Solid State Technology articles from December 2007

Solid State Technology archives from December 2007

Reports from ISMI, ISSM.(Web Exclusives)(Conference news)(Editorial)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... "In-the-trenches" roundup of ISMI The tradition of the ISMI Manufacturing Symposium as an "in the trenches" conference--by and for the people doing the actual day-today work in the fabs--continued during the late October, Austin, TX,...

Will 3D keep the chip industry rolling?(Editorial)
December 1, 2007... There may be trouble ahead for the conventional shrink approach to Moore's Law. Lithography looks dicey for 32nm (which might be reached through dual imaging with improved 193nm immersion stepper/scanners), and even trickier for 22nm. Even if...

Analyst: double-digit IC unit growth marches on; ASPs now key.(BUSINESS TRENDS)(integrated circuits)(average selling prices)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Strong shipments of memory devices and automotive-related analog ICs are the main reasons why IC unit shipments will grow by double digits in 2007 (10%), continuing an "unprecedented" streak of six straight solid years of growth, according to...

Air Products and Matheson Tri-Gas Inc. plan to jointly build and operate a liquid helium production plant near Big Piney, WY, processing crude helium produced as a byproduct at a local natural gas processing facility owned by Cimarex Energy Co. and Riley Ridge LLC.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Air Products and Matheson Tri-Gas Inc. plan to jointly build and operate a liquid helium production plant near Big Piney, WY, processing crude helium produced as a byproduct at a local natural gas processing facility owned by Cimarex Energy Co....

Spansion and Chinese foundry SMIC are partnering to delve further into NOR flash.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Spansion and Chinese foundry SMIC are partnering to delve further into NOR flash, in a deal that utilizes SMIC's 65nm foundry work for Spansion's MirrorBit technologies, and extend into "selected segments" of flash memory to sell 90nm and 65nm...

Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan foundry UMC have agreed to jointly develop a copper low-k backend process for both advanced DRAM and phase-change random access memory (PRAM).(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan foundry UMC have agreed to jointly develop a copper low-k backend process for both advanced DRAM and phase-change random access memory (PRAM). Under the deal, UMC will license Elpida's copper low-k...

Intel.(USA)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Intel said it has begun 45nm production this week at its new $3B Fab 32 300mm site in Chandler, AZ. Shipments of the 45nm chips, which utilize hafnium-based high-k dielectric as the gate insulator and two different metals as the gate...

Skyworks Solutions.(USA)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... To increase its manufacturing capacity for products used in handsets and analog devices, Skyworks Solutions says it has started converting its gallium arsenide heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) fab in Newbury Park, CA, from 4-in. to 6-in....

Microchip Technology.(USA)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Microchip Technology says it has sold its idle Fab 3 facility in Puyallup, WA, for $30M following an unsolicited offer received in September, taking a $16.5M loss on the sale. The company acquired the site in July 2000, intending it to be a...

Weeks after selling its photoresist developer line to Fujifilm, Air Products has sold its high-purity process chemicals (HPPC) unit to Houston-based KMG Chemicals, including a production facility and warehouse in Pueblo, Colorado, and assets in San Giuliano Milanese, Italy.(USA)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Weeks after selling its photoresist developer line to Fujifilm, Air Products has sold its high-purity process chemicals (HPPC) unit to Houston-based KMG Chemicals, including a production facility and warehouse in Pueblo, Colorado, and assets in...

STMicroelectronics.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... STMicroelectronics has begun construction at a new packaging/test facility in Longgang, Guangdong Province, China. Plans call for 20,000[m.sup.2] of manufacturing space to be ready by Sept. 2008, followed by equipment move-in during 4Q08....

Samsung Electronics reportedly has acquired TransChip Israel, an Israel-based CMOS image sensor firm.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Samsung Electronics reportedly has acquired TransChip Israel, an Israel-based CMOS image sensor firm. No financial terms were provided, though the Korea Economic Daily and the Associated Press pegged the pricetag at $70M. Samsung has already...

Singapore's Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. (SSMC), a JV between NXP Semiconductors and TSMC.(ASIAFOCUS)(Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Singapore's Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. (SSMC), a JV between NXP Semiconductors and TSMC, plans to invest $44.8M over the next four years to establish a R&D center to focus on development of specialized manufacturing process, initially...

Air Products and its Taiwan subsidiary Air Products San Fu Co. have agreed to supply nitrogen and bulk gases for Taiwan DRAM producer Rexchip Semiconductor Corp., the Powerchip-Elpida memory JV.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Air Products and its Taiwan subsidiary Air Products San Fu Co. have agreed to supply nitrogen and bulk gases for Taiwan DRAM producer Rexchip Semiconductor Corp., the Powerchip-Elpida memory JV. Air Products will build and operate two nitrogen...

After two years of legal battles, a district court in Hsinchu, Taiwan, has ruled that three former execs of foundry UMC broke no laws in their roles helping to set up Chinese chip company He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... After two years of legal battles, a district court in Hsinchu, Taiwan, has ruled that three former execs of foundry UMC broke no laws in their roles helping to set up Chinese chip company He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co. (Taiwanese prosecutors...

SAFC Hitech.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... SAFC Hitech, part of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, says it has signed a MOU with Korea's Gyeonggi Province to "explore investment opportunities" with the goal of building a facility in the province to supply and manufacture electronic materials.

Japan Air Gases, a unit of Air Liquide, plans to spend ~15M [euro] (US ~$21.7M) to build a new electronics material center in the Harima Science Park in Ako, Hyogo (northwest of Osaka), complementing two other such centers in Tsukuba and Ina.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Japan Air Gases, a unit of Air Liquide, plans to spend ~15M [euro] (US ~$21.7M) to build a new electronics material center in the Harima Science Park in Ako, Hyogo (northwest of Osaka), complementing two other such centers in Tsukuba and Ina....

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says it has developed a 64Gb multilevel cell NAND flash memory chip using 30nm process technology, built using double-patterning lithography, with commercial chips ready in about a year.

Making official what had been reported for weeks, Sony and Toshiba have announced an agreement to transfer Sony's Cell microprocessor production lines to Toshiba under a new joint venture.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Making official what had been reported for weeks, Sony and Toshiba have announced an agreement to transfer Sony's Cell microprocessor production lines to Toshiba under a new joint venture, reportedly at a price approaching [yen] 100B (about US...

Sanyo Electric Co.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Days after reportedly picking a winning bidder for its semiconductor business auction, Sanyo Electric Co. has changed its mind and will keep the unit after all, blaming difficulties by its suitor to raise money from investors due to the US...

A new public/private R&D initiative will replace the MEDEA+ program for European cooperative R&D in microelectronics, which is set to expire in 2008 after seven years of watching over three generations of CMOS technology and work on fields ranging from smart cards, image sensors, and automotive electronics.(EUROFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... A new public/private R&D initiative will replace the MEDEA+ program for European cooperative R&D in microelectronics, which is set to expire in 2008 after seven years of watching over three generations of CMOS technology and work on fields...

AMD, Carl Zeiss SMT, and Qimonda AG are forming a 12M [euro] (US ~$17.4M) "innovation center" in Dresden, Germany ("Silicon Saxony"), under a larger "Nanoanalysis" project to develop new analytical and characterization methods for next-gen chip development.(EUROFOCUS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... AMD, Carl Zeiss SMT, and Qimonda AG are forming a 12M [euro] (US ~$17.4M) "innovation center" in Dresden, Germany ("Silicon Saxony"), under a larger "Nanoanalysis" project to develop new analytical and characterization methods for next-gen...

Toshiba: greener copper clean lowers costs, improves yields.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Using HCL, HF and choline for cleaning copper vias after etch dramatically cuts both costs and environmental impact while improving yields, reports Toshiba Semiconductor Co.'s Yoshihiro Uozumi in SST partner Nikkei Microdevices. The simple...

Molecular imprints touts imprint litho for 22nm CMOS.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
December 1, 2007... In what it claims is validation for imprint lithography for 22nm CMOS, Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) is touting results from Toshiba, reported at the 33rd International Conference on Micro-and Nano-Engineering (Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept....

Silicon quantum dots promise solar cell efficiency boost.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Efficiency is one of the biggest challenges for solar cells: most of the sun's incoming light is dissipated as heat, not converted to electricity. Yet researchers think the strange behavior of tiny particles known as quantum dots may help break...

Immersion lithography reaches new heights at CO symposium.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
December 1, 2007... Attendees at the International Symposium on Immersion Lithography (Oct. 8-11, Keystone, CO) heard that three types of 193nm water immersion exposure tools are being used for mass production: Nikon NSR609Bs for 55nm and 610Cs for However,...

The wonders of water.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
December 1, 2007... The sessions on water immersion technology seemed to wash away the murk of the Hi-n problems, though perhaps in a surge of hype. Jos Beschop of ASML claimed that >3M wafers had been processed by his firm's immersion systems, and that the ASML...

Simulation software enables DFM for MEMS.(MEMS)(Design for manufacturability)(Micro-electro-mechanical systems)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Mask aligners are usually used as proximity printing tools where the mask is printed on the wafers using a "shadowing" technique. MEMS applications are just one of the applications that use mask aligners. A new...

Industry confronts porous dielectrics ... again.(Second of two parts)(Editorial)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW The semiconductor industry's last attempt to integrate porous dielectrics ended in a retreat to simpler solutions. This time, none of the choices are simple. Either porous dielectrics or, even more radical, air-filled...

A low-temperature LPCVD silicon nitride process for sub-45nm.(THERMAL PROCESSING)(low pressure chemical vapor deposition)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Currently, nitride films formed using DCS and ammonia (N[H.sub.3]) have reached the lower limit temperature boundary, which is ~630[degrees]C. At temperatures [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the scaling of devices at...

Characterization and in-line monitoring of low-k porogen formation.(METROLOGY)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW The competitive requirement for increased device performance has compelled the IC industry to introduce lower dielectric constant (k) materials. The move away from conventional oxide deposition techniques has...

Manufacturing integration considerations of through-silicon via etching.(CU/LOW-K)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Through-silicon vias (TSV) will provide interconnect capability among multiple die in advanced three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) designs. TSVs differ from the vias currently used in multilayer interconnects...

Optimized molecular contamination monitoring for lithography.(LITHOGRAPHY)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Dedicated molecular contamination analyzers based on ion mobility spectroscopy (IMS) can detect N[H.sub.3] and S[O.sub.2] contamination events in real time as well as measure ppt-level trends through long-term averaging....

DRIE from MEMS to wafer-level packaging.(MEMS)
December 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) has enabled the manufacturing of many different types of MEMS devices. The technique is now starting to be applied to the formation of through-silicon vias (TSVs) for electrical...

PVD system for Gen 8.5 FPD manufacturing.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The AKT-PiVot 55kV PVD system deposits metal and transparent conductive oxide materials on Gen 8.5 (5.5m2) glass substrates. The new system is designed to increase the productivity and reduce the cost of manufacturing large-sized LCD TV panels....

Microscope system.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The [Titan.sup.3] 80-300 is designed to deliver high stability and performance in a commercial scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM). The [Titan.sup.3] gives users the sub-[Angstrom] imaging capabilities of a powerful...

Small-delay defect test technology.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... The TetraMAX small-delay defect automatic test pattern generator (ATPG) is for use by design organizations to improve the quality of manufacturing tests. Small-delay defect ATPG creates patterns to test the smallest defects inside ICs that...

Wafer edge review module.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... This wafer edge review (WER) module is for the LDS3300 C automated defect detection, classification, and high resolution inline review system, which is used for front, back, and edge/bevel inspection and review of 45nm and 32nm devices. The WER...

Interface a client-side software library.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... This Interface A software solution, EDAConnect, is a client-side soft ware library designed to assist integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and third party soft ware providers in creating applications that can utilize the data available via...

Compact UV laser for wafer inspection.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The new Paladin Compact 355-4000 is reportedly the first solid-state, ultraviolet laser to deliver 4W of quasi-CW output (at 355nm) in a small footprint package. This laser is specifically designed for OEMs that will benefit from its...

Link-processing system.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... The model 9850 dual-beam, ultraviolet (UV) laser link-processing system can be used in advanced memory-repair applications. It is reportedly the world's first dual-beam, ultraviolet laser link-processing system designed for the most advanced...

300mm wafer probe card for burn-in test.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... The latest addition to its Harmony family of full-area, 300mm wafer probe solutions--the Harmony wafer-level burn-in (WLBI) probe card--is reportedly designed to maximize throughput, as well as ensure higher quality and reliability of...

Remote analysis station for optical critical dimension metrology.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The NanoStation remote analysis station is for optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology and incorporates the latest generation rigorous coupled-wave analysis-based OCD soft ware. The station features state-of-the-art multicore CPU technology...

Curing equipment with convection and long-wave IR heat sources.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The SCS Precision IRT, a curing system designed to quickly and safely cure a wide variety of coatings using both convection and long-wave infrared (IR) heat sources, combines both heat sources to provide an energy-efficient process that is less...

Desktop silicon validation and diagnostic platform.(PRODUCT NEWS)
December 1, 2007... The V550 desktop platform is part of a unified system that integrates design, test, and diagnostic environments, leading to the rapid detection and repair of failures. It allows design and DFT engineers to quickly validate initial silicon with...

Blended-product polymer.(PRODUCT NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... A new proprietary range of blended products, MAX-Series polymer, is designed to perform in demanding environments, specifically in applications requiring a combination of high temperature mechanical performance and dimensional stability. The...

Rising lithography costs: where's the crisis?(INDUSTRY FORUM)
December 1, 2007... As the semiconductor industry has advanced to the beat of Moore's Law, executives have repeatedly expressed concern about the rising cost of lithography. There is some concern that next-generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners could be...