01/26/2001  JAN. 26 Fayetteville, Arkansas--Research currently underway at the University of Arkansas (UA) may soon have a billion-dollar impact on the semiconductor industry. Scott Mason, assistant professor of industrial engineering, has received a $225,000 grant from the Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) for work that may revolutionize the fabrication of semiconductor wafers.

01/25/2001  JAN. 25 Charlotte, North Carolina--Digital Optics Corp. has announced successful completion a project to develop manufacturing technologies that combine electronic and miniaturized optoelectronic components on semiconductor wafer assemblies.

01/19/2001  Hsinchu, Taiwan--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has selected Applied Materials, Inc.'s Black Diamond chemical vapor deposition (CVD) low-k film for production of its 0.13-micron copper chips. TSMC is also working with Applied Materials to extend Black Diamond technology to its next-generation 0.10-micron devices that are currently in development.

01/18/2001  Belmont, California--Nikon Precision, Inc. (NPI) has released its first application software product that helps improve yield for imaging tools by identifying where die are likely to fail.

01/17/2001  Billerica, Massachusetts--PRI Automation, Inc., a global leader in semiconductor factory automation systems and software, has announced TransFab, a unified material handling system (UMHS) capable of providing fab-wide tool-to-tool wafer delivery in 300mm fabs.

01/16/2001  Santa Clara, California--Zeevo Inc. today announced that it has received highly integrated, single-chip Bluetooth silicon from Tawain Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). TSMC produced the Bluetooth wafers, which reportedly pack RF, analog, and digital baseband functionality into one integrated device, using its advanced 0.18-micron mixed-signal CMOS process.

01/16/2001  Rousset, France--Atmel Corp.'s FAB7, its leading-edge high-volume wafer fabrication plant in Rousset, France, has been accorded ISO 14001 environmental certification by the accreditation body BVQI. This certification recognizes that all on-site activities conform to strict environmental protection standards, which is of particular significance because FAB7 is located directly in front of Mont Sainte Victoire, one of the most prestigious and environmentally sensitive locations in France.

01/16/2001  Sunnyvale, California--Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (SST) and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. have entered an agreement in which Vanguard will serve as a foundry for SST's 0.18- and 0.13-micron flash memory products based on the company's advanced self-aligned SuperFlash memory technology.

01/15/2001  Bernin, France--Seiko Epson has successfully manufactured circuits made on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) UNIBOND material, reports SOITEC. The new circuits will be used by Seiko in a model of its SPRING Drive watch, a high-precision wristwatch.

01/10/2001  San Mateo, California--IDS Software Systems (IDS), a leading supplier of platform independent data management and statistical yield analysis software for the semiconductor industry, announced that Philips Semiconductors has awarded it a $7.5 million, multi-year corporate contract to provide data and yield management software and support services for its semiconductor operations worldwide.

01/10/2001  Glouchester, Massachusetts--Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. today announced that it expects to report fiscal first quarter 2001 revenues in the range of $223 to $228 million. In addition, the company advised that it continues to make improvements in its gross margin and to carefully manage its operating expenses.

01/09/2001  Wilmington, Delaware/Lehigh, Pennsylvania--DuPont and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. today announced that they have formed a joint venture--DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials L.L.C.--to develop, manufacture, and market colloidal silica-based slurries for electronic precision polishing or planarization applications such as silicon wafer polishing and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) processes used in the manufacture of semiconductors.

01/09/2001  Phoenix, Arizona--Rodel, Inc., an innovator of integrated materials for the microelectronics industry, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Solution Technology, Inc. (STI), have announced the sale of certain assets held by both companies to EMINESS Technologies Inc.

01/09/2001  San Jose, California--PDF Solutions, Inc., which provides comprehensive infrastructure technologies and services to improve yield and optimize performance of ICs, recently announced the opening of new offices in Japan and Italy.

01/09/2001  Migdal Haemek, Israel--Tower Semiconductor, an independent wafer manufacturer strategically focused on advanced flash memory and CMOS image sensor technologies, has announced that it will begin trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), starting January 10.

01/08/2001  Milpitas, California/Singapore--The Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), an industry association focused on furthering the cause of the fabless semiconductor model, has elected Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing's president and chief executive officer, Barry Waite, to its board of directors.

01/05/2001  Santa Clara, California--ChipPAC, Inc., a supplier of packaging and test services, has entered into a multi-year services and supply agreement with Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd. (HEI)--making ChipPac the primary outsource supplier of semiconductor test and package services to HEI.

01/04/2001  Fremont, California--Completion of the merger of Mattson Technology, Inc., a Fremont, California-based supplier of advanced process equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, with the semiconductor equipment division of STEAG Electronics Systems AG (Essen, Germany), and CFM Technologies (Exton, Pennsylvania) was announced yesterday.

01/03/2001  Westwood, Massachusetts--ADE Corp., working on a development program with Super Silicon Crystal Research Institute Corp. (SSi) in Japan, says that it has produced a system capable of detecting 40nm particles--required for meeting the 0.10-micron technology node.

01/03/2001  New Tripoli, Pennsylvania--Worldwide revenues for semiconductor processing equipment rose 31.8% in the fourth quarter of 2000 and are poised to continue rising another 45.9% in 2001, according to New Tripoli, Pennsylvania-based market researchers The Information Network in their recently published 'The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing' report.