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Nov. 14, 2006 — The first international survey of nanotechnology workplace safety practices commissioned by the International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) finds companies and labs often use conventional environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices when handling nanomaterials, even though they generally believe they may pose special risks for workers.

Companies are reporting they are developing special programs and procedures for mitigating risks to workers and consumers, the report produced by researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara, noted.

The researchers collected data this summer from 64 organizations in North America, the European Union, Asia and Australia, out of 337 invited to participate. North American and Japanese respondents each represented 39 percent of those surveyed, while 17 percent came from the European Union and 5 percent from Australia. Roughly 80 percent of responses were from private sector companies.

Few organizations reported monitoring their workplaces for nanoparticles or providing formal guidance to downstream users on the safe disposal of nanomaterials. When asked, organizations generally recommended disposal of products as hazardous waste, though they did not frequently report conveying this information to their customers.

“The use of conventional practices for handling nanomaterials appears to stem from a lack of information on the toxicological properties of nanomaterials, as well as nascent regulatory guidance regarding the proper environmental, health and safety practices that should be used with them,” said ICON director Kristen Kulinowski.

Nano-specific EHS programs and training were more often reported by organizations that had worked with nanomaterials longer, had more employees handling nanomaterials, and believed there are risks related to their nanomaterials. There also appeared to be geographical variations in reported practices, with North American organizations more frequently reporting nano-specific EHS programs including training as well as monitoring of the work environment than organizations in other parts of the world.

Similarly, North American organizations more often reported using high capital cost engineering controls such as clean rooms, closed piping systems and separate HVAC systems, compared to Asian organizations that indicated more widespread use of glove boxes, glove bags and respirators. A relatively higher percentage of European organizations reported either conducting or funding toxicological research.

Most organizations reported that the biggest impediment to improving their nano-specific EHS programs was a lack of information regarding nanomaterial toxicology. Nearly half of the organizations that reported implementing a nano-specific EHS programs described them as precautions against unknown hazards.

The report suggested there is a strong demand for both more toxicological research on nanomaterials and additional industry and governmental guidance in risk assessment and nano-related EHS practices.

The researchers noted future studies should incorporate additional steps such as site visits to determine how well workplace safety and product stewardship practices actually are carried out, as well as investigating practices beyond the research lab or manufacturing facility, such as consumer and waste management practices.

“This report highlights some key obstacles to the responsible and successful development of nanotechnology. While a majority of companies report a lack of environmental health and safety information to guide good risk management, few companies conduct their own studies to develop this information,” said Tracy Godfrey, a project analyst with Environmental Defense. “Environmental Defense is working to address these important gaps through our efforts to increase risk research, improve government policy, and develop proactive corporate standards.”

This latest report, offers a snapshot of industry practices currently in use. It builds on an October report from the same researchers that offered a review and analysis of existing efforts to develop best practices for workplace safety in the nascent nanotech industry.

– Charles Choi

Nov. 13, 2006 — SiTime, a Sunnyvale, Calif., company that makes MEMS-based, all silicon timing solutions, and Micro Crystal, a division of Swatch and a European leader in the frequency control market, have begun a strategic partnership to develop, promote, and distribute MEMS-based oscillator products.

Founded in 1978 in Grenchen, Switzerland, as a producer of watch crystals, Micro Crystal has become the leading supplier of miniature quartz crystals for virtually every kind of electronic appliances. Today the three plants in Switzerland, Thailand and China, with more than 850 employees, produce several hundred million crystals per year.

The announcement comes just a little over two weeks since Ecliptek Corp. of Cosa Mesa, Calif., a leading provider of quartz crystal timing solutions, announced it had begun sampling its new EMO family of MEMS oscillators, which also use SiTime resonators and technology.

SiTime introduced its first MEMS-based silicon oscillator product to the market in April 2006 using proprietary processing technology licensed from Robert Bosch GmbH. The technology, married with advanced mixed signal ASICs, has enabled SiTime to provide timing system solutions that it says are smaller, exhibit higher functionality, are more reliable, and are more cost competitive than the quartz timing solutions that dominate electronic timing.

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SiTime is targeting its resonators and oscillators at high performance and cost conscious applications in a broad spectrum of markets including consumer electronics, automotive, computer and industrial.

“We are pleased to enter this long-term partnership with SiTime. Their advanced MEMS technology, coupled with Micro Crystal’s long history of innovation in the frequency control market, will result in new products of a size, performance, and reliability that will be unmatched in the industry. These technical advantages will be enhanced by Micro Crystal’s quality service to our customers,” said Hans Rudolf Gottier, CEO of Micro Crystal, in a prepared statement.

“We look forward to this joint product development with Micro Crystal to meet the next-generation frequency control requirements of the electronics industry. As Micro Crystal is part of the Swatch group of companies, they are uniquely positioned to take full advantage of the many features of these new resonators,” said Kurt Petersen, CEO of SiTime Corp., in a prepared statement.

Nanophase notes new order


November 13, 2006

Nov. 13, 2006 — Nanophase Technologies, a Romeoville, Ill. -provider of nanomaterials and advanced nanoengineered products, announced receipt of a new order for polishing nanodispersions for an unnamed Asian customer. Nanophase said it believes the nanodispersions will be used for LCD screen polishing.

“As we have stated previously, we are extending our nanomaterials and nanomaterial dispersions developed for semiconductor chemical mechanical polishing and selling that technology into horizontal polishing markets,” said Ian Roberts, vice president for U.S. and international sales, in a prepared statement.

“This is a revenue area that grew in multiples during 2005 and represents diverse polishing markets that we are working to develop and expand. Our nanomaterial dispersions are used to polish wafer stepper lenses, EUV lithography optics, laser lenses, other critical glass polishing applications, and, now a new market application for Nanophase, LCD screen polishing as stated by our customer.”

Roberts said the company does not anticipate a material revenue impact from the new application in the near-term.

Nov. 13, 2006 — MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc., an Albany, N.Y., developer of micro fuel cell technology for handheld electronic devices and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Inc., announced delivery of next-generation fuel cell-powered prototype units to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. This is the first in a series of planned deliveries resulting from the alliance formed between MTI Micro and Samsung in May 2006.

MTI Micro is developing next-generation fuel cell prototypes based on its patented direct methanol fuel cell technology known as Mobion. Together, the two companies are exploring ways to potentially power a series of Samsung’s mobile phone and mobile phone accessories with fuel cell technology so new media-rich features can be added.

“In next generation cellular phones, features like mobile satellite TV, streaming video, 3D gaming and other multimedia applications will consume even more power,” said Peng Lim, CEO of MTI Micro Fuel Cells, in a prepared statement. “Traditional power sources like lithium-ion batteries cannot keep pace with OEM desires to incorporate these media-rich features in future consumer electronic devices.”

According to Frost & Sullivan, the market for micro fuel cells for consumer electronic devices will reach approximately 80 million units by 2012.

MTI Micro and Samsung are cooperating to develop, test, and evaluate Mobion prototypes for various mobile phone applications.

Nov. 13, 2006 — Hot on the heels of a sale to the University of Rochester Medical Center, BioForce Nanosciences Inc. of Ames, Iowa, announced the completion of a Nano eNabler system sale to the Technology & Engineering Center at Harvard Medical School. Funding for the purchase was provided by an award from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Dale Larson, director of the center, is leading the use of the Nano eNabler system. His group is utilizing the system to print very small femtoliter volumes of biomolecules onto specially developed nanohole array sensors with sub-micron dimensions.

The technology is being developed for use in drug discovery and development, biomarker screening, diagnostic assays, and homeland security applications. The nanohole array sensing technology is a label-free detection system that is very sensitive and highly multiplexed. The Nano eNabler system enables the printing of many different capture agents on their chip, allowing researchers to simultaneously study many different binding interactions from one sample on one chip.

Nov. 13, 2006 — UTEK Corp., a specialty finance company focused on technology transfer, and Cyberlux Corp., a provider of LED lighting solutions, announced that Cyberlux has acquired SPE Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of UTEK Corp., in a restricted stock transaction.

Prior to the Cyberlux acquisition, SPE Technologies Inc. held the worldwide exclusive license to a number of pending patents for the Scattered Photon Extraction (SPE) methodology, developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. These packages are designed to enable higher luminous efficacy with down-converted white light illuminators constructed with LEDs.

In contrast to traditional white LED packages, the SPE packages place the phosphor and/or down-conversion materials, such as quantum dots, at locations remote from the LEDs. The optic surrounding the LED’s die is shaped to extract a significant portion of the down-converted white light that is otherwise absorbed and lost as waste heat within the traditional LED packages.

“The SPE technology increases light output and efficacy of white LEDs, and could play a important role in the evolution of white LEDs for lighting in homes and offices,” said Nadarajah Narendran, director of research at Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center, in a prepared statement.

Nov. 10, 2006 — Bridgehead Group, a New York-based international business strategy, venture capital and investment banking organization, announced it has acquired a major stake in NIL Technology ApS, a Danish nanotechnology company. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

NIL Technology is developing electron lithography to deliver consistent quality nano-imprint services and stamps intended to enable next generation refrigeration, fuel cell, microprocessor, and optical equipment.

The move follows Bridgehead’s financing in February 2006 of AirNacon Ltd. With the assistance of UK Trade & Investment’s Global Entrepreneurs Programme, Bridgehead Group now has organized its operations including AirNacon Ltd. and NIL Technologies within a single UK-based holding company called AirNatech Holdings Ltd.

Nov. 10, 2006 — BioForce Nanosciences Inc., an Ames, Iowa, nanotech tool developer, announced the placement of its Nano eNabler system at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.

The University laboratory that is using the Nano eNabler system is working on new technology in the field of smart bandage biomaterial engineering. The system is intended to aid University employees as they work toward developing bandages to detect cutaneous disease and direct scarless wound healing.

The Nano eNabler system is a bench-top molecular printing system that dispenses tiny droplets of biological material onto a variety of surfaces with nanometer spatial precision. The placement at the University is part of a larger BioForce Nanosciences, Inc. pilot program to gather feedback on the performance of the Nano eNabler system, and facilitate real-world applications of the instrument.

Nov. 10, 2006 — InvenSense, a Santa Clara, Calif., provider of motion sensing solutions for mobile applications, announced that Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. has selected its single-chip gyroscope for use in its new generation of digital still camera models with image stabilization (IS) features.

InvenSense’s IDG-1000 gyroscope family utilizes MEMS technology to provide an integrated dual-axis solution designed for a small footprint at competitive prices.

As cameras continue to increase in pixel density and optical zoom range, subtle hand movements become problematic, particularly in low light settings, resulting in poor image quality. Camera manufacturers need high-performance, small form factor gyroscopes to measure and correct natural hand jitter in order to provide high-quality pictures.

Sanyo is a $23 billion manufacturer and distributor of consumer and commercial electronics. The company said the InvenSense dual-axis gyroscope is already being used within current camera models and will be a supplier for many of the models next year.

Nov. 9, 2006 — The SAES Getters Group, a provider of getter technology for high vacuum applications, and SUSS MicroTec, a supplier of precision manufacturing and test equipment for the semiconductor and emerging markets, are working together to develop their technologies for wafer-level packaging applications for the MEMS industry.

“SAES Getters is extremely pleased with SUSS’ introduction of the M-Lock system for MEMS chip fabrication, since this technology ensures ultra-clean bonding conditions and can therefore support the further spread of wafer-level packaged MEMS products”, said Marco Moraja, MEMS business development area manager at SAES Getters, in a prepared statement.

As a consequence of ultra-clean bonding environments, he said, SAES Getters’ PaGeWafer can completely deploy its gettering capacity inside MEMS devices without losing any gettering capacity during the bonding process.

SUSS MicroTec’s M-Lock system is intended to provide ultra-clean, low-moisture and low-organics environment for vacuum and inert gas wafer bonding. It is intended for high-performance and high-reliability MEMS devices with on-chip getters, such as silicon gyros, resonators, RF switches, display devices, infrared sensors and microbolometers. The M-Lock system maintains high vacuum in the bonder chamber at all times by means of a secondary load lock chamber and also by heating the vacuum chamber walls to reduce the effect of outgassing during wafer bonding.

SAES Getters’ PaGeWafer has been engineered to guarantee long term stability to vacuum or to inert gas atmosphere in wafer-to-wafer hermetically bonded MEMS devices. It consists of a wafer with a patterned getter film, a few microns thick, that is placed onto specific cavities, defined in shape and depth according to customer requirements. By acting as the cap wafer of the MEMS package, PaGeWafer provides maximized sorption of active in order to increase device reliability and lifetime.

Amir Mirza, international product manager for wafer bonders at SUSS MicroTec, said in a prepared statement that the company is will optimize its wafer bonding processes for SAES Getters’ materials technology.