01/11/2007  Molecular Imprints Inc., an Austin, Texas, maker of nano-imprint lithography systems, announced the shipment of an Imprio 250 to a leading semiconductor memory manufacturer.

01/11/2007  January 11, 2007 - Rambus Inc. and Spansion Inc. have agreed to a five-year royalty-based patent license deal giving Spansion access to various Rambus patents. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Rambus said revenues generated from the license would be nonmaterial.

01/10/2007  January 10, 2007 - Micron Technology Inc. says it has reached a settlement agreement with a group of direct purchasers of certain DRAM products, with the total payment not to exceed $80 million. The company says the deal dismisses it from a class-action suit stemming from guilty verdicts against price-fixing charges in the DRAM market.

01/10/2007  January 10, 2007 - Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) says it has acquired Epion Corp., a supplier of gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) technology, for an undisclosed amount. Applications for GCIB include etching, smoothing, doping, and physical and chemical surface modification.

01/09/2007  Six months after drastically rewriting their outlooks for a bleak 2007 for semiconductor equipment and capex, most analysts surveyed by WaferNEWS appear to be moderating their expectations a bit for both a less-harsh 2007 and less-ambitious 2008. With healthy and diverse end-demand helping to stabilize chipmakers's spending habits, the real questions now surround the macroeconomic environment, and whether memory firms show they've learned to reign in their capital spending.

01/09/2007  A Dec. 8 workshop at Stanford U.'s Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology on the patterning and imaging of magnetic nanostructures offered many looks at the future of data storage, including unique fabrication technology used to make heads with state-of-the art sensors, and the challenges of "bit patterned media." Several interesting presentations also delved into medical and biotech applications of magnetic nanoparticles.

01/09/2007  January 9, 2007 - Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has appointed Eg Kah Yee as CEO and executive director, replacing Bruce Gray, who held the position since July 2005 after serving two years as EVP and COO.

01/08/2007  January 8, 2007 - UMC says it has begun construction of its 300mm Fab 12B in southern Taiwan's Tainan Science Park, and a R&D center on the site is entering the final stages of construction, on pace to be completed in March.

01/08/2007  January 8, 2006 - Months after being rescued by a new credit line following a "going concern" warning, Therma-Wave Inc. has found a new savior -- KLA-Tencor Corp., which has agreed to acquire the process control metrology system provider for $75 million in cash.

01/05/2007  January 5, 2007 - DRAM sales are set to reach their second-highest level ever in 2007, second only to the peak year of 1995, but year-on-year growth will be stunted due to price erosion, according to analyst firm iSuppli Corp.

01/05/2007  January 5, 2007 - SEMATECH has appointed Sitaram Arkalgud, appointee from Qimonda/Infineon Technologies, as director of its new 3D interconnect initiative, in addition to his duties leading SEMATECH's interconnect division.

01/05/2007  January 5, 2007 - Joseph Bronson, president and board member of wafer probe card firm FormFactor Inc., has resigned from the company immediately to pursue other interests, the company announced. With his departure, the company will eliminate the shared "office of the CEO" which he shared with CEO Igor Khandros, who will assume Bronson's former responsibilities.

01/04/2007  January 4, 2007 - China's flagship foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) could be the industry's next target for private equity investments, according to various media reports, though it's unclear whether private equity would be able to gain a foothold.

01/04/2007  January 4, 2007 - Samsung says it is now sampling 16Gbit NAND flash memory devices made with 50nm process technology. Mass production is planned for 1Q07.

01/04/2007  ClassOne Equipment, a Decatur, Ga. supplier of high quality, reconditioned semiconductor and nanotechnology equipment, announced the launch of its new web site.

01/03/2007  January 3, 2007 - In a move that may further juggle the top positions among photomask suppliers, NEC Electronics Corp. has agreed to sell its Fabserve photomask manufacturing subsidiary to Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.

01/03/2007  January 3, 2007 - With a record 29 fabs set to come online and ramp to mass production, the stage is set for a banner year in capital spending in 2007, according to Strategic Marketing Associates.

01/03/2007  In what may become an increasingly familiar byproduct of nanotech commercialization, a joint venture involving chemical giant DuPont has sued a supplier of a nanotech product used in semiconductor manufacture over a patent license.

01/02/2007  A key problem looming for semiconductor manufacturing at the 45nm node and beyond is gate leakage, yet there's no high-k/metal gate solution ready to tackle it in a manufacturing environment. However, Mears Technologies recently announced what it believes to be a solution -- using band engineering to re-engineer the physical properties of silicon.

01/02/2007  Analysts surveyed by WaferNEWS generally reviewed 2006 as a decent year for the semiconductor industry, if you take away a "bloodbath" in microprocessors and a surprising weakness in ASPs. The stage is set for growth in 2007 about at or even slightly better than this year's pace, followed by what most industry watchers think will be the next cyclical peak in 2008, and a slowdown in growth in 2009.