09/15/2005  September 15, 2005 - Cree Inc. has been awarded a $15 million contract by the Department of Defense's Title III Program, which is administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Under the new five-year contract, Cree will focus on advancing silicon carbide (SiC) microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) processing techniques to transition the production of SiC MMICs to 100mm substrates and reduce cost/chip.

09/14/2005  September 14, 2005 - PennWell Corp. has named veteran technology editor Ed Korczynski to the position of senior technical editor of Solid State Technology magazine, effective yesterday.

09/13/2005  Migdal Ha'emek, Israel — Camtek Ltd. is introducing three new Falcon wafer AOI system models at SEMICON Taiwan, currently happening from September 12–14 in Taipei. The new models include Falcon 800 for 3-D metrology of gold- and solder-bumped wafers, Falcon 500PD for post-dicing wafer inspection, and Falcon 500 for general wafer inspection before or after test. The Falcon 800 model employs CTS, Camtek's own triangulation height measurement technology — key to its 3-D performance.

09/08/2005  September 8, 2005 - After a year of codeveloping next-generation, lead-free wafer solder-bump technology, IBM Corp. has ordered a controlled collapse chip connection new process (C4NP) high-volume bumping line from Suss MicroTec.

09/07/2005  September 7, 2005 - The Brazilian government has announced plans to establish a 990 acre science park to house a new domestic semiconductor industry, starting with a fab to produce high-voltage CMOS, bipolar, BiCMOS, and other processes by 2007.

09/07/2005 

09/02/2005  September 2, 2005 - SEMATECH has received a key tool for exploring the extension of immersion lithography to produce advanced semiconductors at the 45 nm half-pitch lithography generation and beyond. The tool, an interference immersion exposure system from Amphibian Systems, will be placed in the Immersion Technology Center, which focuses on extending immersion lithography beyond pure water-based approaches.

09/01/2005  Contamination-control challenges may reach unprecedented levels with Intel Corp.’s (www.intel.com) massive, one-million-square-foot 300 mm fab now under construction in Arizona. Included in the complex will be 184,000 square feet of cleanroom space-about the size of four football fields.

09/01/2005  Facilitating Temperature Sensor Success

09/01/2005  To hear Paul Westbrook tell it, the fab being built by Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI; www.ti.com) in Richardson, Texas, reflects his own personal experience.

08/31/2005  August 31, 2005 - Elpida Memory Inc. said yesterday its two largest shareholders, NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., will sell part of their stakes in Elpida, a supplier of DRAM chips in Japan, during the current fiscal year to next March 31, reported Kyodo News International.

08/31/2005  Molecular Imprints Inc., a provider of nanoimprint lithography technology, announces the filing of the 300th patent application worldwide related to its S-FIL, or step-and-flash imprint lithography, technology.

08/30/2005  Taby, Sweden — Micronic Laser Systems AB has received an order from Phoenix Precision Technology Corp. (PPt), an IC packaging photomask supplier and PBGA substrate producer, for Micronic's MP80+ multi-purpose, laser pattern generation system.

08/30/2005  August 30, 2005 - AMI Semiconductor has renewed its partnership with MOSIS, a prototype and low volume production IC fabrication service, to participate in the MOSIS multi-project wafer program and education program. These programs provide access to wafers for IC development, semiconductor prototyping, and test chips as an inexpensive method to prove out silicon to small businesses, start-ups, educational facilities, and other MOSIS customers.

08/26/2005  August 26, 2005 - Total worldwide silicon wafer area shipments rebounded nearly 10% in 2Q05 to 1606 million square inches (MSI), nearly even with levels from a year ago, thanks to increasing demand for 300mm and 200mm wafers, according to SEMI's Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

08/26/2005  San Jose, Calif. — Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached $7.58 billion in Q2 2005, SEMI reports. Billings are 19% below Q1 2005 and 21% below Q2 2004's figure. The data is gathered together with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from more than 150 global equipment companies that provide monthly data.

08/24/2005  August 24, 2005 - Tokyo Seimitsu Co. has developed a special grinding and polishing procedure that can process silicon wafers down to a thickness of just 5 microns. The new technology opens the door on wafers that can bend like a piece of paper.

08/23/2005  August 23, 2005 - Mitsubishi Sumitomo Silicon Corp. (SUMCO), a wafermaking JV between Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., reportedly is considering filing an initial public offering later this worth about 100 billion yen (US$905 million), which would be Japan's second-biggest IPO.

08/23/2005  August 23, 2005 - Toshiba Corp. intends to raise its flash memory output to 150,000 units in terms of 300mm wafers in fiscal 2007, up 150% from the level to be reached next month, company sources said.

08/22/2005  August 22, 2005 - AMI Semiconductor Inc. has announced its intention to consolidate its European wafer fabrication operations to enhance operating efficiencies. The company intends to close its 4-inch wafer fabrication facility in Oudenaarde, Belgium, and consolidate operations into its existing 6-inch wafer fab, also located in Oudenaarde. The consolidation and closure of the 4-inch facility is expected to be completed by 1Q07.