08/07/2003  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded a $750,000 contract to NVE Corp. of Eden Prairie, Minn., for continued development of magnetic random access memory (MRAM), according to a news release.

08/05/2003  August 5, 2003 - Camtek, Migdal Haemek, Israel, a developer of optical inspection systems, has unveiled its Falcon system for inspecting wafers in the final manufacturing stages. The tool, which offers surface inspection and 3D metrology for wafers up to 300mm, is aimed at wafer-level in-line inspection processes at end-of-line, bumping, and packaging facilities. Camtek says it will install the first Falcon systems by the end of 2003.

08/05/2003  August 5, 2003 - Metron Technology, San Jose, CA, has added Mattson's 610 line of rapid thermal processing (RTP) systems for 6-in. wafer production to its semiconductor equipment portfolio. The company will manufacture and refurbish the systems at facilities in Scotland and Silicon Valley. Metron incorporated the 610 RTP business from Total Fab Solutions, based in Tempe, AZ.

08/05/2003  August 5, 2003 - Amkor Technology, Chandler, AZ, and United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. (UTAC), Singapore, will join forces to offer assembly and test products and services to wafer foundries and IDMs in China. Under the agreement, UTAC will locate its China test center within Amkor's factory in Shanghai.

08/05/2003  Gerd Binnig still recalls what it felt like in 1981 when he tested his technical innovations and saw atomic structures for the first time. “It was like a dream to discover all this,” said Binnig, a fellow at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory who shared a Nobel Prize in physics for designing the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and helped create the atomic force microscope (ATM). “It was like being for the first time on the moon.”

08/04/2003  August 4, 2003 - Nikon Semiconductor Inspection Technologies Group (SITECH) has unveiled a metrology tool designed for the 90nm node and below. The NRM-3100 is designd to measure lithographic exposure with enough bandwidth to accommodate the 70nm node, and boasts throughput of over 150 wafers per hour. Additional options include a focus mark measurement and stepper and angle management systems.

08/01/2003  August 1, 2003 - Hynix Semiconductor, Seoul, Korea, says it will immediately ramp up production of its new 500MHz 256Mbit DDR SDRAM chips, built on the company's 0.13-micron processes. The memory devices are targeted at gamers, who tend to require higher frequencies and faster performance than typical users, and will be priced 10% to 20% above DDR400 chips.

08/01/2003  August 1, 2003 - ARM, Cambridge, UK, says that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), Shanghai, China, has joined its foundry program and licensed its ARM7TDMI microprocessor core, adding to ARM's manufacturing support in the region.

08/01/2003  Copper physical vapor deposition (PVD) seeding and subsequent fill by electroplating has become the process of choice for microchip fabrication.

08/01/2003  The continuous push for cost reduction, increased functionality and performance, system compactness, and enhanced quality remain unabated in consumer, communications, defense and medical electronics.

08/01/2003  The quest for ever-cleaner operations has never been more focused, especially now that contamination control professionals are setting their sights on the molecular battlefield to combat airborne molecular contamination (AMC).

07/31/2003  July 31, 2003 - Royal Philips Electronics NV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (ASMC) have expanded their joint venture include a new $687 million semiconductor manufacturing facility, according to Dow Jones.

07/29/2003  July 29, 2003 – Veeco Instruments Inc., a Woodbury, N.Y.-based provider of metrology tools and process equipment, reported a $1.1 million net loss for the second quarter, or 4 cents per share, versus a $1.6 million net loss for the second quarter of 2002.

07/28/2003  If what they say about tool companies being necessary precursors to a successful nanotech industry, then JMAR Technologies Inc. is in the right spot. The San Diego-based company makes X-ray lithography steppers, which are motion control systems, for the microelectronics industry.

07/25/2003  July 25, 2003 - Despite tight capacity at both the 0.13-micron and 0.18-micron processes, wafer prices decreased 4.2% in 2Q03 following a 7.2% slide in 1Q, marking the eleventh consecutive quarter of declining prices, according to Semico Research.

07/24/2003  JULY 24--CAMARILLO, Calif.--Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. is closing its Colorado Springs, Colo., wafer fab because it was unable to find a buyer for the plant.

07/23/2003 

07/18/2003  July 18, 2003 - Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI), Nashua, NH, has unveiled two new tools for bumped wafer inspection, as well as a pair of tools to enhance its lead scanning systems.

07/18/2003  July 18, 2003 - Customers of both large and small wafer-processing companies gave kudos to a wide range of vendors, but overall rankings were lower than in previous years, according to a new report from VLSI. The ratings are calculated based on customer surveys in which suppliers were ranked on a ten-point scale, covering thirteen categories describing equipment performance and customer service.

07/18/2003  As tiny microphones built with small tech are getting ready to leap into mobile phones, hearing aids, personal digital assistants and MP3 players, there’s already some competition brewing. Akustica Inc. and Knowles Acoustics Inc., with Denmark’s SonionMEMS as a dark horse, are vying for market leadership in MEMS-made mikes.