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By Tom Cheyney, Small Times Senior Contributing Editor

May 31, 2007 — A particularly compelling discussion among panelists from industry and academia at the NSTI Nanotech 2007 conference (May 21 – 24 in Santa Clara, Calif.) examined technical barriers to — and recent advancements in — nanomanufacturing. The frank exchange centered on successful integration of nanoelements with micro/nano structures and devices, and challenges to scaling up nanotech products to commercial volumes.

Several panelists emphasized the importance of drawing on the know-how of other industries, especially the semiconductor-manufacturing sector, to accelerate nanoproducts’ progress into production and the marketplace. Pointing to the chipmaking industry as “a good model to use,” MEMS industry consultant Roger Grace declared, “We need to learn from past experiences, we have to build on what we know.”
The creation and implementation of industry standards, support of R&D efforts, roadmapping, and establishment of a dedicated equipment, metrology, and packaging supplier infrastructure were among the lessons that nanomanufacturers could learn from the semiconductor community, according to Grace.

“The semiconductor model is the only one that will work for nanotechnology, with the exception of self-assembly,” said Brent Segal, COO/cofounder of Nantero. “Nanotechnology is mostly physical chemistry,” adding later that “the enemy of semiconductors is dirt. Even with the diversity of nanotechnologies, contamination control and reliability remain issues.” He mentioned that Nantero has successfully integrated its carbon nanotube-enabled NRAM devices into CMOS process flows in the Gresham, OR, chip fab operated by its partner (originally LSI Logic, now ON Semiconductor), without adding any new tools to the production line.

“How do you organize nanowires on a substrate?” asked Loucas Tsakalakos, staff scientist with GE Global Research. He reiterated the importance of understanding the controlled synthesis of “ordered nanostructures” and other fundamentals, citing materials incompatibility, alignment and positioning (vertically and horizontally), arbitrary patterns, and other technical challenges to “heterogeneous, multiscale materials and device” integration and manufacturability.

Several panelists identified metrology equipment as a “key bottleneck for advancing nanotechnology,” offering their views of specific tools and methods that have room for improvement.

Tsakalakos said that contact resistance needs to more accurately and repeatably measure nanowires, in order to determine their actual properties. Nantero’s Segal noted the challenge of measuring grain boundaries and other small structures of importance in “molecular-scale engineering.” Ahmed Busnaina, panel moderator and director of the NSF Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN) at Northeastern University, would welcome techniques and tools for in situ, fast measurement of defects and other anomalies over large areas, but “doesn’t see a good solution on the horizon.”

Busnaina and fellow professor Harry Stephanou of the University of Texas (Arlington) pointed out the great variety of applications and materials — and their relative immaturity — in the nano realm as well as the fragmentation of the micro/nano markets.

Stephanou urged “universities to do more than just research,” chiding higher-education institutions for the “lack of evolution in PhD programs” in the area of entrepreneurial skills. He also cited the “difficulties of having standard tools” and with the tools themselves, which makes it “less clear to know how to set up a [nano] fab,” as well as the complexities of “establishing a packaging infrastructure” because of the inherent diversity of nanotechnologies and materials.

Busnaina agreed that there is common ground between semiconductors and emerging nanoelectronics devices, but said the nanomaterials side has some key differences with the chip world, noting that specific applications have a great impact on how to develop and determine processes.

He said CHN tries to “bridge the gap between scientific research and the creation of commercial products” with the implementation of “processes and tools that will enable high-rate, high-volume, bottom-up precision manufacturing.” Part of the center’s nanoprocess standardization efforts focuses on the creation and development of what Busnaina calls “nanotemplates,” which will facilitate “guided self-assembly of nanoelements,” such as single-walled carbon nanotubes and polymers.

May 31, 2007 — In a just-released update to its MEMS Foundry Ranking, the highly respected French market research firm Yole Developpement reports that global MEMS foundry and contract manufacturing grew at a rate of 35% in 2006 — and the firm predicts similar growth for the next 3 years. The top 10 MEMS foundries/contract manufacturers reached cumulative sales of $157m in 2006, up from $120m in 2005, the study reveals.

“The MEMS foundry activities are just starting. While the MEMS foundry business accounts for a limited part of the global MEMS business today, these companies are at the very heart of the next MEMS developments,” says Jean Christophe Eloy, managing director and founder at Yole.

Worldwide, more than 30 companies based in various countries (US, Japan, Sweden, Canada, and France) are involved in MEMS foundry or contract manufacturing, the report says. And unlike the very integrated IC foundry business, where the four top players (TSMC, UMC, Chartered Semiconductor, and SMIC) have a cumulative market share of 84% (2006 results), in the MEMS realm roughly the same total market share is distributed among 10 foundries.

The findings corroborate some of what the recent rankings by WTC put forth, but differs in some key respects. For instance, Yole places Sony in the #2 position under IMT, which is now roundly acknowledged as the top dedicated MEMS producer in the world. And, Yole’s study includes in its top 10 list some foundries (ELMOS SMI and Memestech) not mentioned by WTC.

Yole ranks top producing MEMS foundries in this order:
1 IMT
2 Sony
3 APM
4 Micralyne
5 DALSA Semiconductor
6 ELMOS SMI
7 Memstech
8 Colibrys
9 Silex
10 Memscap
11 Tronic’s Microsystems

May 30, 2007 — Microfluidics Corp. of Newton, Mass., has unveiled standardized packages for its line of M-700 Microfluidizer materials processing machines, which produce nanoparticles. Designed specifically for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, the packages promise superior results for pilot and production applications.

The processors are available in three different packages: Basic, Enhanced, and Aseptic. All three are available with a constant pressure option, which ensures that the product flows at constant pressure and velocity through the interaction chambers. Constant pressure is proven to eliminate pressure spikes, providing extremely uniform processing and permitting the system to operate more quietly and efficiently.

The processors can be used in FDA certified pharmaceutical production, and meet the standards such as cGMP 21 CFR.

The Enhanced and Aseptic versions feature a Yokogawa data acquisition (DAQ) station for continuous temperature, pressure and flow monitoring. The DAQ station promise easy and cost-effective recording and printing of digital testing data. All three packages include wash-down capabilities, and the Aseptic version offers additional Steam-in-Place (SIP) features that thoroughly clean and sanitize the system between batches or before storage.

by Barbara G. Goode, Small Times staff

May 30, 2007 — SVTC Technologies of San Jose, Calif., a process development foundry for established and start-up semiconductor companies, has unveiled a strategic technology incubation program with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry. The deal aims to streamline the transfer of designs from SVTC’s fab to high-volume manufacturing.

“This strategic alliance expands the TSMC ecosystem to enable more innovations by allowing companies, especially those who need special equipment, to develop products at SVTC and transfer accepted business smoothly to TSMC manufacturing,” said Ken Chen, Director of Mainstream Technology Marketing at TSMC.

In March 2007, SVTC spun out from Cypress Semiconductor Corp., and more recently announced its FastXfer Commercialization Services. “The TSMC agreement validates our business model,” Scott Marquardt — SVTC’s new VP of sales, marketing, and strategic business development — told Small Times.

“There are more and more applications in the semiconductor industry being developed which use novel structures and new materials,” stated Dave Bergeron, SVTC Technologies’ CEO. “SVTC is uniquely placed in the emerging value chain to help semiconductor development teams from both fabless and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) to fully develop their new concepts before taking them into volume production.”

SVTC works to make its services “IP secure” and claims fast turnaround of small lots as a hallmark. “We specialize in production of small lots quickly,” Marquardt noted. And the company is unusual in offering MEMS and CMOS integration on six-inch wafers — although Marquardt is quick to point out that SVTC is not positioning itself as “MEMS centric” and is “not purely CMOS.”

In addition to the TSMC partnership, SVTC announced that it has beefed up its executive-management team with three new vice presidents. Marquardt is among them, having come to SVTC from his former post as senior VP of Asia Pacific sales and marketing for NXP Semiconductors. Lee Dinneen, previously CFO at PerkinElmer Optoelectronics, is now VP and CFO; and Tricia White, formerly of Applied Materials, is SVTC’s VP of human resources.

May 30, 2007 — Cascade Microtech says its new Tesla power-device characterization system is unlike any other product in that it “solves the on-wafer probing challenges for engineers and test technicians who need to characterize their power devices.”

The broad use of power semiconductors has created a pressing need to characterize devices quickly and efficiently. Tesla aims to drive gains in productivity, claiming to be the industry’s first power device measurement system providing a complete on-wafer solution for over- temperature, low contact resistance measurements up to 60A and 3000V.

“The Tesla power device measurement system will reduce costs by eliminating the hassles of packaging devices before we characterize them,” said Edouard de Fresart, power device section manager, SMARTMOS Technology Center, Freescale Semiconductor. “It will have a huge effect on our productivity by reducing the wasted time and steps we incur in packaging while still providing accurate test data.”

A high current probe reduces the potential for probe and device destruction during testing. It can support 10A of current in continuous mode and up to 60A of current in pulsed mode, and is designed to minimize contact resistance at the wafer-to-probe interface.
A high voltage probe promises to make coaxial measurements up to 3000V and triaxial measurements up to 1100V. In addition, both the high current and the high voltage probes feature a replaceable tip that is easily changed.

Further, the system’s wafer chuck promises state-of-the-art handling for thin wafers: The right amount of vacuum in a delicate method that protects against wafer breakage and probe damage, with minimal contact resistance.

by Rich Acello, Small Times Contributing Editor

May 29, 2007 — Once initiated at the drop of a plausible idea, initial public offerings have been in serious decline since the turn-of-the-century dotcom bust. As institutional investors have raised the bar for entry into public markets, start ups have increasingly relied on alternative exit strategies. The passage of the Sarbanes Oxley corporate reporting requirements has taken some of the luster off the IPO as well.

Thus, when NanoDynamics Inc. of Buffalo, N.Y., filed papers to raise a $100 million in an IPO on May 4, eyebrows were also raised. Some experts see the NanoDynamics move as a harbinger of IPOs to come.

“We’re just at the beginning of a curve,” says Lawrence Gasman, principal analyst for nanomarkets.net of Glen Allen, Virginia. “High tech finance is back in fashion, so don’t be surprised if there are others like this.”

The number of shares and pricing of the NanoDynamics IPO hasn’t yet been determined. NanoDynamics plans to use proceeds from the stock sale to fund expansion of its manufacturing capabilities for clean energy products from fuel cells to water filtering technology.

Earlier this year, the company said it had developed a silver nanoparticle 20 nanometers in diameter that has “great potential” in retarding the growth of bacteria, mold, and harmful spores such as anthrax.

NanoDynamics has also entered a partnershsip with Ames Goldsmith Corp., a leading supplier of silver products to the electronics industry, to commercialize silver nanomaterials.

Calls to company executives were not returned, which is not unusual after the filing of an IPO, generally considered a “quiet period,” but Gasman says NanoDynamics’ products are developing in potentially lucrative niche areas.

“The fuel cell product could increase the efficiency of fuel cells which haven’t really taken off,” Gasman says. “But eventually the relative economics of fuel cells makes it a more attractive (product niche). The IPO should certainly get them into commercial operation.”

About 155 companies went public in 2006, down from about 161 in 2005, according to Jay Ritter, professor of finance at the University of Florida.

Scott Stanton, a partner at Morrison Foerster in San Diego who handles IPOs, says the crop of companies going public now is stronger than in the past.

“And with the (stock) market at an all-time high, valuations are getting attractive,” Stanton says.

Filing for an IPO doesn’t mean that one will take place. A company that files an IPO may actually be fishing for a better deal. “They might file to go public in an effort to use that as a stalking horse to drive an M&A (mergers and acquisitions) process,” Stanton explains. “Some companies go public because they can’t find a buyer.”

Another factor that could put a damper on a new round of IPO fever is Sarbanes Oxley, with its rigorous reporting requirements enacted the wake of the Enron scandals.

“Some companies that might be able to go public don’t want to go public,” Stanton says. “It’s a real factor. Some entrepreneurs would just rather start a new company.”

Gasman says the NanoDyanamics filing could be the sign of renewed interest on the part of investors following the Nanosys pull out in 2005.

“Nanosys was going to be next Netscape, that some expected to launch a boom, the way Netscape helped launch the Internet boom,” Gasman says. “After Nanosys pulled out, some the interest declined, but interest comes in waves, and maybe we’re coming back now.”

May 29, 2007 — NanoLogix, Inc. has filed a total of five patents (two U.S., two provisional U.S. and one international) for its BioNanoChannel technology for rapid bacterial detection and identification. This approach allows for the identification of bacteria strains in minutes to hours instead of one or more days for conventional methods.

The BioNanoChannel technology use 2- to 25-micron channels to trap bacteria and then applies proprietary NanoLogix techniques covered in the patent applications to detect and or identify bacteria in extremely small concentrations down to a single cell. The technology is reportedly simple and user-friendly, and doesn’t require sophisticated optoelectronic equipment — and is applicable to a large number of different liquid, solid, and bioaerosol samples.

One advantage the BioNanoChannel has over competing technologies such as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is its ability to determine whether the spores or cells are still alive, which is critical for decontamination.

NanoLogix is currently finalizing the tooling for the first production run of the BioNanoChannel device. The apparatus, excluding a microscope, can be held in one’s hand. In addition to medical applications, there are similar needs in the food industry and biodefense for rapid bacteria detection and ID.

by Barbara Goode, Small Times’ staff

May 29, 2007 — The NSTI Nanotech 2007 show, held May 21 – 24 in Santa Clara, Calif., co-located with Cleantech 2007, a multi-disciplinary and multi-sector event focused on global sustainability through technology and clean business practices. Cleantech’s opening keynote included a presentation by Henry A. Courtright of Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), who told the audience that the power industry is “moving from physical solutions into nanotechnology area.”

The clean/green theme was evident in both the exposition and the conference.

In the exhibit hall, NanoDynamics (which recently announced its intent to go public) had displays in both the Nanotech and Cleantech areas. NanoDynamics works to find practical applications for nanotechnologies, as was illustrated by its distribution of a paper titled, Promise of Nanomaterials for Water Cleanup.

The government of Australia was on hand to promote its nanotechnology companies, including Dyesol Ltd., which is reportedly the world’s hub for industrial research into dye solar cell (DSC) technology. DSC uses nanotech to mimic photosynthesis in plants.

Other Nanotech exhibitors promoted products and services that just so happen to have “green” implications. For instance, Specialty Coating Systems’ ultra thin, pinhole-free conformal Paralyne coatings are completely biocompatible (and RoHs compliant).

The conference featured a number of presentations along similar lines, including Nanoexa’s talk on Batteries and Clean Cars.

May 25, 2007 — Microvision Inc., developer of ultra-miniature projection display and image capture products for mobile applications, has announced new advancements to its PicoP display system. The advancements were made in collaboration with several of Microvision’s high-volume manufacturing and key component supply chain partners.

The company’s newly developed wide-angle MEMS scanner enables nearly twice the projection angle compared to earlier versions, creating images with a viewable area approximately four times as large as images created by its predecessors, while still maintaining its small and sleek form factor. A prototype based on it delivers WVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels) in a 16:9 aspect ratio, thereby providing a DVD-quality view from a package that is expected to be only 7 mm thick.

“We learned a great deal about the potential usage models for PicoP based projectors after polling our customers through direct user focused studies,” stated Alexander Tokman, President and CEO of Microvision.

PicoP is an ultra-miniature projector capable of producing large, high contrast, color rich, high resolution images. It is expected to be small and low-power enough to be embedded directly into mobile devices, such as cell phones. Its “infinite focus” operation naturally lends itself to mobile applications. Other potential display applications include tiny projectors for laptops, DVD players and digital cameras. The company is also seeking to leverage the PicoP into automotive and aerospace head-up displays, as well as full-color displays designed as fashionable eyewear.

May 25, 2007– The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) has formed a new coalition for start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SME) developing and manufacturing nanoscale materials.

The Nanotech SME Coalition was created to inform and provide SME perspective to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the health, safety, and environmental aspects of nanotechnology. It is open to all companies, regardless of whether they are SOCMA members.

The coalition’s goals are:
+ Promote a positive public perception of nanotech
+ Advocate the needs and interests of start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises
+ Establish consistency and accuracy in developing standards, definitions and nomenclature
+ Secure fair treatment in trade
+ Share best practices

“Nanotechnology is a segment of the industry that is on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. With the change in attitudes in Washington, it is even more important that companies seeking to create a nanotechnology business interface with the regulatory agencies,” said SOCMA President Joe Acker.

The coalition recently met with EPA officials to learn the EPA’s initiatives for nanoscale materials. The EPA recognized the coalition as a resource for information and expertise. As EPA moves forward, the coalition agrees to provide input to the agency as it develops guidelines, definitions, and consistent standards.

Interested companies should contact Tucker Helmes of the SOCMA Visions Department.