04/01/2002  There has been much progress in the past year on wafer thinning, with portable electronics providing the driving force for thin die

04/01/2002  A common topic of discussion on these pages and in the industry as a whole is the convergence of wafer processing and packaging technology

04/01/2002  For some time now we've been concerned about energy conservation in semiconductor manufacturing cleanrooms. Papers have been written, seminars have been conducted, consultants have proliferated and engineers have gone back to drawing boards where they've produced solutions-some quite innovative and others rather exotic

04/01/2002  Hsinchu, Taiwan - United Microlectronics Corp. (UMC) announced today that effective April 1st, Robert Tsao will no longer serve as the company CEO. The position will be taken over by Vice Chairman John Hsuan, while Tsao will continue to serve as chairman for the company.

03/29/2002  Ottawa, Canada - Zarlink Semiconductor announced the sale of its wafer fab in Plymouth, UK, as well as IP and related foundry businesses, to companies controlled by X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG of Erfurt, Germany for US$30 million, represented by US$12 million in cash on closing and a secured note of US$18 million repayable over three years.

03/29/2002  Taipei, Taiwan - The Taiwanese government has relaxed a ban on fab investment on the mainland, according to reports from the Associated Press.

03/29/2002  March 29, 2002 --Taiwan -- In a late night speech, Taiwan's Premier Yu Shyi-kun said Taiwan companies that want to do business in China will be "allowed to produce less-advanced computer chips in China if they move on to make more sophisticated products in Taiwan," according to Taiwan AP.

03/26/2002  March 26, 2002 - Taiwan - US export laws may play a small role in the controversy surrounding plans to allow Taiwan's semiconductor companies to expand into mainland China.

03/25/2002  March 25, 2002 - Singapore and San Jose, CA - Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing are working together to help the mixed-signal market reduce cycle times on designs with new Chartered foundry process design kits (PDKs).

03/25/2002  KLA-Tencor has unveiled a new set of automated tools for process window construction and analysis. The Process Window Monitor series automates the construction of process windows based on focus exposure matrices analyzed using KLA-Tencor CD or optical CD metrology tools.

03/22/2002  Teradyne Inc., Boston, MA, has introduced what it calls the "next step" in high-volume, high-mix IC test evolution: the Integra FLEX.

03/21/2002  March 21, 2002 -- Shanghai, China -- M+W Zander, a Jenoptik subsidiary, has received a follow-on order from China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to engineer and construct a cleanroom.

03/21/2002  Nanometrics, a company with a long history in film metrology, has introduced an optical CD metrology tool for the sub-130nm market that has made libraries of templates superfluous.

03/21/2002  March 21, 2002 - Santa Clara, CA - Applied Materials Inc. has unveiled a new Process Module Technology Center, a facility for semiconductor process technology development.

03/19/2002  For the most part, 4Q was a painful quarter to cap off what's largely been a painful year. Several companies, however, stood out for one simple fact: Their revenue actually increased from 4Q00 to 4Q01. FEI Co., PDF Solutions Inc., and Numerical Technologies Inc. all saw increases in revenue. Brewer Science doesn't release statements, but the firm said numbers released for the last quarter show overall sales revenue increased by 38% in 2001.

03/19/2002  March 19, 2002 - El Segundo, CA - International Rectifier Corp. (IR) has acquired the assets of European Semiconductor Manufacturing and its sub-micron semiconductor manufacturing facility in Newport, Wales, to further support the growth in IR's proprietary products.

03/19/2002  March 19, 2002 - Newport Beach, CA & Washington, DC -- Conexant Systems, Inc. and The Carlyle Group have signed a definitive agreement to establish an ISO-9000 certified wafer fab, which will have 100,000 square feet of ISO Class 3 cleanroom space.

03/15/2002  Researchers at Intel Corp., Santa Clara, CA, have reportedly built the world's smallest SRAM memory cell, measuring only one square micron.

03/14/2002  Taiwan - The world's two largest foundries - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp. - said increasing chip demand may lead them to expand capex plans for 2002.

03/13/2002  March 13, 2002 - Newport Beach, CA, and Washington - Conexant Systems Inc. and The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, have completed the transaction to form a new specialty foundry company.