04/17/2007  April 17, 2007 - Sematech says its researchers at its Mask Blank Development Center (MBDC) at the U. of Albany (NY)'s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, have successfully detected and cleaned 10nm particles from mask blanks used in EUV lithography.

04/17/2007  April 17, 2007 - Malaysian foundry Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has appointed two new top execs, both with backgrounds at China's Hua Hong and SMIC -- Tzu Yin Chiu is Silterra's new president/COO , while Charles Chan has been named president of subsidiary Silterra USA.

04/17/2007  BASF Future Business GmbH is collaborating with Polyera Corporation to develop and commercialize new organic semiconductors and dielectrics for use in CMOS-analog printed circuits. The partners intend to develop these materials as well as a printed prototype CMOS circuit within the next three years.

04/16/2007  April 16, 2007 - Singapore foundry Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing says it has shuffled a number of top executives amid a realignment to "position the company for the next phase of growth."

04/16/2007  Capital equipment distributor GTI Technologies has introduced to North America Takatori of Japan's new ATM-1100EF wafer protective tape-laminating machine, which is designed to handle MEMS production.

04/13/2007  April 13, 2007 - Vistec Semiconductor Systems GmbH and TOOL Corp. say they have integrated Vistec's LWM9000 SEM-based CD measurement system with TOOL's Lavis layout visualization platform, making it possible to more quickly display measuring layout design data and visually create recipes.

04/13/2007  April 13, 2007 - New Wave Research Inc. says it has obtained a preliminary injunction ruling in Taiwan against Japan's Laser Solutions, prohibiting that firm from manufacturing, selling, or importing some of its equipment that allegedly infringes New Wave patents unless and until a final judgment is issued denying the patent claims.

04/13/2007  April 13, 2007 - IBM says it has developed a way to incorporate through-silicon vias (TSV) into its chipmaking process that shortens data-travel distances by up to 1000x and allows for 100x more pathways than 2D chips. Samples of 65nm chips using the 3D stacking technique will be shipped by year's end, with production ramping in 2008.

04/13/2007  April 13, 2007 - Saying that all conditions to its cash offer for full ownership of STATS ChipPAC have been met, Singapore Technologies Semiconductors Pte. Ltd. (STS), a subsidiary of state-owned holding firm Temasek Holdings, has declared its offer unconditional, seeking to obtain $115 million in convertible notes and $150 million in convertible subordinated notes.

04/13/2007  FormFactor, Inc. has released its PH150XP wafer probe card, a new product in the company's line of DRAM wafer testing products. The PH150XP probe card promises several yield and throughput enhancements to enable DRAM manufacturers to achieve additional reductions in their overall cost of test.

04/12/2007  Tronics Microsystems SA has expanded MEMS characterization, assembly, packaging, and testing capabilities at its Crolles, France headquarters. The additional space and new tools strengthen the company's design-to-manufacturing services.

04/11/2007  Bristol, England-based Metryx, Limited, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer specializing in nanotechnology mass measurement techniques, says it has hired two new directors of business development to help the company meet a growing demand for mass metrology.

04/11/2007  April 11, 2007 - A federal judge has tossed out an antitrust lawsuit filed against seven memory chipmakers, saying that the lawsuit did not precisely detail and separate out allegations of damages that occurred inside the US vs outside the US, and has given them until May 4th to refile.

04/11/2007  Despite uncertainty about the future of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), NIST -- which manages the program -- will hand out approximately $60 million in this year's competition. On April 13, ATP director Marc Stanley (right) will convene a series of conferences to explain criteria; the proposal deadline is May 21. Small Times' Tom Cheyney reports on the program and past winners.

04/10/2007  The German company Vistec Semiconductor Systems GmbH and TOOL Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, have announced the integration of Vistec's SEM-based CD measurement system LWM9000 SEM and TOOL's layout visualization platform, LAVIS. The integration makes it possible to display a measuring layout design data on LAVIS, and visually create a "recipe" quickly using simple mouse operations. The LWM9000 SEM can then read the recipes directly.

04/10/2007  April 10, 2007 - Fujitsu Limited has developed and released a new large-scaled integrated (LSI) chip for in-car automotive systems, such as navigation and digital dashboards. The new system-on-chip integrates various functions on a single chip, such as ARM core, 2D and 3D graphic capabilities, in-car networking features, and support for various media interfaces.

04/09/2007  The advent of 193nm (ArF) lithography brought a different kind of issue: contaminated scanner optics caused by the formation of silicon-containing organic compounds which form larger molecules that condense on the optics and cause lens contamination, resulting in flare and incorrect printing. A new absorbent material used in Entegris' filter keeps a "sticky" organic in its condensable form, preventing it from rearranging and propagating through the filter and ultimately reaching the optics.

04/09/2007  Tim Archer, SVP of Novellus' dielectrics business group, tells WaferNEWS how the company's latest 300mm wafer Vector PECVD tool increases system throughput >10% for all films, and up to 50% for ultra-thin films through use of a thermal soak.

04/09/2007  Georgia Tech researchers say they've developed a "3D multiphoton" technique, a process involving two-photon absorbing molecules that are sensitive to laser light at short wavelengths, that could be applied to simplify and cut costs for patterning 65nm devices.

04/09/2007  April 9, 2007 - Anadigics Inc. says it has agreed to build a 150mm gallium arsenide (GaAs) IC wafer fab in Kunshan, in China's Jiangsu Province, to add capacity beyond its current primary wafer fab in New Jersey.