12/05/2006  Developers of MEMS and flat panel displays now have a powerful new development and productivity tool from GenISys GmbH, a leading-edge provider of software solutions for efficient processing optimization of microstructure fabrication.

12/04/2006  J. P. Sercel Associates (JPSA) announced a new integrated Z-theta motorized stage that it says offers high precision operation for wafer processing and positioning.

12/04/2006  Dec. 4, 2006 -- XCOM Wireless Inc., a Signal Hill, Calif., developer of radio frequency products, announced it selected Innovative Micro Technology, a Santa Barbara, Calif., MEMS contract manufacturer, to manufacture die for its RF MEMS relay product.

12/01/2006  EV Group (EVG), a St. Florian, Austria, supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment for the advanced packaging, MEMS and semiconductor markets, and Sonix Inc., a supplier of advanced acoustic NDT solutions for bonded wafers & MEMS, announced they are joining forces as Sonix selects EVG as their exclusive worldwide reseller/distributor of selected Sonix products.

12/01/2006  Sonix, Inc., selected EV Group as exclusive worldwide reseller and distributor for select products. Sonix (Springfield, VA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Danaher Corporations, manufactures acoustic NDT solutions for bonded wafers and MEMS.

12/01/2006  In 1993, ISO Technical Committee 209, Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments, was formally established and had its first meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

11/30/2006  November 30, 2006 - Sumco Corp. plans to raise up to 59.7 billion yen (about US $50.8 million) by issuing new shares, in order to boost production of 300mm wafers, according to Japanese press reports.

11/30/2006  Veeco Instruments Inc., a supplier of instrumentation to the nanoscience community, announced the launch of the new Dektak 150 Surface Profiler for high-performance research and industrial metrology applications.

11/29/2006  November 29, 2006 - Aviza Technology Inc. has appointed Masaaki Yashiro as president of its Japan KK unit, responsible for managing day-to-day operations, supporting Aviza's current customer base in Japan and broadening and strengthening the company's market presence in the region.

11/29/2006  Nov. 29, 2006 -- Hyphenated Systems, a Burlingame, Calif., provider of hybrid microscopy solutions for three-dimensional imaging and metrology in micro and nanotechnology, announced the release of its new HS200A NanoScale Optical Profiler.

11/28/2006  After 20 years of supplying single-wafer wet-processing systems, SEZ has released a new mass-production tool capable of performing extremely complex processes for front-end-of-line (FEOL) applications. The new Esanti tool combines with the DaVinci back-end-of-line (BEOL) tool such that SEZ can now address 60% of the total wet processing market.

11/28/2006  After months of pressure from domestic chipmakers, the Taiwan government says that by year's end it will lower the restrictions for transferring chipmaking technologies to mainland China to 0.18-micron processes. But with a lot of unanswered questions about the specifics -- and the government's history of delays and silence in previous related policy moves -- for now the decision seems to be as politically motivated as it is supportive of Taiwan's technology competitiveness.

11/28/2006  November 28, 2006 - The latest data from Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) indicates 300mm capacity is still coming online strong, but a slowdown in actual wafer starts during 3Q06 pushed overall utilization rates below the 90% mark for the first time in more than a year.

11/28/2006  November 28, 2006 - Brion Technologies and Hitachi High-Technologies are collaborating on a DFM platform that will enable chipmakers to detect, measure, and monitor optical proximity correction (OPC) defects during volume production of advanced semiconductors. Brion and Hitachi say the combined technologies in one interface will "vastly reduce the amount of time and number of operations required to generate a several-hundred point CD-SEM recipe for OPC evaluation."

11/28/2006  Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that it has received four orders for its R&D Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) systems. The orders extend across the Veeco R&D product line including a GEN20, GEN930, GEN II, and GEN III.

11/27/2006  November 27, 2006 - After three years of behind-the-curtain development and joint work with several customers and foundries, Clear Shape Technologies Inc. has officially launched with an announcement of two flagship products, and a DFM-aware IC design flow resulting from a collaboration with Taiwan foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC).

11/27/2006  November 27. 2006 - STMicroelectronics has inaugurated a new 200mm wafer fab line at its Agrate site near Milan, Italy, dedicated to manufacturing MEMS devices, saying it is the first major MEMS maker to make the devices on 200mm wafers.

11/27/2006  Heidelberg Instruments announced the sale of an advanced DWL200 maskless laser lithography system to the Angstrom Microstructure Laboratory of the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

11/22/2006  November 22, 2006 - Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. has extended its partnership with Chinese foundry SMIC to make 8Gbit data flash using advanced process technology, with devices ready for market by 2008.

11/22/2006  November 22, 2006 - Global orders for semiconductor manufacturing equipment slipped in 3Q06 but sales chugged right along, and both are enjoying growth well above a year ago, according to data compiled by SEMI and SEAJ.