12/26/2000  Bilthoven, The Netherlands--ASM America has entered into an exclusive agreement with Innovations for High Performance (IHP) Microelectronics, a German development center for semiconductor technology, to commercialize silicon germanium carbon (SiGe:C)epitaxy technology, a process initially developed by IHP.

12/26/2000  Tokyo, Japan--Toshiba Corp. and Munich, Germany-based Infineon Technologies AG have announced an agreement to develop nonvolatile memory technology and products based on the ferroelectric principle.

12/26/2000  Santa Clara, California--STMicroelectronics (ST) and Ovonyx, Inc. recently signed an agreement whereby ST will license from Ovonyx thin-film non-volatile semiconductor memory technology, and the two companies will establish a joint development program.

12/22/2000  Santa Clara, California--Alliance Semiconductor Corp. has reduced its revenue guidance for the fiscal third quarter (Q3) ended December 31, 2000, and now expects Q3 revenues to be flat or up 2% sequentially from the $64.5 million reported in the fiscal second quarter ended September 30, 2000. Prior revenue projections in October anticipated sequential quarterly revenue growth of over 20%.

12/22/2000  San Jose, California--North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted $2.74 billion in orders and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.12 during November 2000, reports Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) in its 'November 2000 Express Report.'

12/20/2000  Champaign, Illinois--University of Illinois (UI) researchers have fabricated silicon thin-film transistors--critical components of numerous sensor and display technologies--using soft lithographic block-printing techniques and polymer inks in place of photolithography.

12/20/2000  South Portland, Maine--Fairchild Semiconductor International, a global leader in multi-market semiconductors, today announced that through an equity investment the company has formed a technology relationship with North Carolina-based Silicon Wireless Corp. The exclusive relationship will enable Fairchild to co-develop, manufacture, and market RF power semiconductors, representing a new and significant market opportunity for the company.

12/20/2000  Phoenix, Arizona--ON Semiconductor recently announced the promotion of William Schromm to vice president and general manager of the Logic business group. Schromm reports to ON Semiconductor senior vice president and chief operating officer, Jim Thorburn.

12/20/2000  New Tripoli, Pennsylvania--The semiconductor industry's rush to build 300mm fabs for first silicon in 2002 will spur sales of 300mm processing tools to $11 billion in 2001, according to a recently published report, 'The Global Market for Equipment and Materials in IC Manufacturing,' by The Information Network, a New Tripoli, Pennsylvania-based market research company.

12/19/2000  Hsinchu, Taiwan--United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a leader in the semiconductor foundry industry, and Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP), a leader in photomask manufacturing, have announced the finalization of a multi-year agreement for UMC to secure advanced mask services from DNP. The agreement also includes a joint specification optimization effort for masks at the 0.10-micron generation, generally considered to be the next major milestone in semiconductor process technologies.

12/18/2000  Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania--GlobiTech Inc., the world's first dedicated CMOS epitaxial foundry, has selected Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. to supply industrial and specialty gases, equipment, and operating and maintenance services to its Sherman, Texas facility.

12/18/2000  Hsinchu, Taiwan--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced today that it has set what is believed to be an industry first by delivering 300mm wafers from its 300mm line in Taiwan to customers.

12/18/2000  Pasadena, California--Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Agere Systems, formerly known as the Microelectronics Group of Lucent Technologies, have developed a technique that could result in a new generation of reliable nanoscale memory chips. This research could lead to smaller, less expensive cellular phones and digital cameras.

12/18/2000  Bloomington, Minnesota--August Technology Corp., a supplier of inspection solutions to the microelectronics industry, today introduced a complete solution for automated inspection of 300mm wafers designed to meet the unique and challenging needs of 300mm processing.

12/18/2000  Santa Ana, California--Verteq has renewed its contract with IMEC, an independent microelectronics research center located in Leuven, Belgium, to continue collaboration on process development and optimization of the rotational Marangoni drying technique based on IMEC's patented technology (also known as Rotagoni).

12/18/2000  Sarawak, Malaysia--1st Silicon Sdn. Bhd. has secured US$93.75 million in financing from a diverse group of international financial institutions to purchase equipment for its 200mm wafer fab plant located in Kuching, in the Malaysian State of Sarawak.

12/15/2000  Singapore--United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), of Taiwan, plans to establish a 300mm wafer foundry company in Singapore's Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park with an investment of US$3.6 billion. Germany's Infineon Technologies AG will take a minority stake in the project, and the new company will operate as a subsidiary of UMC.

12/14/2000  San Jose, California--International SEMATECH's Advanced Technology Development Facility recently placed an order with Silicon Valley Group (SVG) for a Micrascan V, 193nm, very high numerical aperture step-and-scan lithography system to support development of 193nm technology for its member companies.

12/14/2000  San Jose, California--UMC, a leading semiconductor foundry, and Parthus Technologies PLC, a Dublin, Ireland-based developer of semiconductor intellectual property for the mobile Internet market, have announced an agreement that enables Parthus' customers to license its Bluetooth radio on UMC's CMOS process to power next-generation mobile Internet devices.

12/14/2000  Villach, Austria--The SEZ Group recently announced that a semiconductor industry applications development center is using its Spin-Process equipment to perform copper decontamination and pre-lithography cleans for customers seeking to integrate copper and low-k into their devices.