Issue

KLA-Tencor has debuted an automated inspection system for substrates and epitaxial wafers used in high-brightness LED (HB-LED) manufacturing.

The 2010 Update to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) was released in late December.

TSMC chief exec Morris Chang had some surprisingly candid and bullish projections about a 450mm wafer-size transition during the company's recent 4Q10 quarterly results call

Strain and high-k/metal gates have been used to answer near-term scaling challenges. A consistent theme has been the introduction of new materials, and this will only expand in future nodes as strain techniques lose their effectiveness due to shrinking dimensions and technologists look to integrations more advanced than conventional planar FETs. Bill Taylor, Chris Hobbs, SEMATECH, Albany NY, USA

Picosecond ultrasonic technology can be used during various stages of process development, integration, and volume manufacturing for monitoring the HKMG stack; this information can be used to characterize the process, and optimize deposition and CMP processes. J. Dai, P. Mukundhan, J. Chen, J. Tan, Rudolph Technologies, Flanders, NJ USA; D.B. Hsieh, T.C. Tsai, 1-United Microelectronics Corp., Tainan, Taiwan

Using implant as a precision material modification in contrast to its traditional role as a semiconductor dopant tool, provides enabling technology and new applications. James L. Kawski, Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Gloucester, MA USA

Kenneth A Ramsey, Executive Vice President, MCT Worldwide, LLC, Minneapolis, MN USA