10/12/2006  October 12, 2006 - A list of equipment providers, materials companies, and researchers have joined to create an international consortium to address technical and cost issues of creating of thru-silicon-via (TSV) 3D chip interconnect, for use in chip stacking and MEMS/sensor packaging.

10/12/2006  October 12, 2006 - With the exception of two technology sectors, the overall market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment should be flat in 2007, as "enormous quantities" of chipmaking tools ordered in recent months is absorbed and new orders have slowed dramatically, according to analyst firm The Information Network.

10/11/2006  October 11, 2006 - IMEC has added top foundry TSMC to its Europractice IC service, which offers low-cost ASIC prototyping and ASIC small volume production through multiproject chip and dedicated wafer runs.

10/11/2006  October 11, 2006 - MKS Instruments Inc., Wilmington, MA, has acquired privately held Novx Corp., a San Jose-based supplier of electrostatic charge process monitoring equipment for an undisclosed amount.

10/11/2006  A new consortium, EMC-3D, has been created to address the technical and cost issues of creating 3D interconnects using Thru-Silicon-Via technology for chip stacking and MEMS/sensors packaging.

10/10/2006  The special Friday session of BACUS '06, organized by Bob Naber of Cadence, addressed the question of industry progress and readiness for DFM, and discussed the remaining challenges as well as proposed solutions. Mark Mason of Texas Instruments pointed out that "DFM is a journey, not a destination," and worried that management did not yet understand how hard it was going to be.

10/10/2006  Chris Moore, CEO of metrology equipment supplier Philips AMS (now known simply as AMS -- Advanced Metrology Systems) talks with WaferNEWS about the decision to break free from former parent Royal Philips, the new reality of semiconductor market cycles, and where the company is pushing new inroads for its trench-measurement technology.

10/10/2006  Leading semiconductor market analysts were sharply divided at last week's SEMI New England Breakfast Forum as to whether demand for NAND flash memory will keep pace with the expected supply in the foreseeable future, although all did agree that the future of flash holds the key to growth in semiconductor capital equipment spending over the next year.

10/10/2006  October 10, 2006 - Nikon Corp. and Brion Technologies Inc. are partnering to combine Brion's high-performance computational lithography technology with Nikon's high-NA immersion equipment, to deliver "lithography-enabled DFM applications."

10/10/2006  October 10, 2006 - STMicroelectronics and Hynix Semiconductor have officially opened their $2 billion joint frontend memory manufacturing facility in Wuxi City, China, which will manufacture both NAND flash and DRAM memories on 200mm and 300mm lines by the middle of next year.

10/10/2006  October 10, 2006 - X-Fab Silicon Foundries is rolling out a new two-part program offering 0.35-micron and 0.18-micron RF-CMOS processes, for communications end-markets.

10/09/2006  October 9, 2006 - Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer manufacturer Soitec, Bernin, France, says it expects to achieve its previous guidance of about 400 million Euros (?1 = US$1.25) in sales during its 2006-2007 fiscal year, representing about 50% annual growth. The company noted the anticipated sales growth is the result of regular updates to existing customer contracts, and also denied rumors concerning the loss of an American customer.

10/09/2006  October 9, 2006 - Just a month after upgrading its outlook for the DRAM market, analyst firm iSuppli Corp. says the storm clouds are gathering again -- and the NAND flash outlook isn't looking great either. The firm has recast its outlook for the DRAM segment to "neutral" from "positive," while the NAND flash memory is back down to "negative" from "neutral," according to Nam Hyung Kim, director and principal analyst.

10/09/2006  October 9, 2006 - Participants at the recent 3rd Annual International Symposium on Advanced Gate Stack Technology have narrowed their consensus about their strategies for implementing high-k/metal gate stacks in 32nm- and beyond process technologies.

10/09/2006  October 9, 2006 - Taiwan's top two foundries, TSMC and UMC, said sales slipped slightly in September but showed mid-single-digit growth from a year ago. Meanwhile, one analyst thinks TSMC is poised to bump up FY07 capex by as much as 25% to prep for its 65nm ramp.

10/09/2006  Alcatel Micro Machining Systems, an Annecy, France, supplier of deep silicon etching equipment (DRIE) for MEMS and 3D Semiconductors, announced that it has received a multi-million dollar order from Xintec Inc. in Taiwan for its new AMS 200 "I-Productivity" production tool for advanced Wafer Level Chip Size Packaging (WLCSP) technology.

10/06/2006  October 6, 2006 - Micron's latest financials announced Oct. 5 were disappointing on the surface -- $0.08 EPS on sales of $1.37 billion, vs. $0.14/$1.41 billion expectations from Wall Street. But a bigger concern is a potential "execution risk" with a dual-ramp from its JV with Intel, IM Flash Technologies, according to American Technology Research analyst Doug Freedman, who has downgraded his Micron stock recommendation from "Buy" to "Sell."

10/06/2006  John E. Denzel has resigned as president and chief operating officer of Ultratech Inc. Arthur W. Zafiropoulo, the firm's chairman and chief executive officer, has assumed the responsibilities previously performed by Denzel.

10/06/2006  October 6, 2006 - ASM International NV directors say they have decided to keep the company intact with both its frontend and backend business, and will concentrate on restoring its frontend business to profitability, negating a proposal from shareholders earlier this year calling for a split of the company's frontend and backend operations.

10/05/2006  October 5, 2006 - PowerChip Semiconductor Corp.'s (PSC) move this week to raise around $363 million through issuance of global deposit receipts provides further clues that the company is ready to move forward with a 300mm DRAM fab project with Elpida Memory, according to a local media report.