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Dec. 15, 2006 — Nanoscience Instruments of Phoenix announced the release of the Nanosurf Nanite automated AFM, a new easy to use AFM designed to provide true walk away time.

The Nanite’s batch programming, scripting capability and motorized X/Y/Z stage make it possible for users to prepare a series of routine measurements and leave the microscope to measure on its own — whether a process requires nanoscale measurements at random points on a large surface, or on multiple samples in a reproducible location.

The compact Nanite is made by Swiss-based Nanosurf AG and is designed for use in a variety of nanoscale surface analysis applications ranging from coatings, polymers, fabrics, and fibers to semiconductors, wafers, optical and holographic surfaces, and data storage.

The company says it also has many benefits that facilitate AFM experiments. For example, the process of mounting an AFM probe is both quick and easy. The Nanite also features pre-aligned optics – which completely eliminates the need to manually align the laser and detector. To help simplify the task of positioning the AFM probe on the sample surface, the Nanite incorporates an on-board video camera which observes the AFM probe and sample from above and also from the side.

The Nanite is designed with a compact, removable scanner that incorporates a highly accurate, quick-release mount for easy adaptation to other surface analysis instruments. The patented electromagnetic scanner is intended to guarantee precise and highly linear movement for reliable quality control measurements and statistical analysis. Additionally, the Nanite’s integrated Nanosurf Report software auto-generates professional reports for quick, efficient evaluation and comparison of roughness, particle count and size distribution, and step heights.

Dec. 15, 2006 — Entrepix Inc., a Tempe, Ariz., provider of CMP foundry and equipment services, announced the signing of a CMP FastForward volume pricing agreement with a leading aerospace defense contractor.

The company says the agreement demonstrates the increasing acceptance of Entrepix’ CMP FastForward portfolio by the integrated device, sensor and MEMS manufacturing markets.

Under the agreement Entrepix will integrate CMP into the customer’s manufacturing flow to support its volume production of advanced infrared and optical sensor systems. The CMP FastForward VPA is intended to allow the aerospace contractor to leverage Entrepix’ complementary foundry and equipment expertise to optimize financial and technological benefits.

Dec. 15, 2006 — EV Group (EVG), a St. Florian, Austria supplier of wafer-bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets and Sawatec, a manufacturer of advanced components and manual loaded instruments for photolithography, have signed a reseller agreement.

The agreement enables EVG to offer selected Sawatec instruments to their customers in combination with EVG equipment. Qualified EVG field service engineers are specially trained on Sawatec products and will service the Sawatec products sold by EV Group. Sawatec supplies instruments for spin/spray-coaters, hot/cool-plates, spray developers and drying spinners.

Dec. 15, 2006 — austriamicrosystems‘ foundry business unit announced a 50V High-Voltage CMOS process with embedded Flash. The company says this is the consequent next step in extending austriamicrosystems’ position in High-Voltage CMOS technology.

The new Flash process technology is, as the High-Voltage CMOS technology, a modular extension of austriamicrosystems’ 0.35um CMOS process. 100 percent compatibility to the base process allows re-use of IP Blocks and adding Flash memory to it on a single chip. The High-Voltage CMOS process is eminently suited for harsh environment, making it ideal for designs in power management, automotive or medical applications.

“Offering the first 50V 0.35um High-Voltage CMOS process technology with embedded Flash clearly strengthens our leading position in the High Voltage arena and as a foundry service supplier,” said Peter Gasteiner, senior vice president and general manager, in a prepared statement. “We are very pleased to offer our customers an excellent HV-CMOS Flash technology which is highly reliable and robust, and offers the unique feature of several voltage levels on the same chip. This gives clients an enormous competitive advantage for their products in applications like power management, automotive, medical or for MEMS controller.”

Dec. 11, 2006 — WiSpry Inc., an Irvine, Calif., company developing RF MEMS tunable components and devices for the wireless industry, announced the appointment of Scott Feltenberg and Collin Baker to its executive team. Feltenberg joins WiSpry as vice president of finance and Baker joins WiSpry as vice president of customer engineering.

Feltenberg is a 20 plus year veteran in high technology finance and accounting, including experience at foundry and fabless semiconductor companies. Prior to joining WiSpry, Feltenberg served in various financial management and controllership positions at Jazz Semiconductor, Emulex, QLogic and Stanford Applied Engineering. Feltenberg is a certified public accountant.

Baker comes to WiSpry with over 25 years of semiconductor experience with leading-edge System-on-Chip, microprocessor, and mixed-signal chip development companies. He has held various engineering, management and project director roles at LSI Logic and Rockwell Semiconductor (Conexant), including director of North American Design Centers, director of Mint Technology Design Services (an LSI Logic subsidiary) and senior director of RapidChip Structured Array platform product development.

Baker has managed the tape out of hundreds of ASIC devices covering the consumer, storage, computation and military market segments, with a total device revenue base in the billions of dollars. He received his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.

By Jo McIntyre
Contributing Editor

Dec. 11, 2006 — Larry Bock has resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Nanosys Inc., a nanotechnology platform and product development company working in a variety of industries, including developing military-related applications using nanomaterials for use in biosensors, solar cells and memory devices.

The company’s board and managers learned about Bock’s resignation on Thursday, but managed to keep a lid on the news until they had contacted their investors.

Bock “decided not to return to Nanosys for personal reasons,” said Nanosys CFO Peter Garcia, who spoke in a phone interview Sunday night from his home in California. He said Bock began a leave of absence in August in order to spend more time with his family. Bock declined to comment, directing questions toward the company.

“He was a key founder for Nanosys and helped establish the foundation for the company,” Garcia said, adding that the company has a good management team in place that will work diligently to continue to develop the business. “He has been here five years and has worked 24/7 for Nanosys.”

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Garcia does not place much weight on what the resignation might say, if anything, about nanotech as an investment theme. “It was strictly personal and regarding his personal life, not Nanosys or nanotechnology.”

Founded in 2001, Nanosys now has about 70 full-time employees. Investments have been made by 65 investors, all of whom had to be called before the news became public, Garcia said. The investors Garcia spoke to were understanding and very supportive of the company, he added.

Bock has served as executive chairman of the Nanosys Inc. board of directors since October 2003. He acted as Nanosys CEO, president, and a director from July 2001 to October 2003. He was Nanosys’ chief financial officer from July 2001 to September 2001.

Bock is also on the board of directors of Hillsboro, Ore.-based FEI Inc., which makes ion and scanning electron beam microscopes for failure analysis, fab production process control and other applications. He is also a special advisor to Lux Capital, which is an investor in Nanosys, and has been a general partner at CW Group, a venture capital management firm focused on seed-stage start-ups in the life and physical sciences.

With more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences and nanotechnology industries, Bock has co-founded more than a dozen companies and served as CEO of six. He is a member of the advisory board of the NanoBusiness Alliance.

Dec. 11, 2006 — Discera Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based company developing MEMS resonator technology and provider of MEMS-based timing solutions, announced a pair of partnerships to distribute Discera’s MEMS resonator-based timing products.

The company announced a partnership to distribute its resonator-based timing products with M-RF Co. Ltd., a major distributor of microwave devices, components and subsystems in Japan.

Discera also announced a partnership to distribute its resonator-based timing products with TecStar Company, a leading distributor of semiconductor-based, high-value-added electronic products, equipment, and software for the electronics, information and communications industries.

Both partnerships are intended to provide customers with a building block to deliver revolutionary multifunction consumer electronic products. By moving from quartz to CMOS, the company says CE manufacturers can realize benefits including scalability, reliability, programmability and low power.

SemiSurplus revamps site


December 8, 2006

Dec. 8, 2006 — SemiSurplus Inc. of West Chester, Ohio, launched a new web site for sales of semiconductor, MEMS, and nanotechnology equipment.

The site offers products, consulting, appraisal, and logistics including deinstallation, decontamination, crating and packing, shipping, and installation. Categories for product offerings include cleanroom furnishings, heating and cooling, inspection tools and metrology, lab equipment, wafer fabrication, and wafer manufacturing.

The company says the new site offers such features as improved navigation, faster download times, more easily accessible information, and site searching with a Google customized search engine.

Dec. 8, 2006 — ASTM International, an open forum for the development of international standards, announced its first nanotech related standard.

ASTM Committee E56 on Nanotechnology has approved the standard, E 2456, Terminology for Nanotechnology. The organization said that because of the need for a terminology document that is globally recognized and because of the cooperation of several organizations in making the document a reality, E 2456 will be available free of charge from the ASTM International Web site.

The standard was developed by a committee, E56, which was formed in 2005. “Research into the properties, synthesis, and applications of nanostructures has been growing at an exponential rate, and has outpaced the development of a language to describe the chemical compositions and physical forms of these new materials,” read a statement released by ASTM.

“Without a precise and widely accepted terminology, communications about nanotechnology’s risks and benefits are riddled with overgeneralizations. For example, the term ‘carbon nanoparticles’ often is used to describe in one phrase a range of very diverse nanomaterials such as carbon-60, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and even diesel exhaust. Documents such as the E56 terminology document define more precisely the language for nanotechnology, and thus ensure effective technical communication within the myriad fields involved in nanotechnology, as well as outreach to the public at large as products containing nanomaterials enter the marketplace,” the statement read.

In order to facilitate the development of a terminology standard, ASTM International initiated and signed partnership agreements with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, NSF International, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. These agreements contain several unique provisions that pertain specifically to Committee E56 and Terminology standard E 2456.

“This ASTM terminology standard will change how I communicate with policymakers, teachers and my neighbors,” said Rice University’s Vicki Colvin, chair of Committee E56, in a prepared statement. “For the first time I can use critical terms such as ‘nanoparticle,’ confident my language is precise and shared with other nanotechnologists across the globe. Even better is that the document is freely available. Now teachers and students interested in nanotechnology can access this dictionary and learn for themselves the nuances of our field.”

ASTM said that in addition to the terminology standard being available at no charge online, technical experts (named by the partner organizations) can participate in E56 without fee and will have all membership voting privileges. Finally, the partner organizations’ cooperation in the development of the terminology document has been noted within the document with the partners’ corporate logos affixed to the approved standard.

ASTM said it believes that the partnership agreements will eliminate redundant resource allocation among a variety of standards organizations, provide for the pooling of technical experts in a single standards development venue and, consequently, help create a truly global terminology document in terms of input as well as application. Some of the terms defined in the new standard include nanotechnology, nano-, nanoscale and nanostructured.

Dec. 7, 2006 — BIOIDENT Technologies Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif., company developing printed opto-electronic solutions for life sciences, announced a lab-on-a-chip prototype with a fully integrated opto-electronic readout system.

By leveraging printed organic photonics, BIOIDENT says it has delivered a nanotiter plate prototype that can conduct multiple tests in parallel on a single chip. The company’s PhotonicLab Platform is intended to enable cost-effective disposable lab-on-a-chip solutions that eliminate the need for expensive, bulky readout systems and provide immediate test results with significant cost savings.

The prototype consists of a 1 x 3-inch nanotiter plate — a type of lab-on-a-chip device with multiple wells that can hold testing agents to perform laboratory functions. With BIOIDENT, the nanotiter plate includes an integrated photodetector array based on printed semiconductor technology with a single pixel under each well.

The array converts light into electrical signals, enabling analysis on multiple agents simultaneously and in real-time.

The company says its printing process can be used on other lab-on-a-chip systems, including microfluidics, opening up new opportunities and applications for real-time analysis of chemical and biological substances.

To build the prototype, BIOIDENT used what it calls its PhotonicLab Platform — which uses organic semiconductor based technology to print light emitting and detecting capabilities directly on to any surface, including glass, enabling on-chip analysis and diagnostics. In addition, the company uses established testing protocols to deliver real-time and in-situ multi-parameter detection capabilities for all categories of chemical and biological analytes. The nanotiter plate for the prototype was provided by Microfluidic ChipShop GmbH in Jena, Germany.