top global semiconductor suppliers in 1H07 from a year ago, but after that the rankings were entirely redrawn, and more shakeups are on the way, according to an upcoming report from IC Insights.

07/31/2007  The Micromanipulator Company has introduced a new motorized, joystick-controlled probing station that features other major redesigns to enhance precision.

07/30/2007  July 30, 2007 - A roundup of the past week's headlines from Japan center largely on April-June financial results, with Toshiba and NEC improving their profits (though largely due to restructuring and asset sales), while Fujitsu takes a hit for finance missteps.

07/27/2007  July 27, 2007 - SUSS MicroTec has carved out its device bonder division through a management buyout initiated by SUSS France president Gael Schmidt, in order to gain independence from the parent company which has little strategic synergies.

07/27/2007  ZyCube Co. developed a chip-sized packaging technology, ZyCSP, for CMOS image sensors used for cell-phone cameras. ZyCube will market the technology and a line of chips it manufactures using ZyCSP globally, reports the Nikkei Business Daily.

07/26/2007  July 26, 2007 - LSI Corp., the merged entity of LSI Logic and Agere Systems, has agreed to offload its semiconductor assembly and test operations in Thailand, Singapore, and the US, continuing its transition to a fabless manufacturing business model. The overall actions will result in about 2100 layoffs, but will shave about $20-$25 million in annual capex starting next year.

07/26/2007  SUSS MicroTec AG's new iVista follows rapid changes to device design driven by economics and technology advances. It promises sharpness comparable to a 16-megapixel CCD, and a significant productivity boost for operators and engineers.

07/25/2007  Three semiconductor manufacturing facilities, all in China, began production in the second quarter of 2007; however, generally slow growth in semiconductors will keep the packaging-and-test sector from meeting growth levels set in 2006, according to Gartner Inc.'s report "Semiconductor Packaging, Assembly, and Test Facilities: Worldwide, Q'03 2007."

07/25/2007  July 25, 2007 - Months after initiating a search for outside partners for 32nm development work following the wind-down of its Crolles alliance with NXP and Freescale, STMicroelectronics has found its new group of friends: IBM and members of its Common Platform alliance.

07/24/2007  With High-k (HK) dielectrics and metal-gates (MG) now being ramped into CMOS production at Intel and IBM, much of the excitement at this year's SEMICON West centered around manufacturing technologies needed for these new materials. Much of the discussions in equipment supplier-sponsored seminars and panels centered on the challenges of working with these new materials -- particularly the tricky setup of affordable in-line metrology for these new ultra-thin materials.

07/24/2007  What's the difference between semiconductor equipment and solar equipment? "A factor of ten, squared," said T.J. Rodgers, chairman of SunPower Corp. and president and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, during his Wednesday (July 18) keynote address at SEMICON West. "If you want to sell a solar fab some equipment, it has to be 10x cheaper" -- e.g., $400,000 instead of $4 million -- "and it has to be 10x faster, say, 800 wafers/hr, not 80 wafers/hr."