10/23/2006  EV Group, a St. Florian, Austria, supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment for the advanced packaging, MEMS and semiconductor markets and Datacon Technology GmbH, a leading supplier of flip-chip and die bonding equipment, announced the installation of an EVG540C2W System at Datacon.

10/23/2006  Benchmark Technologies of Lynnfield, Mass., and Holographix LLC of Hudson, Mass., announced they have entered into an exclusive manufacture and resale agreement for the fabrication and distribution of custom nano-imprint templates.

10/20/2006  IMEC transferred its copper-top interconnect process technology to production at National Semiconductor's Malacca, Malaysia, facility. Copper-top interconnect — a low-resistance, post-passivation interconnect module— was designed to provide efficiency and smaller chip size for analog and mixed signal ICs.

10/20/2006  The UK government has published a progress report which provides an update on the government's direction and details of progress made on research into possible risks posed by engineered nanoparticles to human health and the environment.

10/19/2006  October 19, 2006 - Among several announcements made prior to IMEC's annual meeting next week, IMEC and ASML claim they've proven that double-patterning 193nm immersion lithography (NA=1.2) can be a viable interim solution -- at least technically -- for flash and logic manufacturing at the 32nm node, until extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography achieves production-ready levels.

10/19/2006  October 19, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has developed a 50nm DDR2 DRAM chip utilizing 3D design and multilayered dielectrics, a process that enhances performance and data storage capabilities.

10/19/2006  October 19, 2006 - Aviza Technology Inc., Scotts Valley, CA, has received a GBP 1.2 million (US $2.2 million) multiyear grant from the Welsh Assembly Government's Regional Selective Assistance program, to help with Aviza's planned GBP 6.4 million (~$12.0 million) expansion of R&D capabilities at its site in Newport.

10/19/2006  IMEC, the Leuven, Belgium, independent research center for micro and nanotech, showed in collaboration with ASML the potential of double patterning 193nm immersion lithography at 1.2NA for 32nm node Flash and logic.

10/18/2006  WiSpry Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing dynamically tunable radio frequency integrated circuits for wireless devices, announced it has raised a $13.5 million Series B financing.

10/17/2006  Attendees at the Third International Symposium on Immersion Lithography earlier this month, found a field moving out of R&D and into a competitive commercial phase. Key technical presentations addressed hyper-NA, resists, exposure tools, optical materials, process, photomasks, immersion defects, and alternative immersion fluids. More than 20% of submitted papers dealt with immersion defects, revealing the industry's momentum in preparing 193i for volume manufacturing at sub-65nm half-pitch.

10/17/2006  New figures from Gartner Inc. point to slightly lower-than-expected growth in semiconductor capital spending and equipment purchases, particularly for some backend segments, but the outlook for 2007 has improved somewhat as well. Spending on new facility construction is on the rise, and even though memory makers continue to pour investments into the sector, but supplies and demand still appear to be balancing out.

10/17/2006  Amkor Technology, Inc., has commenced operations at its new 300-mm wafer bump factory in Singapore, using the wafer bump processes currently offered by Amkor in Taiwan.

10/17/2006  October 17, 2006 - ASML Holding NV says it has received the first order from an unidentified customer for a pre-production EUV system, following shipments of two alpha tools earlier this year to IMEC and Albany Nanotech.

10/16/2006  October 16, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has tacked on another 18% to its projected 2006 capital expenditures budget for semiconductors -- the company now expects to spend 6.66 trillion won ($7.03 billion), up from 5.63 trillion won ($5.94 billion).

10/16/2006  By Meredith Courtemanche, assistant editor

Cubic Wafer emerged on the dynamic 3-D system-on-silicon (SoSi) packaging scene from a somewhat round-about route. Beginning as an optical transceiver technology provider, the company developed 3-D architecture and design processes and concepts. Xanoptix eventually rebuilt its business around core technologies of high-density contacts and through-die vias, changing its name to Cubic Wafer in 2005 to reflect the new 3-D IC direction.

10/16/2006  October 16, 2006 - Taiwan's top four DRAM chipmakers are expected to spend roughly $6.0 billion on 300mm wafer tools next year, in order to keep up with demand for leading-edge processes and newer DDR2 chips, according to the Taiwan Economic News.

10/13/2006  October 13, 2006 - Citing steady momentum for computers and mobile devices, minor and temporary effects from higher energy prices, and no signs (yet) of impact from rising inventories, iSuppli Corp. has reaffirmed its forecast for global chip sales this year.

10/13/2006  October 13, 2006 - KLA-Tencor Corp. has hired one of its own back as its chief technology officer -- Ben Tsai, who will move from SVP of technology at Tokyo Electron Ltd. to return to KLA-Tencor, where he previously was group VP and CTO of systems, and before that GM for the company's wafer inspection division.

10/13/2006  October 13, 2006 - After tallying up hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for misdeeds among DRAM makers including price fixing, the US Department of Justice is turning its gaze to makers of static random access memory (SRAM).

10/13/2006  October 13, 2006 - Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. says that "significant customer" Qimonda AG is ramping down its current nitride read-only memory (NROM)-related activity, and will continue to license Saifun's NROM technology only on a limited basis.