01/19/2012 

Expertech's Compact Thermal Reactor was ordered by a US semiconductor foundry to bolster 200mm wafer capacity. The CTR offers processes for atmospheric and LPCVD, including hydrogen and high-temperature wafer processing.

01/19/2012 

Air Liquide Electronics completed a series of expansions at its ALOHA manufacturing sites in the US, France and Japan, doubling its advanced precursor production capacity for semiconductor manufacturing applications.

01/19/2012 

Hine Automation shipped its Star SL-300 single-substrate vacuum transfer system to Annealsys, which will integrate the wafer transfer system onto its MC-200 MOCVD tool for R&D and pilot environments.

01/19/2012 

Researchers at INCDTIM in Romania will use NanoInk's NanoFabrication Systems Division's DPN 5000 system for supramolecular structure fabrication, molecular recognition and self-assembling process applications.

01/18/2012 

Michael A. Fury, Ph.D., Techcet Group, reports from SEMI’s International Semiconductor Strategy meeting, with a closing day focused on innovation and new applications.

01/18/2012 

36% of semiconductor fabs are in high-risk zones, finds Semico, noting the industry disruptions caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami and Thai flooding and the challenges these presented to chip makers in the regions. 

01/18/2012 

Day 2 of SEMI’s Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) 2012 included talks by Mike Splinter of Applied Materials, Mark Thirsk of Linx Consulting, Tim Hendry of Intel, David Lazovsky of Intermolecular, a panel session on could computing run by Harvey Frye of TEL, Handel Jones of IBS and another panel session focused on 450mm, moderated by G. Dan Hutcheson of VLSI Research. Michael A. Fury of Techcet reports.

01/17/2012 

The economic outlook for the world is dismal, the semiconductor industry has consolidated and matured to the point where it’s looking for tips from the automotive industry, and unprecedented challenges must be overcome to stay on the path defined by Moore’s Law. Duncan Meldrum of IHS provides a top ten list of economic trends to watch in 2012.

01/17/2012 

The Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) kicked off today in Half Moon Bay, CA under blustery skies with choppy seas, an apt metaphor for the information about to be shared inside, says blogger Michael A. Fury, Techcet.

01/16/2012 

Taiwan became the region with the largest share of installed wafer capacity in 2011, according to IC Insights' Global Wafer Capacity 2011-12 report. This is the first time Taiwan has led the global wafer capacity rankings, with 21% of total in mid-2011.

01/16/2012 

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched a fully automated 12" (300mm) wafer bonding tool, Bond Meister MWB-12-ST, capable of producing 3D LSI circuits at room temperature. The 300mm bonder targets production of memory chips and MPUs.

01/12/2012 

Semiconductor sales were weaker than expected in Q3 2011, and Q4 shows weak guidance, prompting chip makers to reduce production. Gartner expects this inventory correction to work out in early 2012.

01/11/2012 

Former SEMI president and CEO Stanley T. Myers was named a director emeritus of the association by itsl Board of Directors. Myers led SEMI for 15 years, was a board member for 24, and has been part of the semiconductor industry for more than 50.

01/10/2012 

Key points from SEMI's 2012 semiconductor fab equipment spending forecast include a predicted decline of 11% to $35 billion, steady growth in 300mm installs, and an H1 dip/H2 surge format.

01/08/2012 

The GaAs device market recovered sharply in 2010, driven mobile handsets. Increased use of pure-play foundries met the surge in demand and was in-line with a trend toward outsourcing, says Strategy Analytics.

01/06/2012 

Materion Microelectronics & Services added 50% more space in its PVD parts cleaning and surface treatment facility, with an automated robotic twin wire arc spray, increased precious metal refining capacity, new cleaning processes, and a Class 10,000-certified cleanroom.

01/05/2012 

Nocilis Materials opened its silicon foundry service globally. Nocilis Materials AB provides epitaxy service of advanced Si-Ge-Sn-C alloys for electronic and photonic applications.

01/03/2012 

Solid State Technology asked top analysts and technologists to provide insights on the transition to 22nm semiconductor devices. Read through the whole 10-forecast series, or check out the individual articles as you have time to see perspectives on lithography, device architecture, and more.

01/02/2012 

Defect control at 22nm is a critical focus for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Michael A. Fury, Techcet Group, discusses the current companies and trends on the leading edge of CMP for 22nm.

12/30/2011 

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) launched the A+ technology platform, a specialized 0.11