06/30/2006  June 30, 2006 - Toshiba Corp. has licensed certain stacking technologies for NAND flash memory leaded packages, the two firms stated. Financial details of the two-year deal or the specific technologies licensed were not disclosed.

06/30/2006  June 30, 2006 - Nanosys Inc., Palo Alto, CA, says it has expanded its technology collaboration with Intel Corp. to include flash memory partner Micron Technology Inc., targeting development of nanostructures for high-density NAND flash memory for consumer electronics and portable storage applications.

06/29/2006  Data I/O and Spansion announced their collaboration in sales, marketing, and systems engineering to promote the use of automated Flash memory programming in wireless, consumer, and automotive products. Spansion will assume rights to licensing Data I/O software related to device programming, conduct cooperative engineering development and participate in customer communications and field support.

06/29/2006  June 29, 2006 - Elpida Memory Inc. says it will issue 30 million new shares to raise roughly 141 billion yen (US $1.22 billion) to help finance planned expansion at its 300mm DRAM facility in Hiroshima Prefecture.

06/28/2006  June 29, 2006 - Accretech-Tokyo Seimitsu, Nextest Systems, and S

06/28/2006  June 28, 2006 - An investment company associated with the Hubei provincial government has broken ground on a new 300mm chipmaking facility, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. set to manage, but not own, the plant.

06/27/2006  IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology announced production of a prototype chip that breaks the 500 GHz operating frequency record. Research was supported by IBM, NASA, and the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), where it was carried out on a specialized high-frequency test system.

06/27/2006  June 27, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has successfully developed a 2GB version of its OneNAND flash memory device using 60nm process technologies, increasing write speeds by more than 80% vs. its 1GB version and exceeding that of NAND flash.

06/27/2006  June 27, 2006 - Demand for worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment slipped in May after a very strong two-month period, but demand for chip tools continues to be well ahead of last year's pace heading into the seasonally strong summer months, according to data from VLSI Research Inc.

06/26/2006  Visitors to SEMICON West once again will have the opportunity to conveniently meet with a range of entrepreneurs with new ideas at the Technology Innovation Showcase. This year SEMI has expanded it to three separate and more focused areas -- devoted to innovations in DFM and frontend processing, MEMS and nanotechnology, and final manufacturing technologies. Here's the rundown on a few intriguing innovations picked by a volunteer committee of industry executives to have the most potential.

06/26/2006  June 26, 2006 - In another vote of support for the US' semiconductor manufacturing industry, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said it will build a new 300mm semiconductor manufacturing facility in upstate New York, investing together with the state as much as $5.0 billion over the next few years.

06/26/2006  June 26, 2006 - Seeking to provide nanoscale repair solutions to the photomask industry, NanoInk Inc. and SII NanoTechnology Inc. will modify NanoInk's dip-pen nanolithography technology and integrate it with SII's photomask repair instruments and nanomachining platforms.

06/26/2006  June 26, 2006 - Engineers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) reportedly are nearly ready to bring their nano-enabled ceramic coating material into production environments, to help resist corrosion and scratches during the semiconductor manufacturing process.

06/26/2006  June 26, 2006 - Asyst Technologies Inc. has agreed to purchase 44.1% of outstanding shares its Japanese JV with Shinko Electric, essentially buying out its minority partner in the three-year-old venture which develops automated material handling systems for 300mm wafer production.

06/26/2006  Austria-based Nanoident Technologies AG is hoping its ultra-thin, organic semiconductor-based nanolayers can help the company slide into market faster than previous nanotechnologies with applications in displays, sensors and biometrics.

06/23/2006  North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted $1.65B in orders in May 2006 with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.12, according to SEMI's May 2006 Book-to-Bill Report. Average worldwide bookings in May 2006 equaled $1.65B, up three percent from last month and 62% from May 2005.

06/23/2006 

06/22/2006  June 22, 2006 - A combination of near-term excess capacity additions particularly for NAND flash, relatively stable demand, and peaking fab capacity utilization levels will result in a decline in semiconductor manufacturing equipment orders in the next quarter, although the slowdown won't be quite as dramatic as some fear, according to a new analyst report.

06/22/2006  June 22, 2006 - The World Trade Organization (WTO) is stepping in to settle a dispute between Japan and South Korea over tariffs levied on DRAM exports, after the two sides could not resolve the situation on their own.

06/21/2006  June 21, 2006 - Expectations of nearly 40% growth this year in the portable media player (PMP) market -- most notably thanks to an upgrade of Apple's still-wildly popular iPod -- will boost already hot demand for NAND flash memory, and could help out the DRAM segment as well, according to a new report from Gartner Inc.