03/01/2001  PITTSBURGH—Seagate Technology Inc.'s decision to build a research facility here is providing opportunity to two distinct classes of workers.

02/28/2001  February 28, 2001--Santa Clara, California--To help photolithography engineers and IC designers predict the manufacturability of their products before going into production, ASML MaskTools has developed LithoCruiser--a simulation toolset for designing and optimizing lithography processes.

02/28/2001  February 28, 2001--Chandler, Arizona--In response to current business conditions, Microchip Technology is reducing wafer capacity at its two Arizona wafer fabs, delaying the start date for its Puyallup, WA, wafer fab until December 2002, and idling its Hong Kong test facility during the June 2001 quarter by diverting test requirements to its Thailand facility. Additionally, the company will lay off approximately 400 employees worldwide.

02/27/2001  Feb. 27, 2001 -- BOSTON, MA -- In recent years, the issue of controlling airborne molecular contaminants (AMC) has become more important as wafer geometries expand and line width intervals tighten. The number of ways to apply chemical filtration for the control of AMC have grown, just as the methods employed to measure AMC and evaluate filter system performance have increased..

02/27/2001  February 27, 2001--Milan, Italy--The Prime Minister of Italy, Mr Giuliano Amato, today formally inaugurated STMicroelectronics' R2 Technology Center, the latest addition to its global network of advanced microelectronics R&D centers and wafer fabrication plants.

02/27/2001  Feb. 27, 2001 -- PORTLAND, OR -- Hoping to enhance Oregon's pool of potential high-tech workers, SEMI is planning its first Pacific Northwest educational campaign in which 25 area high school students will embark on a program that will teach them the basics of semiconductors and cleanrooms protocol, among others.

02/27/2001  February 27, 2001--Langen, Germany--Nikon Corp., a leader in semiconductor optical manufacturing equipment, and Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an Israel-based specialized wafer foundry, announced today that Tower has selected Nikon's DUV scanner systems and i-line steppers for its new fab, known as Fab 2.

02/26/2001  February 26, 2001--Portland, Oregon--SEMI, the global industry association for semiconductor equipment and materials companies, will launch a Pacific Northwest educational campaign on Wednesday, March 7, to interest high school students in technology careers.

02/26/2001  February 26, 2001--Fort Lauderdale, Florida--Lambda Physik Inc.'s new Gator Series DPSS lasers cut and drill microfeatures in silicon at production speeds with no redeposition of material or microcracking. Its near-diffraction-limited beam quality produces small focus spot sizes to create narrow kerf widths for wafer segmentation applications, and high quality microvias under 20-microns in diameter.

02/26/2001  February 26, 2001--Glouchester, Massachusetts--Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., a supplier of ion implantation systems, today announced that it has received an order for a VIISta 810 ion implanter from UMC, a world-leading foundry services provider headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

02/26/2001  February 26, 2001--East Fishkill, New York--IBM Corp. today announced an interactive Internet-based microchip design environment to help customers speed development of high-performance custom chips.

02/23/2001  KALISPELL, MT - New new aqueous-based technology produces simplified removal of post-poly silicon etch residue with a significant reduction in the use of chemicals and water.

02/23/2001  Feb. 23, 2001 -- SARAWAK, Malaysia -- Sarawak has received its first 200 mm wafer fab following the opening of a $1.7 billion facility at the Sama Jaya Free Zone.

02/22/2001  February 22, 2001--Hsinchu, Taiwan--United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) announced today the successful implementation of RosettaNet 3D8 and 3D9 product configuration standards using software developed by ecom Software to link to UMC's backend supply chain partner, Siliconware Precision Industries Ltd (SPIL). By using RosettaNet's Partner Interface Process (PIP), UMC and SPIL can easily retrieve engineering data and track their wafers through the backend.

02/22/2001  February 22, 2001--Tokyo, Japan--Hitachi, Ltd. and Nissei Sangyo Co., Ltd. announced today an agreement under which Hitachi's Instruments Group and Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Group will be separated and merged with Nissei Sangyo on October 1. At that time, Nissei Sangyo will change its name to Hitachi Advanced Technologies, Ltd.

02/21/2001  February 21, 2001--San Jose, California--The top 10 semiconductor equipment suppliers set all kinds of records last year, reports market research firm VLSI Research Inc., with 2000 being the first year that all top 10 companies' sales exceeded $1 billion. The top 10 includes: Applied Materials; Tokyo Electron Ltd.; Nikon Corp.; Teradyne, Inc.; ASML; KLA-Tencor; Advantest; Lam Research Corp.; Canon Inc.; and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing.

02/21/2001  February 21, 2001--BOC Edwards Kachina is nearing completion of a state-of-the-art semiconductor component cleaning facility in Hillsboro, OR. The 22,000-sq-ft facility will be the third full service BOC Edwards Kachina operation in the U.S., providing chipmakers with a range of cleaning processes, component management, and support services. The facility is scheduled to become operational in May.

02/21/2001  SANTA ANA, CA - Advanced contract electronics manufacturing services provider announces second major expansion within a year.

02/20/2001  FEB. 20 Catania, Italy--STMicroelectronics recently began construction of a state-of-the-art fab, known as M6, in Catania, Italy. The company plans to invest $1,500 million over the next several years in the new facility, which will focus on flash and other nonvolatile memory technologies.

02/16/2001  SINGAPORE -- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing recently announced plans for a new 300 mm facility that will house more than 170,000 square feet of cleanroom space in Singapore.