12/08/2010 

Joachim Burghartz, IMS CHIPS, presented an improved version of the group's Chipfilm technology introduced at IEDM 4 years ago. The researchers now have a manufacturable process technology.

12/07/2010 

As 2010 shapes up as a record year for semiconductor equipment spending, so the following two years will be a slow fall back to Earth with low single-digit overall growth, according to SEMI's updated forecasts -- though there are some interesting trends within the numbers.

12/02/2010 

iSuppli MEMS analyst Richard Dixon analyzes one of the fastest-growing MEMS sectors today: "high-value" technologies specifically built for use in industry, medical, energy, and wired telecommunications.

12/02/2010 

Soitec and Sumitomo Electric Industries are working together to develop engineered gallium nitride (GaN) substrates. The alliance will draw on Sumitomo Electric’s GaN wafer manufacturing technology and Soitec’s Smart Cut layer transfer technology.

12/01/2010 

Tegal Corporation (Nasdaq: TGAL) is launching a new member of its ProNova family of high-density inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactors for the company’s DRIE series wafer processing products. The ProNova2 is targeted for fast-growing 200mm MEMS and 3D IC applications.

12/01/2010 

EV Group (EVG) developed a micro-lens molding process that can enable volume production of very-high-resolution (up to 8MP and higher) wafer-level optics for use in smart phones, pico projectors and myriad other applications.

12/01/2010 

MicroProbe, wafer test technology supplier, is extending its direct-dock offering to support Advantest's T2000 SoC test platform. The T2000 platform-compatible option enables test coverage at wafer sort. More than 100 direct-dock probe cards are already in the field.

11/30/2010 

Semiconductor manufacturing seems to have slipped a bit in 3Q10, according to the latest data from SICAS, but utilization rates remain extremely high. And foundries continue to sizzle.

11/29/2010 

Applied Materials (AMAT) speaks about its new conductor etch system -- the Centris AdvantEdge Mesa Etch -- released at SEMICON Japan this week. The company sees the gap in the lithography roadmap is an etch opportunity. Thorsten Lill, VP Etch Business Group, at Applied, told ElectroIQ that new steps in advanced transistors, double-patterning, and advanced packaging are driving growth in the conductor etch market (~$1.6B market in 2010).

11/24/2010 

Tokyo Electron Limited and Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. have developed a sucessful recycling process for ruthenium precursors (CVD-ruthenium material) used in next-generation semiconductor miniaturization technology.

11/23/2010 

Mattson Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MTSN) received a repeat order for the Alpine etch system from a leading semiconductor manufacturer. The system will be used in the customer's leading-edge 300mm packaging facility in Asia for advanced wafer-level packaging processes.

11/23/2010 

Willbe S&T selected VICTREX PEEK polymer as the material in its chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) retaining rings. Willbe S&T’s insert molded CMP ring provides better performance, longer life and reduced cost compared to traditional two-piece bonded type CMP retaining rings made with stainless steel and polyphenylene sulfide.

11/15/2010 

HBr with consistently low water vapor levels is critical to prevent delivery system corrosion and device performance issues during trench etch for CMOS fabrication. Jianlong Yao et al, Matheson, present the effect of cylinder material on delivered moisture concentration in gas phase HBr. Polished AISI Cr-Mo steel, Nickel-lined AISI Cr-Mo steel, and 316L stainless steel cylinders show markedly different results.

11/15/2010 

Targeting CMP consumables suppliers, commercial device manufacturers, and academic R&D organizations, the agreement enables customers to leverage the combined strengths of both companies with in-depth analysis and fundamental research for virtually any aspect of CMP on any material.

11/12/2010 

Advantest Corporation released a SEM-based critical dimension (CD) measurement system for next-generation photomasks and patterned media. The E3630 is fully compatible with Advantest’s existing E3610/E3620 CD-SEM measurement systems and software, and boasts 30% improved linewidth repeatability.

11/12/2010 

Jim Walker, research VP at Gartner, told attendees at the Gartner Semiconductor Briefing (11/4/10, San Jose, CA) that, after declining 14.7% in 2009, the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services (OSATS) market will expand by 37% this year, and by 6.2% in 2011.

11/12/2010 

According to Dean Freeman, research VP at Gartner, the LED market will see ~11% growth in 2010, and ~35% growth in 2011. Reaping the benefits of the accelerating interest in LEDs is the MOCVD equipment market.

11/11/2010 

DCG Systems announced the P3X Cobra FIB circuit edit system for complex edit challenges, even at advanced 22 nm device process technologies. The P3X Cobra delivers ion beam performance from 2keV to 30keV beam energies.

11/11/2010 

SUSS MicroTec and Fraunhofer for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST launched SELECT, a technology for bond aligners and mask aligners that selectively activates parts of wafer surfaces through plasma.

11/10/2010 

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased during the third quarter 2010 when compared to second quarter 2010 area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.