02/01/2000  Through the use of patented electroplating technology, Unitive Electronics has announced the ability to produce a wide array of bump sizes and pitches for wafer bumping. Bumps ranging from 20 to 800 µms reportedly can be generated, with densities as high as 20 µm bumps on a 50 µm pitch. The process is based on patented Intermetallic Compound Patterning wafer bumping technology, which uses certain metals in the under-bump metallurgy to form intermetallic compounds with liquid solde

02/01/2000  Based on the Windows CE operating system for embedded control applications, NetSight provides users with a fully programmable, mmx scaleable, high-performance and deterministic extension (or alternative) to host-based vision procession. Configurable with self-boot or remote-boot capability, the product can be used as a stand alone or network-ready device. In its self-contained, small footprint, OEM-style enclosure with 16-bit digital I/O for monitoring and controlling discrete processes, the pro

02/01/2000  NEWBURY, OHIO -The STMicroelectronics (Phoenix, Ariz.) wafer fab has begun operation of an integrated wastewater recycling system designed and built by Kinetico Inc. (Newbury, Ohio). The system uses propritary recycling technology and is believed to be the first integrated water recycling system installed in the U.S. semiconductor industry for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), metal, oxide and backgrinding process wastewater.

02/01/2000  SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Tru-Si Technologies Inc., a leader in atmospheric downstream plas- ma (ADP) processing for vertical miniaturization solutions, has announced a breakthrough overcoming the challenges that threaten Moore`s Law. Using its ADP etching process, the company has discovered a method of successfully stacking multiple chips by stacking wafers containing dif- ferent circuit functions, such as memory, logic, analog and digital. This technology, which maintains the economies of scale inhe

01/28/2000  NEC is again moving aggressively in the DRAM market, and said it will triple investments this year in its wholly owned DRAM subsidiary, NEC Hiroshima, in Higashi-Hiroshima.

01/24/2000  With the announcement that Numerical Technologies (NumeriTech) is licensing several of its subwavelength design-to-manufacturing products to Cadence Design, an EDA vendor, industry observers are speculating that the alliance will square off against a similar corporate pairing between ASML MaskTools and Mentor Graphics.

01/20/2000  DRAM supplier Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp., Hsinchu, Taiwan, said it will transition its memory business to a foundry model by the end of the year.

01/19/2000  Logging another quarter of strong growth, Novellus Systems, San Jose, CA, said its fourth quarter revenues climbed 81% over year-ago levels to a record $191.7 million. Net income in the quarter totaled $33 million (27 cents/share), up 305% from the end of 1998.

01/10/2000  The success of the 1999 DRAM market was key to the semiconductor industry's revenue topping $160 billion, according to preliminary results of a Dataquest survey.

01/05/2000  In a move that will allow it to bolster offerings with integrated metrology capabilities, ASM International N.V., Bilthoven, The Netherlands, has purchased a 24% interest in NanoPhotonics AG, a Mainz, Germany, maker of precision thin film metrology tooling. The firm also plans to deliver its first 300mm vertical furnace equipped with integrated metrology early this year.

01/04/2000  Semiconductor manufacturers are popping the New Year's champagne for another reason this week. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced the industry's highest ever global sales figure: $14.2 billion for November.

01/04/2000  Following the sale of its real estate and shoe division, Oerlikon-Buhrle Holding AG (OBH) is focused on cutting a path for itself in the semiconductor industry and hopes that its newest acquisition of Plasma-Therm, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, will lead the way.

01/01/2000  To achieve maximum wafer dicing process yield and productivity, there is an integral need for greater accuracy and new control capabilities.

01/01/2000  Tohoku Semiconductor Corp. (TSC), a unit of Toshiba, has been purchased by Motorola Inc. TSC is a wafer manufacturer based in Sendai, Japan, that has had a 12-year relationship with its new owner but is also credited with expanding Toshiba`s logic and microcomputer LSI business (flash-embedded microcontroller units and digital signal processors). Motorola will now run TSC as a part of its manufacturing network, which includes other semiconductor operations in the Sendai area.

11/11/1999  Taiwan's top two foundries are planning to invest a total of more than $4.6 billion on the island next year to upgrade and build a several fabs, including two 300mm facilities.

11/10/1999  Oerlikon-Buhrle Holding AG, the parent company of Balzers Process Systems, said it is acquiring a 27% stake in ESEC, Cham, Switzerland, and has plans to ultimately takeover the back-end toolmaker's operations.

11/09/1999  Under a temporary NASDAQ symbol of "CHRTV", Singapore foundry Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing launched its initial public offering (IPO) of 250,000,000 shares on October 29, 1999.

11/09/1999  In an unexpected move, the head of Taiwan's Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park (HSIP) -- the island's chipmaking hub -- will leave the general director's post next month.

11/03/1999  It was business as usual in the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park -- Taiwan's chipmaking hub -- after another earthquake rocked the region early Nov. 2.

11/02/1999  Advantest, Hitachi, and Japanese R&D consortia are developing cell-projection e-beam lithography, whereas US manufacturers are emphasizing EUV and SCALPEL, both of which require potentially expensive masks.