09/05/2006  September 5, 2006 - NOR flash memory supplier Spansion Inc. reportedly is contracting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to produce its NOR flash memory chip and its ORNAND flash memory using 90nm process technologies, starting next year

09/05/2006  Single wafer tooling, developed by SSEC, supports single wafer wet processing for advanced device packaging. Enabling wafer processing without hardware conversions, the tooling handles thin and SEMI standard wafers.

09/01/2006  September 1, 2006 - Hynix Semiconductor Inc. reportedly will invest $250 million to add a new NAND flash memory production line and hire 100 new employees at its DRAM chipmaking facility in Eugene, OR, according to local reports.

09/01/2006  September 1, 2006 - MOSAID Technologies Inc. has added two more patents to its infringement claims against Micron Technology Inc., Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., and ProMOS Technologies, centering on DRAM technologies including word line drivers, supply charge pump and regulators, and delayed locked-loop implementations.

09/01/2006  In semiconductor fabrication manufacturing, minimization of particle contamination on semiconductor wafers is getting increasingly important as the integrated circuit (IC) devices on the wafers decrease in size.

09/01/2006  Current technology uses field-effect transistors (FETs) with feature sizes smaller than 100 nanometers that start to show some device degradation due to short channel effects.

09/01/2006  On a stifling hot summer day in New England, Dan Coughlin probably likes nothing better than the shade of a nearby nanotech fabrication laboratory.

09/01/2006  Arthur del Prado has been sitting at the head table of the semiconductor industry since practically day one.

09/01/2006  It is well-known in semiconductor manufacturing that fast process feedback leads to better process control, which results in higher yield.

09/01/2006  Integration schemes for Through-wafer Via Devices

09/01/2006  Seeing is believing, at least for the Guinness Book of World Records, which recently turned down a submission from a team of University of Texas students who spent months building a three-dimensional, seven-micron-tall American flag that they claim is the world’s smallest.

08/31/2006  August 31, 2006 - Novellus Systems Inc. has lowered its 3Q outlook, citing delays in some customer deliveries, but any broader concerns about end-user demand or rising inventory levels should be short-lived, according to execs in an Aug. 30 conference call.

08/31/2006  August 30, 2006 - Dongbu Electronics says it is now using an optical proximity correction (OPC) tool developed in collaboration with Mentor Graphics for 90nm wafer processing, extending earlier work that resulted in a 0.13-micron system.

08/30/2006  August 30, 2006 - Ibis Technology Corp., Danvers, MA, says that Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Corp. (SUMCO) has given final approval to its second i2000 oxygen implanter, received earlier this year, allowing Ibis to recognize approximately $7 million in the current fiscal quarter.

08/30/2006  August 30, 2006 - STMicroelectronics has enhanced its 32Mbit flash memory chip, based on 0.11-micron process technology and intended specifically for the automotive market.

08/30/2006  Ambios Technology, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based maker of high performance, low cost bench top metrology and measurement equipment, announced its Isochamber, an environmental isolation system designed to optimize the performance of AFMs and other surface imaging tools.

08/30/2006  August 30, 2006 - Semiconductor manufacturers are increasingly trying to cut expenses and spending, and the first casualty appears to be metrology equipment investments, according to a new report from The Information Network.

08/29/2006  During SEMICON West 2006, a group of the industry's top senior technologists came together to discuss the limits and possibilities for semiconductor material development. Dealing with the atomic limits of semiconductors materials engineering, and delivering very small amounts of material, may also require fundamental changes in business models. How can suppliers support themselves under a paid-per-gram materials model, when critical amounts delivered are now sub-gram?

08/29/2006  As features approach the dimensions of 2nm strands of DNA, atomic layer deposition (ALD) appears to have great promise for the very thin, conformal film layers that will be essential. It's already being used by DRAM makers and displays, but work on gate stacks is slow due to process and materials integration. Potential uses of ALD, and how this will drive the future market were explored in a panel at SEMICON West.

08/29/2006  August 29, 2006 - European research consortium IMEC and Albany Nanotech say they have received the first extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography full-field alpha tools from Dutch equipment developer ASML, apparently within days of each other. EUV is considered the most likely candidate for the 32nm half-pitch node.