03/14/2005  (March 14, 2005) San Jose, Calif. — SEMI reports that worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $37.08 billion in 2004, representing a year-over-year increase of 67.1%. The data is available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report, now available from SEMI.

03/11/2005  March 11, 2005 -- Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $37.08 billion in 2004, representing a year-over-year increase of 67.1%, said SEMI in its Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report.

03/11/2005  March 11, 2005 - The worldwide market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment expanded by nearly two-thirds in 2004, its second-highest performance ever behind the historic year 2000, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

03/10/2005  March 10, 2005 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), PowerChip Semiconductor Corp. (PSC), and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VISC) are planning to spend over NT$300 billion (US$9.6 billion) on expansions at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSBIP) in northern Taiwan, said Financial Times Information Ltd. The three Taiwanese chipmakers will build a total of five 300mm wafer fabs.

03/10/2005 

03/09/2005 

03/07/2005  March 7, 2005 - Mitsubishi Materials Corp. plans to more than double its production capacity for CMP (chemical-mechanical polishing) conditioners, a type of polishing tool used in the semiconductor industry, according to Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.

03/03/2005  March 3, 2005 - Gordon E. Moore, the chemical engineer who in 1968 co-founded Intel, spearheading decades of technological research and developments that made the company a leader in semiconductor manufacturing and technology, has been named the Marconi Society's 2005 Lifetime Achievement recipient. The award will be presented on November 4, at the annual Marconi Society awards dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

03/01/2005  (March 1, 2005) Chaska, Minn. — Entegris announces that they have signed a license patent agreement with one of its three Japanese competitors in the wafer-carrier market. The agreement includes royalty payments to Entegris for past and future shipments of 300-mm wafer carriers by the Japanese company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, nor was the Japanese company identified.

03/01/2005  Having been involved in the iNEMI roadmaps, recent workshops organized by the NNI, SRC and NSF, and discussions with semiconductor and packaging folk, it’s apparent that the semiconductor folks have figured out what’s going to happen in the next 10 years.

03/01/2005  There are dreamers and schemers, but rarely are both qualities so evident as in the world of advanced packaging.

03/01/2005  Engineers, lab planners and scientists developed unique lab layouts with groundbreaking temperature and vibration controls

03/01/2005  The Art & Science of Wafer Dicing

03/01/2005  New contamination control processes on the horizon?

03/01/2005  Semi tester makes move to Class 10,000 environment The move from Sunnyvale to San Jose has also meant a new name for InTEST's TestDesign division: InTEST Silicon Valley Corp. Corporate headquarters are in Cherry Hill, N.J.

03/01/2005  FREMONT, Calif.-Two recently introduced, hands-free process optimization tools for semiconductor fabrication measure real-time, in situ temperature in solder reflow applications.

02/28/2005 

02/24/2005  (February 24, 2005) Nashua, N.H. — On the evening of February 22, 2005, SMT Magazine presented its 2004 VISION Awards at the Hilton Anaheim's Pulse Room. Held annually in conjunction with the APEX/IPC Printed Circuits Expo/Designers Summit show, in Anaheim, Calif., the awards were presented in 15 categories.

02/24/2005  February 24, 2005 - Wafer fab capacity inched up 0.8% from 4Q04 to 1466.4 million wafer starts/week in 1Q05, a 9.4% increase from a year ago, according to industry data released by the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) in Vessem, The Netherlands.

02/23/2005  February 23, 2005 - For manufacturers of semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, January is typically a slow period, sandwiched between the Christmas holiday season and Asia's Lunar New Year -- and January 2005 was no different.