07/17/2003  July 14, 2003 - Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany, has signed a multi-year agreement with Singapore foundry Chartered Semiconductor to provide volume manufacturing for Infineon's OptiMOS and CoolMOS power chips. Infineon's OptiMOS chips will be manufactured in Chartered's Fab 2 plant, where it is scheduled to be qualified by the end of 2003, with volume production planned for 2004.

07/17/2003  July 14, 2003 - ETEC Systems, Hayward, CA, has been awarded a three-year, $13.5 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop sub-45nm lithography systems.

07/17/2003  July 14, 2003 - Applied Materials and TSMC have entered into a joint development agreement to develop TSMC's copper chips on AMAT's SlimCell electrochemical plating system.

07/17/2003  Tokyo Electron Ltd. has released a new wafer test system for MEMS devices, according to a news release.

07/16/2003  (July 17, 2003) Asymtek Awarded Patents for Underfill Dispensing and Conformal Coating Techniques; BTU Debuts Integrated Line for Reflow Processing; Carsem Receives ISO/TS 16949:2002 Quality Management Systems Certification; Future Growth in Semiconductor Manufacturing will Rely on International Co-operation, Not Regional Rivalries; Camstar and Pilgrim Software Announce Partnership

07/15/2003  July 14--FRANKLIN, Mass.--Metrology will play an increasingly critical role in preventing molecular contamination of deep UV optics and resists in 193nm lithography, according to participants in Extraction Systems' recent Lithography Contamination Control and Monitoring Roadmap Workshop.

07/15/2003  July 14, 2003 - Sales of Japanese-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment are expected to rise 8.6% in fiscal 2003 to 931.3 billion yen ($7.9 billion), following a 2.9% drop in 2002, according to the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

07/11/2003  The following are press conferences and educational sessions that will be held at SEMICON West in San Jose, Calif. on July 16, 2003...

07/11/2003  July 11, 2003 - Worldwide semiconductor capital spending will return to positive growth in 2003, the first time in two years, according to Gartner Inc. Spending is forecast to total $29.9 billion in 2003, a 7.9% increase from last year, when capital spending shrunk by 38%. Spending for capital equipment, wafer fab equipment, and packaging and assembly equipment is all on pace for growth this year, after each saw revenue declines of over 20% in 2002.

07/11/2003  AmberWave Systems, Salem, NH, and ADE Corp., Westwood, MA, are joining forces to qualify ADE's line of inspection and metrology tools to measure strained silicon wafers.

07/11/2003  As silicon chip features get smaller, the cost of making the masks that print them is exploding. At 90 nanometers, the next step down for chip makers, a set of masks costs $1.5 million. At the step beyond that, 65 nanometers, those masks will probably cost about $4 million. And a single chip can use 20 or more masks. Mask makers are in hot pursuit of an "innovative" solution to the cost dilemma.

07/10/2003  July 9, 2003 - August Technology, Minneapolis, MN, a manufacturer of automated inspection equipment, has acquired Counterpoint Solutions Inc., Thornwood, NY, a developer of wafer inspection, review, and failure analysis systems. The acquisition adds to August's defect disposition and device development capabilities. The all-stock deal is valued at approximately $1.45 million.

07/10/2003  July 9, 2003 - Adept Technology, Livermore, CA, and MSP Corp., Minneapolis, MN, are combining technologies to create an improved wafer cleaning system. Under the deal, MSP will use Adept Technology's FFE wafer handling platform in its MSP 2300XP2 particle deposition tool. The coupling will give MSP customers "a solution that will improve their wafer cleaning system performance," said MSP president Benjamin Liu.

07/08/2003  JULY 8--SAN ANTONIO, Texas--Sony Electronics Inc. has named Philadelphia-based Binswanger/CBB as its exclusive agent for the sale of the company's high-tech manufacturing complex in San Antonio.

07/08/2003  July 8, 2003 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Hsinchu, Taiwan, said its 2Q revenues were up 27% to $1.45 billion, ahead of even the company's aggressive estimates in April.

07/08/2003  July 7, 2003 - The Tokyo-based Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET), a government-funded electronics research cooperative, says it has developed a way to fabricate high-performance masks for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.

07/08/2003  July 7, 2003 - Dainippon Screen and Nikon have agreed to co-develop next-generation photolithography processes for semiconductor fabrication. The two companies will work to share data between Dainippon's photoresist coater/developers and Nikon's steppers, and develop a control system to automatically adjust them for changes in process conditions, ultimately boosting production yields.

07/07/2003  July 7, 2003 - Three Chinese companies have committed to building an 8-in. wafer plant in Tsingdao, China, but are looking for help from foreign investors.

07/07/2003  July 7, 2003 - Waterloo, Ontario - Dalsa Corp., a foundry providing high-volume services in CMOS, high-voltage CMOS, CCD, and MEMS, has appointed Paul Van Bakel as its new CFO. He was formerly senior financial officer with Ledco Ld., and served in various financial positions with Dalsa from 1995 to 1999.

07/07/2003  July 7, 2003 - Samsung Electronics says it will complete a 300mm wafer line at its chip plant in Hwaseong, Korea by the end of this year, ahead of the initial deadline set for 2004, according to the Korea Herald.