06/07/2002  Test wafers developed with JSR LKD-5109 are now available through International SEMATECH (ISMT) for etch, cleans, deposition and CMP studies. The wafers will be offered to semiconductor companies on a limited basis under a supplier agreement between ISMT, Austin, TX, and JSR, Sunnyvale, CA.

06/07/2002  June 7, 2002 - Hsinchu, Taiwan - Chip foundries Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp. plan to hire a combined 6,500 new employees in 2002.

06/03/2002  Perhaps under emphasized relative to the red brick wall associated with scaling CMOS, as early as 2004 "manufacturable solutions are not known" looms for many 2001 ITRS facets of factory ramps, equipment lead time, factory cycle time, throughput, maintenance, material handling, and the intertwining importance of factory information and control hardware and software.

06/03/2002  June 3, 2002 - Dublin, Ohio, and Beverly, MA - Ashland Specialty Chemical Co., a division of Ashland Inc., has formed a one-year alliance between its Electronic Chemicals Division (ECD) Fab Services business and Axcelis Technologies Inc. to provide cleaning and rebuilding services using Axcelis-authorized parts for subassemblies and internal components of ion implantation systems used in chip manufacturing.

06/01/2002  Electroglas Inc. has developed test/handling equipment that allows for fully automated testing of ultra-thin chips, including the ability to test integrated circuits (ICs) after dicing or in wafer format

06/01/2002  Approval for plant expansion often comes with the stipulation that water demand from the regional supply remains unchanged

05/31/2002  Santa Clara, CA - Applied Materials will increase procurement of Taiwan-made parts to account for 40% of its global purchasing, according to David Du, GM of the company's Taiwan branch.

05/31/2002  In another step towards freeing chip architects from the tyranny of Manhattan geometries, The X Initiative and ASML have announced the first 0.25-micron diagonal features printed on wafers. An ASML PAS 5500/750 DUV step-and-scan tool equipped for annular illumination successfully patterned diagonally oriented interconnect structures characteristic of 0.18-micron node design rules.

05/30/2002  Taipei, Taiwan - An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook parts of Taiwan on Thursday, the central weather bureau said, though there were no immediate reports of damage.

05/29/2002  Hsinchu, Taiwan - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) said it might apply in July or August for Taiwan government approval to build its first wafer fab in China.

05/29/2002  May 29, 2002 - Newport Beach, CA and San Jose, CA - Jazz Semiconductor, an independent mixed-signal and RF silicon wafer foundry, has entered into a joint manufacturing and marketing agreement with MEMSCAP, a provider of MEMS solutions.

05/28/2002  Tokyo, Japan, and Geneva, Switzerland - Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. (DNP), a manufacturer of photomasks, and STMicroelectronics, a supplier of semiconductor devices, have formed a strategic alliance for the development and supply of leading edge and high-end photomasks.

05/28/2002  May 28, 2002 - Cambridge, England; Mountain View, CA; Hsinchu, Taiwan - ARM, Synopsys Inc., and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), have collaborated in generating a proven, fast track SoC integration methodology for use by ARM partners who use TSMC as a foundry.

05/24/2002  May 28, 2002 -- Hsinchu, Taiwan-- In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports about the drought conditions in Taiwan and how it may affect chip makers this summer, fact is the hardest hit region is north of Taipei, according to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC).

05/24/2002  May 24, 2002 - Fremont, CA - Asyst Technologies Inc., a provider of integrated automation solutions, has signed a definitive agreement related to its previously announced planned joint venture with Shinko Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan.

05/22/2002  May 22, 2002--Newport Beach, CA & Washington, DC--Conexant Systems, Inc. and The Carlyle Group have named their new ISO-9000 certified wafer fab, Jazz Semiconductor. The new facility will have 100,000 square feet of ISO Class 3 cleanroom space.

05/17/2002  Fujitsu Microelectronics has developed an ultra-high density, multi-chip package (MCP) that can support up to eight chips. This development was made possible by the company's advances in thin chip processing and multi-stacked package technology.

05/16/2002  Dresden, Germany -- Infineon Technologies AG, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and DuPont Photomasks Inc. plan to establish and operate a new advanced photomask facility in Dresden, with investments of around EUR 360 million over the next five years.

05/16/2002  Despite the overall industry's worst year ever, sales remained relatively stable at a range of suppliers of enabling materials, as users kept buying photomasks, slurries, and compound semiconductor substrates even if they weren't equipping fabs. But the damage in the volume-dependent silicon wafer business was staggering.

05/14/2002  May 14, 2002 - Sunnyvale, CA - UltraRF Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cree Inc., has signed an agreement with Hitachi Kokusai Electric of Japan for the development of high power amplifier modules based on UltraRF's LDMOS-8 technology.