12/01/2005  December 2, 2005 - NanoDynamics Inc. and New Zealand-based partner Nano Cluster Devices Ltd. (NCD) say they will commercialize new nanowire fabrication technology, for use in semiconductors and nanoscale electronic devices.

12/01/2005  Santa Clara, CA — Intel Corp. plans to build a new 300-mm wafer fabrication facility at its Kiryat Gat, Israel site. Designated Fab 28, the new facility will produce microprocessors on 45-nm process technology in the second half of 2008. Construction on the $3.5 billion project will begin immediately.

12/01/2005  Reducing Cost of Test

12/01/2005  Expanding Technologies Match Demand

11/30/2005 

11/28/2005  November 28, 2005 -- Freescale Semiconductor, Austin, TX, has brought silicon nanocrystal memory technology a little closer to commercial reality. The company reports that it has produced a 24Mbit memory array based on Si nanocrystals, a denser, faster, nonvolatile option that may take the place of floating gate-based flash memories, due to the expectation that conventional embedded flash memory technology may reach its scaling limits within four years.

11/23/2005  November 23, 2005 - Siltronic AG, Munich, Germany, is expanding its 300mm wafer production in Germany by investing ~136 million euro (US$160.6 million) in its production sites at Burghausen in Bavaria and Freiberg in Saxony. Up to 225 new jobs will be created.

11/18/2005  Migdal Ha'emek, Israel — Camtek Ltd. has received an order for several Falcon automatic optical inspection (AOI) systems for semiconductor wafers from a leading Chinese semiconductor manufacturer. The order is valued at $2 million (U.S.), and most of the order is expected to be filled before the end of 2005.

11/17/2005  November 17, 2005 - The SIA has projected in its annual forecast of global semiconductor sales a CAGR of nearly 10% for 2005 through 2008. Worldwide sales of microchips will reach $309B.

11/16/2005  November 16, 2005 - President George W. Bush announced that IBM has been awarded the 2004 National Medal of Technology by the US Department of Commerce and the Technology Administration in recognition of more than four decades of innovation in semiconductor technology.

11/15/2005  November 15, 2005 - Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased 9% during the 3Q05 when compared to the 2Q area shipments, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

11/11/2005  November 11, 2005 - Purdue University has purchased a SUSS MicroTec SB6e substrate bonder and a MA/BA6 mask/bond aligner for use in its new Birck Nanotechnology Center. This facility provides state-of-the-art labs and scientific equipment for nanoscale research that will be used by over 130 faculty and their students from 27 departments.

11/10/2005  November 10, 2005 - Elpida Memory Inc. has begun on-site production of hydrogen gas necessary for production of DRAM chips at its Higashi Hiroshima main plant, reports the Nikkei English News.

11/09/2005  November 9, 2005 - Toshiba Corp., Tokyo, Japan, and NEC Electronics Corp. have entered into an agreement to co-develop 45nm CMOS logic process technology, allowing the companies to "share burdens and accelerate development, while raising system LSI performance and quality," according to a joint statement.

11/04/2005 

11/04/2005 

11/03/2005  November 3, 2005 - Wafer foundry Tower Semiconductor has begun manufacturing 2.0 and 1.3-megapixel CMOS system on a chip (SoC) image sensors for Biomorphic Microsystems Corp., reported the Israel Business Arena.

11/02/2005  November 2, 2005 - Intel has reopened a facility in Chandler, AZ, converting it to a 65nm-process, 300mm wafer manufacturing facility called Fab 12. It is the company's second volume-production fab using 65nm technology on 300mm wafers.

11/02/2005  November 2, 2005 - At International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative's (ISMI) 2nd Symposium on Manufacturing Effectiveness, Austin, TX, TSMC's VP of operations Mark Liu told participants he believes that the consumer electronics era may drive IC manufacturers to build more flexible "gigafabs" and persuade equipment makers to double tool productivity.

11/01/2005  A Heat-Management Solution