Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

April 6, 2006 — BEHR Paints of Santa Ana, Calif., introduced its new Premium Plus Interior Sateen Kitchen and Bath Enamel, paints that use nanomaterials for better physical and aesthetic qualities. The paint doubles as a safeguard against mildew and stains in kitchens and bathrooms.

The company said the product is the result of a formula in which key ingredients are reduced to nano-sized particles in order to enhance the performance of the paint, resulting in an hard, durable finish. In addition, the BEHR said it offers good water resistance, scrubbability, easy stain removal, stain blocking resistance and other improved properties.

April 6, 2006 – SUSS MicroTec, a supplier of precision manufacturing and test equipment for the semiconductor and emerging markets, announced it is extending its existing wafer bonder range to include a new platform designed specifically for research, development and other low volume bonding applications. Currently the bonder carries the project name of “Elan”.

The company said the bonders are well suited for MEMS, advanced packaging and SOI applications and that they are compatible with SUSS MA/BA mask aligners for wafer processes requiring precise bond alignment.

SUSS said the Elan wafer bonder has the same core technology as the higher end SUSS bonders, including high accuracy post bond alignment and computer controlled wafer processing. The standard machine is supplied on a metal frame platform with the vacuum chamber, control electronics and computer built-in. The typical wafer bonding processes developed on the Elan bonder, such as anodic, glass frit, eutectic, thermocompression, and polymer bonding are transferable to SUSS automated, high volume wafer bonding cluster tools. This is intended to allow a smooth transition from R&D to pilot line production through to mass production.

April 5, 2006 – Tokyo Electron Ltd. announced it has delivered a new wafer level MEMS tester, the TEMEON, to a leading MEMS device manufacturer located in Japan.

The system enables manufacturers to stimulate a MEMS device and accurately isolate and validate the electrical and mechanical functionality at the wafer level prior to packaging.

The company says that with the TEMEON, customers can test the important mechanical structures of the MEMS device as well as the electrical performance. This capability offers the additional benefit of increased fault coverage, which minimizes package waste that previously would not have been captured at the wafer level.

In addition, the company says that the system offers optimization of the test setup and the testing process. The device uses a low force contact methodology at the wafer level to eliminate adverse effects to wafer yield due to strain applied to MEMS structures.

April 5, 2006 – imaging Technology international (iTi), a Boulder, Colo., designer and manufacturer of inkjet development tools and industrial inkjet systems, announces the opening of its inkjet development laboratory for rental to customers. The lab is intended to enable developers to test inkjet materials and processes on iTi’s line of development tools.

The company intends the lab to be a cost effective solution for companies to work with industrial inkjet development in such areas as nanoparticle fluids, printable electronics, organic electronics, OLED and PLED flat panel displays, touch panels, biomedical and other applications.

The lab contains a set of inkjet development tools that includes iTi’s Drop Watcher, Inkjet Web Press and XY Materials Deposition System. It also provides access to microscopic evaluation and measurement tools for image analysis, and to a variety of devices for fluid curing. It supports a variety of printhead vendors, including Dimatix, Trident and Xaar. Other printheads can also be supported with customer supplied printhead drive electronics and ink systems.

April 5, 2006 — Air Products announced that it has consolidated its efforts to commercialize its nanotechnology offerings and strengthen its strategy around the sale of nanoparticle dispersions through a technology acquisition from its Nanogate Advanced Materials GmbH joint venture.

Air Products purchased Nanogate’s nanoparticle dispersion production, and related dispersion technologies and assets located in Saarbrucken, Germany. Air Products’ initial nanoparticle dispersion offerings include zinc oxide, silver, and indium and antimony tin oxides in a variety of organic, aqueous, and 100 percent solids systems.

“We are focused on developing and marketing the high value-added step of integrating nanomaterials into end-user systems by leveraging our unique dispersion technology and related integration know-how,” said Larry Thomas, business director for advanced materials at Air Products, in a prepared statement. “Our company has a wealth of experience when it comes to formulations and surface science. This experience will help us to provide specific nanoparticle dispersions to bring unique value to customer systems.”

The process of making nanoparticle dispersions compatible with the systems they are being incorporated into is a critical requirement to gain the maximum benefit from the use of nanoparticles in many applications, including several markets for formulated systems such as coatings, adhesives, inks, and composites that Air Products currently serves. Air Products has been working with a broad range of nanomaterial producers and formulators to advance these application opportunities. In addition to a facility in Germany, Air Products also has nanoparticle dispersion production capabilities in the United States.

Air Products and Nanogate Technologies GmbH, one of the leading chemical nanotechnology companies in Europe, originally announced the joint venture formation in May 2004. The Nanogate Advanced Materials joint venture will focus its ongoing work on advanced display technologies as well as security applications.

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April 4, 2006 — FEI Co., a Hillsboro, Ore., maker of focused ion- and electron-beam tools for nanoscale characterization and research, announced late Monday that Vahe Sarkissian has stepped down as the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer and will be leaving the company.

Sarkissian, who joined the company in 1998, would also resign as a director prior to the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 11, according to an FEI release.

Raymond Link, chief financial officer, has been appointed to act as interim chief executive officer and will retain his chief financial officer role while the company conducts a search for a successor CEO. Link joined FEI in July 2005 from TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., where he held the position of chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration.

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In the meantime, FEI has formed an internal management committee comprised of Peter Frasso, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Robert Fastenau, senior vice president and general manager of the nanoresearch, industry and nanobiology market divisions; and Robert Gregg, executive vice president of worldwide sales and service.

FEI has been on the slate to be merged or acquired at least twice in recent years. At the end of 2002, a $1 billion deal to merge with Veeco Instruments of Woodbury, N.Y., fell through. Based on combined 2001 revenues, it would have made the combined company the third largest U.S. supplier of metrology equipment. More recently, FEI terminated discussions to be acquired by Carl Zeiss AG of Germany.

FEI does not expect to make any additional executive leadership changes, according to the release.

William Lattin, lead director of FEI’s board, said in a prepared statement that the company is on track to renew its growth and that now is the appropriate time for a leadership transition. The company’s board has formed an executive search committee to find a new CEO.

The company’s stock, which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol FEIC, could trade down as a result of the uncertainty, according to a research note published this morning by W.R. Hambrecht nanotechnology analyst John Roy. Roy reiterated his hold rating on the stock and his price target of $18.50. The stock closed Monday at $19.81.

“We continue to like the nano-tool space, but execution is critical,” Roy wrote. “The company has been trying to right-size itself, but while the vision and markets are solid, the execution has not been. Hiring a new CEO could be an improvement, but we recommend waiting until a new leader is identified before making a decision.”

SUSS sells to MiPlaza


April 4, 2006

April 4, 2006 – SUSS MicroTec announced that Microsystems Plaza (MiPlaza), a MEMS and nanotechnology research and development facility and service provider at the HighTech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has selected SUSS MicroTec wafer bonding equipment for the manufacture of MEMS and and biomedical devices.

The two systems, consisting of a BA8 bond aligner and an SB8e wafer bonder, will support the aligned 8-inch wafer bond processes at the facility. MiPlaza, part of Philips Research, chose SUSS bonders over alternative systems for their precision bond alignment and high bonding uniformity for BCB applications with a layer thickness of 1 micron, according to a news release.

Substrate bonding represents the final step in the manufacturing process sequence in which multiple wafers or substrates are attached together using a number of physical and chemical effects. The SB8e is a semi-automatic, computer-controlled, stand-alone wafer bonder that can be used to design and fabricate novel microstructures.

The bonder can be equipped with tooling and alignment fixtures that support all known bonding processes. A wide array of semiconductor materials with wafer and substrate diameters ranging up to 200mm can be accommodated as well.

April 4, 2006 — NanoLogix Inc., a nanobiotechnology company based in Sharon, Pa., announced that it has added John Wisniewski to its board of directors.

Since 2001, Wisniewski has been managing director of J-W & Company Inc., a diversified corporate consultancy he formed. From 1997 to 2001 Wisniewski was chief operating officer of a $100 million contract manufacturer of complex electro/mechanical sub-systems. From 1990 to 1997, he served as President of Garvey Precision Machine, Inc., a subsidiary of the Abbotts Organization.

Wisniewski is expected to bring guidance to NanoLogix in the implementation of international growth initiatives and technology commercialization in addition to lending his strategic and international business relationships to better the company’s competitive and marketing position of its nanotechnologies, more specifically its medical diagnostic products and hydrogen generation system technologies.

April 4, 2006 – Owlstone Nanotech Inc., a developer of nanotechnology-based chemical detection products, announced that it has appointed Bret Bader to the position of chief executive officer. As CEO of Owlstone, Bader will be responsible for developing and executing the strategic direction of the company. Owlstone Nanotech is a subsidiary of Advance Nanotech Inc. (OTC.BB:AVNA).

Prior to joining Owlstone, Bader held several leadership positions with Smiths Detection, the leading manufacturer of security screening sensors for the detection of explosives, narcotics, weapons and chemical and biological warfare agents, and a subsidiary of Smiths Group.

Most recently he served as general manager and vice president of the Americas division. He directed all sales and support activities in the U.S., developed and implemented all business-marketing plans and oversaw accounting and controller functions. Bader also held positions of general manager and vice president of the civil business division, and general manager of the security inspection division.

Before Smiths Detection, Bader held the positions of regional sales manager, national sales manager, and director of sales for EG&G Astrophysics, a U.S. manufacturer of x-ray security screening technology. “I am convinced that the Owlstone technology will change the way we design, deploy and utilize detection sensors in the safety and security markets,” he said in a prepared statement.

April 3, 2006 – Applied Materials Inc. announced that Elpida Memory Inc., a DRAM manufacturer, has selected the Applied Centura AdvantEdge system in its recent fab investment cycle for all of its silicon etching applications, including next-generation high k and metal gate structures.

The AdvantEdge system is intended to provide process control to reduce critical dimension variation by up to 50 percent compared with other systems, according to an Applied Materials release. Multiple new AdvantEdge systems were shipped to Elpida’s new 300mm fab in Hiroshima, Japan, for the production of advanced 90nm-70nm DRAM chips.