11/14/2006  In an interview following the recent nanoTX'06 event in Dallas (9/26-9/28), Texas Instruments' Senior Fellow and Technology Strategy Manager, Bob Doering, echoed some of the same themes discussed with SEMATECH's Randy Goodall (see last week's story), about ways to advance nanotechnology collaboration with government funding and university R&D.

11/14/2006  Wafer shipments surged in 3Q06 to surpass 2000 million sq. inches (MSI), a 5.5% sequential increase and more than 18% ahead of the same period in 2005, according to new data from SEMI's Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG). That growth means SEMI's recent forecast for 2006 wafer output may already be too conservative.

11/13/2006  November 13, 2006 - The Fab Owners Association (FOA), a collection of an association of mainly second-tier semiconductor manufacturers, has expanded its roster with the addition of power technology developer International Rectifier, and Silicon Saxony, a network of technology companies for the Saxony, Germany, region.

11/13/2006  November 13, 2006 - Spansion Inc. expanded its share and solidified its lead in the global NOR-type flash memory market in 3Q06, as other competitors lost ground due to inventory overheads amid a weak pricing environment, according to data from iSuppli Corp.

11/13/2006  Nanophase Technologies, a Romeoville, Ill. -provider of nanomaterials and advanced nanoengineered products, announced receipt of a new order for polishing nanodispersions for an unnamed Asian customer. Nanophase said it believes the nanodispersions will be used for LCD screen polishing.

11/10/2006  November 10, 2006 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said sales in October were roughly flat with the previous month at about $814.9 million, representing a 2% increase from October 2005, and maintaining what has shown to be lackluster performance through much of 2006.

11/10/2006  November 10, 2006 - TSMC has confirmed reports that it will start work on a new 300mm fab in the Hsinchu Science Park by next spring, according to several media reports. The foundry's board has already approved an extra $1.13 billion in capital expenditures to expand 65nm and 90nm process capacity.

11/10/2006  Bridgehead Group, a New York-based international business strategy, venture capital and investment banking organization, announced it has acquired a major stake in NIL Technology ApS, a Danish nanotechnology company. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

11/09/2006  November 9, 2006 - Despite some growth spikes at individual companies, the rankings for the top chip suppliers in 2006 will be largely unchanged, according to analyst firm IC Insights Inc.

11/09/2006  November 9, 2006 - Intel Corp. says it has ramped to volume shipments of 65nm-based NOR flash multilevel cell memory products, including a 1Gb monolithic part for cell phones. Smaller-density versions (512Mb, 256Mb, and 128Mb) are expected to be released in 2007.

11/09/2006  The IEEE and Applied Materials recently co-sponsored a one day seminar on high-k dielectrics and metal gates, with researchers from AMD, Freescale, IBM, Toshiba, Xilinx, and SEMATECH presenting their experiences integrating HKMG materials into CMOS transistors, and showing that these newer materials are ready for low-standby power IC applications.

11/09/2006  GenISys GmbH, a Munich, Germany, provider of software solutions for efficient processing of large layout data and optimization of microstructure fabrication, announced Layout BEAMER 2.0.

11/08/2006  Acacia Research Corp. announced that Acacia Patent Acquisition Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary that is part of the Acacia Technologies licensing group, has acquired rights to a patent relating to aligned wafer bonding technology.

11/07/2006  November 6, 2006 - The value of new fab construction will hit an all-time high of $59 billion in 2006, followed by another record next year in the value of fabs coming online to volume production, according to Strategic Marketing Associates (SMA).

11/07/2006  November 7, 2006 - Keithley Instruments Inc. and French firm Mesatronic Group have signed a deal to develop advanced probe cards for semiconductor parametric testers used in RF and low current DC applications.

11/07/2006  IMEC, Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research institute, announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore as part of an effort to expand its R&D collaborations with Indian semiconductor companies and institutes.

11/06/2006  November 6, 2006 - European R&D consortium IMEC has signed memorandums of understanding with SemIndia and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), moves that help solidify India's plans for developing into a semiconductor fabrication center, as well as IMEC's inroads into the region.

11/06/2006  November 6, 2006 - Israeli pure-play foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. has made available a new laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor process (LDMOS) on its 0.18-micron platform, produced in its Fab 2 facility, targeting use in LCD drivers for cell phones and other handheld displays.

11/06/2006  November 6, 2006 - Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc., through their IM Flash Technologies JV, plan to build a new "multibillion-dollar" fab in Singapore to add a fourth manufacturing outlet for NAND flash memory. The 300mm/50nm facility is projected to come online in 2H08.

11/06/2006  November 6, 2006 - Chinese flagship foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) plans to slash 30% from its capital expenditures next year from this year's $1.0 billion, according to recent comments by chairman Richard Chang.