Solid State Technology articles from January 2003

Solid State Technology archives from January 2003

Letter.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2003... Monkeyshines I enjoyed your November editorial "What will get the monkey off our back?" Perhaps one monkey mover is solid state illumination: LEDs. We have seen LEDs shift from indicators to illumination for traffic lights, marker...

The rocky road to 300mm automated factories. (Editorial).(quality testing)(Editorial)
January 1, 2003... We've all seen the commercial with the greasy mechanic warning: "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later...." This is a lesson the semiconductor industry is learning the hard way. For years there has been talk about developing built-in...

Chip sales rise, equipment orders still down in October. (Business Trends).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Chip sales were up month-to-month and year-to-year in October, sign of a healthy industry recovery, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), San Jose, CA. Global semiconductor sales reached $12.5 billion in October 2002, a...

The MEMS Industry Group. (Worldwide Highlights).(partnership with NEXUS European microsystems network)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The MEMS Industry Group (MIG), a trade association representing North American MEMS and microstructure industries, and NEXUS, a European microsystems network, Grenoble, France, have entered into a partnership to foster development and...

Nikkei Market Access. (Worldwide Highlights).(forecasts, capacity data for global semiconductor industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Modest growth in semiconductor sales and limited fab expansion will likely bring demand back in balance with the supply of fab capacity in 2003, projects Nikkei Market Access. The research group figures the industry had about 10% oversupply in...

Olympus Integrated Technologies America. (World News: USA).(forms agreement with International Sematech)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Olympus Integrated Technologies America, San Jose, CA, has entered into an agreement with International SEMATECH (ISMT) to characterize and refine the use of DUV imaging for defect review and process control in the fab. The Olympus FR 3200 ADC...

MKS Instruments. (World News: USA).(MKS Instruments Inc. lays off 120 workers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MKS Instruments, Andover, MA, has laid off an additional 120 people, about 6% of its work force, in an effort to lower operating costs. The company had reduced its staff by 173, or about 7%, in mid-September.

Entegris Inc. (World News: USA).(cut 121 jobs, will close plant in Upland, California)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Entegris Inc., Chaska, MN, will close its manufacturing facility in Upland, CA, and shift production to Chaska, MN. Additionally, the company has also eliminated 121 positions, or 7% of its worldwide work force.

Royal Philips Electronics. (World News: USA).(Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Royal Philips Electronics, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, plans to phase out the closure of its semiconductor fab in Albuquerque, NM, at the end of 2003. The core production team will remain in place into 3Q03, at which time manufacturing will be...

Akrion. (World News: USA).(Akrion L.L.C. expands plant in Allentown, PA)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Akrion has expanded its primary plant at its headquarters in Allentown, PA, to 9600 [ft.sup.2], dedicating 2500 [ft.sub.2] of this space to the manufacture of its automated and semiautomated immersion cleaning systems, Akros and V3. The plant...

Isonics Corp. (World News: USA).(to create subsidiary to commercialize identified trace detection technologies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Isonics Corp., Golden, CO, plans to create a subsidiary to commercialize identified trace detection technologies for the homeland security field. Details of the subsidiary will be announced in the near future.

ChemFirst Inc. (World News: USA).(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. acquires ChemFirst Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... DuPont has acquired ChemFirst Inc. The deal includes two semiconductor fabrication materials businesses to be known as EKC Technology and Electronic Polymers, and a chemical intermediates business that will operate as First Chemical Corp.

Applied Materials Inc. (World News: USA).(plans to cut about 1,750 jobs worldwide)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA, will reduce its global work force by about 1750, or approximately 11%, as a result of the continuing downturn in the semiconductor industry. Some 800 positions at the company's Silicon Valley operations...

Amkor Technology Inc. (World News: USA).(ends talks regarding purchase of Fujitsu Ltd.'s semiconductor assembly, test operation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Amkor Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, and Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, have ended talks relating to Amkor's proposed purchase of Fujitsu's semiconductor assembly and test operation in Kagoshima, Japan. Amkor president and COO John Boruch cited...

Asyst Technologies Inc. (World News: USA).(acquires 51% of AsystShinko Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Asyst Technologies Inc., Fremont, CA, has completed its acquisition of 51% of AsystShinko Inc., a Japanese JV company formed by the carve-out of the automated materials handling systems division of Shinko Electric Co. Ltd.

International Sematech. (World News: USA).(signs cross-licensing agreement with DuPont Photomasks)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Through a recently signed cross-licensing agreement, International SEMATECH (ISMT) and DuPont Photomasks have combined their IP for producing test photomasks to strengthen photomask inspection and repair systems standards. Under terms of the...

JSR Micro NV. (World News: Eurofocus).(builds KrF photosensitive resists plant in Leuven, Belgium)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... JSR Micro NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based TSR Corp., has completed construction of its newest semiconductor materials manufacturing facility in Leuven, Belgium. The facility will produce KrF photosensitive resists.

Spectris plc. (World News: Eurofocus).(acquired Philips Analytical X-Ray B.V.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Spectris plc, Almelo, The Netherlands, has completed its acquisition of Philips Analytical, The company has been renamed PANalytical, and will form part of the process technology sector of Spectris.

Infineon Technologies. (World News: Eurofocus).(Infineon Technologies, Nanya Technology Corp. sign DRAM cooperation agreement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany, and Nanya Technology Corp., Taoyuen, Taiwan, have signed final contracts concerning strategic cooperation on DRAM. The agreement provides for the joint development of advanced 0.09 and 0.07[mu]m...

IMEC. (World News: Eurofocus).(will build 300 mm silicon research foundry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... IMEC will build a 300mm silicon research foundry to address process research two generations ahead of current industry manufacturing. The new fab will be built next to IMEC's existing facilities in Leuyen, Belgium, and should be fully...

Communicant Semiconductor Technologies AG. (World News: Eurofocus).(gets European Union approval for government subsidies for its foundry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Communicant Semiconductor Technologies AG has received European Union approval for federal and state government subsidies to fund its foundry. The subsidies will pay for jobs created at its headquarters in Frankfurt.

Micronas. (World News: Eurofocus).(buys license for MIPS Technologies' core IP for new product development)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Micronas, Freiburg, Germany, has purchased a license for California-based MIPS Technologies' core IP for new product development. Micronas will offer high-performance and low-power designs for home entertainment platforms.

STMicroelectronics. (World News: Eurofocus).(has developed a contactless smart card IC with Fujitsu)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, and Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, have teamed to develop the STl9ZR01, a contactless smart card IC with FRAM and ROM, but no standard RAM. A demonstrator product, which includes an on-board library of...

Shenzhen STS Microelectronics. (World News: China).(will set up ASIC research center with Shenzhen Graduate School of Tsinghua University)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Shenzhen STS Microelectronics, a joint venture between STMicroelectronics (ST), the Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Co. Ltd., and Shenzhen Graduate School of Tsinghua University have signed a collaboration agreement to establish a joint ASIC...

Tower Semiconductor. (World News: Israel).(joins ARM Foundry Program)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Tower Semiconductor has joined the ARM Foundry Program. Through the program, Tower will gain access to two of ARM's embedded microprocessor cores, enabling Tower to produce ARM core-based products in its Fab 2 facility.

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (World News: Israel).(will launch corporate reorganization)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. will undertake a corporate reorganization and operational adjustment program, as a result of the difficult economic environment and near-term industry forecasts. The reorganization consolidates Nova products into...

Mitsubishi Corp. (World News: Japan).(will set up US nanotechnology company called Tailored Material)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Mitsubishi Corp. will establish a nanotechnology firm in the US to develop microscopic carbon nanotubes. The new company, Tailored Material Corp., will develop carbon nanotube technology for next-generation thin displays for mass production in...

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (World News: Japan).(will work with IMEC to develop high-k gate stacks for sub-65nm devices)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and independent electronics R&D center IMEC, Leuven, Belgium, will collaborate on the development and implementation of high-k gate stacks for sub-65nm devices. As part of the contract, a Matsushita...

Komatsu Electronic Metals. (World News: Japan).(to expand 300 mm wafer capacity by 2005)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Komatsu Electronic Metals will expand its capacity to make 300mm wafers to 45,000 wafers/month by 2005. The company will add tools in its Miyazaki plant by the middle of next year to increase capacity from 10,000 to 15,000 wafers/month. Then it...

Mitsui & Co. (World News: Japan).(purchases majority stake in Teksel)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Mitsui & Co has bought a majority stake in Teksel Co. Mitsui plans to launch a joint venture with Teksel and then merge its own semiconductor subsidiary with its new partner. In other news, the company has started trial operations of its new...

Fujitsu Ltd. (World News: Japan).(will reduce work force by 10% at three US subsidiaries)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Fujitsu Ltd. will cut the work force at its three US subsidiaries by 10% as part of restructuring efforts, which include halting the marketing of transmission devices for long distance communications, and substantially scaling down information...

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (World News: Korea).(will sell FPD unit to BOE Technology Group of China)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Hynix Semiconductor Inc. has signed a final agreement to sell its FPD unit to China's BOE Technology Group Inc. BOE is set to take on all of the unit's 1700 employees for two years.

Silicon Tech Ltd. (World News: Korea).(will build IC plant in China with Tec-Hill Group)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Silicon Tech Ltd. has signed an agreement with Hong Kong's Tec-Hill Group to build an IC production plant in Shenyang, China. Construction of the plant will begin in April.

1st Silicon. (World News: Malaysia).(receives $614 mil in equity and credit)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... 1st Silicon has received US$614 million in equity and credit. The funds will be used to purchase the chipmaking equipment the company needs to bring its fab up to capacity levels.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. (World News: Malaysia).(is reducing global work force by about 7%)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing is reducing its worldwide work force by about 300 people or approximately 7%. Some 60% of the employees affected are manufacturing operators in Chartered's Singapore fabs; the rest are operations, support,...

Sony Corp. (World News: Taiwan).(will establish innovation and R&D center in Taiwan)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Sony Corp. has announced plans to set up an innovation and R&D center in Taiwan. It will also establish an IC design center at the Nankang IC Design Park in Taipei, with opening set for early next year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (World News: Taiwan).(predicts plant utilization will be close to 60% in the fourth quarter)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) has raised its forecast for 4Q utilization to "close to 60%," from an earlier prediction of between 50 and 60%. TSMC also said wafer shipments in the fourth quarter would approximately equal...

One nano step toward efficient LED lighting. (Technology News).(Kopin introduces blue light-emitting diodes smaller than a grain of sand, based on nanotechnology)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf Engineers at Kopin Corp. (Taunton, MA) are using nanotechnology (patent pending as NanoPockets) to produce "CyberLites"--blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) smaller than a grain of sand (Fig. 1). The new LEDs are as...

193nm phase-shift litho delivers 30nm gates. (Technology News).(Sony and Toshiba develop 65 nm CMOS technology)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf A group of engineers from Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. (Yokohama, Japan) has revealed "first-reported" 65nm CMOS technology. They developed this technology for high-performance system on a chip (SOC) applications,...

Technique gives thin metals suitable for MRRMs. (Technology News).(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers develop technique for depositing flat, ultrathin metallic layers on thin oxide layers)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf A team of National Laboratory scientists has developed and patented a technique that can deposit flat, ultrathin metallic layers on very thin oxide layers, circumventing the tendency of metal atoms to cluster in...

Leapfrogging Moore's Law via IC design. (Technology News).(Infineon Technologies' new My Virtual Processor IC design technology)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany, has a new IC design technology -- dubbed MyVP or My Virtual Processor -- that "jumps over the limitations of Moore's Law" without reducing transistor size or changing...

Local euros kick-start 300mm IMEC fab. (Technology News).(IMEC will build 300 mm silicon research foundry next to existing facilities in Leuven, Belgium)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf Calling it a "platform," IMEC has committed to building a 300mm silicon research foundry (see figure) that will address process research at least two generations ahead of current industry manufacturing. The new fab...

Favorable results without wet chemicals in dry FEOL resist strip-clean. (Frond End of Line).(LSI Logic and Ulvac Technologies develop production process that eliminates wet cleans for post high-dose ion implantation)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf Engineers from LSI Logic, Gresham, OR, and Ulvac Technologies, Methuen, MA, have developed a production process eliminating sulfuric-acid hydrogen-peroxide wet cleans for post high-dose ion implantation. It combines...

Why we need to rethink copper low-k reliability issues. (Interconnect).
January 1, 2003... With the introduction of copper and low-k dielectric interconnects for advanced ICs, the semiconductor industry faces tremendous new challenges because reliability performance and failure mechanisms are not well understood (see figure)....

[+ or -]0.3A repeatability on TaN under Cu. (Interconnect).(PANalytical conducts work on titanium nitride)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Pieter "Pete" Burggraaf While tantalum nitride (TaN) forms an excellent barrier layer in copper interconnect schemes, with low resistivity and excellent adhesion to provide good contact to the copper, characterizing TaN films is still an...

Where's the metal? (ALD Special Report).(atomic layer deposition)(Illustration)(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... OVERVIEW This report covers traditional ALD applied to BEOL and FEOL applications, as well as process technology evolving into ALD. Even with all the progress at the leading edge of ALD, however, at least one researcher is looking for more...

High-k gate dielectric applications using ALD Hf-based oxides. (Atomic Layer Deposition Special Report).
January 1, 2003... OVERVIEW Charge trapping and electron mobility degradation in MOSFET performance are the most serious challenges to the integration of high-k dielectric materials. The hydroxyl ion, [OH.sup.-], a prevailing impurity in [H.sub.2]O-based...

Accurate measurements in the DUV PEB process. (Thermal Processing).(deep ultraviolet post-exposure bake)(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... OVERVIEW The 2001 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) shows the microprocessor gate 3[sigma] critical dimension control shrinking from 4.3nm in 2002 to 2.0nm in 2007 [1]. Maintaining such critical dimension...

SPA plasma for sub-100nm. (Deposition).(slot plane antenna)
January 1, 2003... OVERVIEW As semiconductor designs are downscaled to sub-100nm nodes, low thermal budgets and critical requirements for microscopic uniformities, such as low micro-roughness, along with process dependency on crystal orientation and...

OCR strategy for successful 100% single-wafer tracking. (Automation/Robotics/Wafer Handling).(AMD engineers create a concept)
January 1, 2003... OVERVIEW Increasingly, semiconductor manufacturing is migrating toward fully automated all single-wafer processing because it provides improvements in cycle time and yield. Even for established fabs with some combination of automation and...

Metrology for copper CMP. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... The Nano CLP-9010 copper laser profiler nondestructively monitors the metal loss between an isolated copper feature and the surrounding dielectric region. The measurement module is a high-throughput, small-spot-size laser profiler that can be...

Etch tool process control. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Ingenio is an advanced process control (APC) system for real-time data collection and analysis. It is currently available for the Unity (200mm) and Telius (300mm) etch systems. Ingenio TL ES is a tool-level system that offers real-time...

Step-and-scan system. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The TWINSCAN AT:1200B step-and-scan system is a high numerical aperture (NA) 193nm system designed to extend ArF imaging technology for volume production of devices with features as small as 80nm. The third-generation ArF system is based on the...

Optical diagnostic platform. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Optonics EmiScope product line is a solution for design debug and failure analysis in advanced ICs. The EmiScope is a noninvasive, passive optical diagnostic platform that gives product developers node-level visibility of timing information...

Ultrathin-film metrology. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Theta 300 provides nondestructive characterization of all types of ultrathin films, including complex new gate dielectrics. It measures, nondestructively: thickness of single and multiple layers from atomic monolayers to 10nm; depth profiles;...

Gas delivery system. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The SpectraSure gas cabinet features a flow-through process gas path that eliminates the requirement for multiple vacuum venturi systems. The system's "5-plus" panel design reduces dry-down time and minimizes dead spaces in the process flow...

Alignment accuracy measurement system. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The EVG4O top-to-bottom side alignment accuracy measurement system is the alternative, destruction-free solution for alignment accuracy measurement of double-sided structured wafers. It accurately measures any substrate material up to 200mm...

Ultrahigh-resolution analytical FESEM. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The SUPRA range of field emission scanning electron microscopes (FESEM) combine ultrahigh-resolution imaging and analysis in one instrument. Semiconductor, nanoscale technology and material analysis applications benefit from resolution of 1.7nm...

PZT nanopositioning/scanning stages. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... HERA stages are long-travel, precision-guided PZT nanopositioning stages that provide a linear travel range of up to 600[mu]m and optional sub-nm-resolution capacitive position feedback in a package as small as 40 x 40 x 15mm. HERA systems are...

Monitoring molecular surface contamination. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The FlowThru AiM monitor samples clean-room air to detect trace level depositions of molecular contamination on critical surfaces. The FlowThru system draws a sample through Teflon tubing, then passes the sample across selective surfaces such...

Multi-variate fault detection. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... iProcess-FDC is a new software product for monitoring factory-wide process and tool health through both the internet and intranets. iProcess-FDC (fault detection and classification) provides data visualization, virtual sensor modeling, and...

Compact, diode pumped lasers. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The DC Series air-cooled, diode pumped, harmonic, solid-state Q-switched lasers offer a compact "hands-free" system designed to address low-power applications in the infrared (1053/1064nm), green (527/532nm), UV (351/355nm), and Deep UV...

Communications software. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GWconX300 software is used to implement communications links on wafer-fabrication equipment, using the new SEMI standard protocols required for all 300mm and advanced 200mm factory-automation systems. It provides run-time software libraries...

Motorized micropositioner. (Product News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... This micropositioner provides high-precision motion control, in three dimensions, by remote control. Model XYZ-500 MIMT is motorized and may be controlled either by computer or joystick. It addresses a wide spectrum of analytical, test,...

SST editors ask ITRS authors about tough roadmap problems. (Perspectives).(International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors)
January 1, 2003... At the end of 2002, the authors of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) revised the roadmap's tables, which indicate future problems the semiconductor industry must address. After the tables' release, Solid State...