Solid State Technology articles from November 2003

Solid State Technology archives from November 2003

E-manufacturing: still a long way to go.(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... There is a lot of talk these days about building lights-out semiconductor factories with total factory-wide control of scheduling and processing. Fab operators would be there only to monitor operations and perform maintenance. All process...

Book-to-bill data reflect chipmakers' caution.(Business Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Worldwide manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of an even 1.00 in August, down slightly from 1.02 in July but still the second consecutive month above the parity level, according to VLSI Research. A book-to-bill...

Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).(Worldwide Highlights)(sales data)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Worldwide semiconductor sales totaled $12.90 billion in July, up a bit from the $12.54 billion in revenues reported in June 2003, and a healthy 10.5% jump from $11.68 billion in sales a year ago, according to data from the Semiconductor...

Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, and Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, have develop new benchmarks for testing copper and low-k materials used in advanced interconnects.(USA)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, and Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, have developed new benchmarks for testing copper and low-k materials used in advanced interconnects. The project was conducted at Applied's Maydan Technology Center...

Dow Corning, Midland, MI, has formed a new business to serve the wideband gap semiconductor industry. Dow Corning Compound Semiconductor Solutions includes technology obtained through recent acquisitions, including silicon carbide (SiC), SiC thin-film technology, and gallium nitride thin-film technology.(USA)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Dow Corning, Midland, MI, has formed a new business to serve the wideband gap semiconductor industry. Dow Corning Compound Semiconductor Solutions includes technology obtained through recent acquisitions, including silicon carbide (SiC), SiC...

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), Shanghai, is reportedly considering buying a stake in an idle chip plant owned by Motorola in Tianjin.(China)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), Shanghai, is reportedly considering buying a stake in an idle chip plant owned by Motorola in Tianjin. Motorola had previously sought partners to help run the facilities. SMIC currently is...

Fujitsu.(China)(has completed its IC packaging and testing plant in Nantong)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Fujitsu has completed its IC packaging and testing plant in Nantong, in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. The facility has a package capacity of 1.5 billion ICs and 400 million tests/year.

Taiwanese chipset maker Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. (SiS) has proposed to spin off its 8-in. wafer fab into a fully owned subsidiary.(Taiwan)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Taiwanese chipset maker Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. (SIS) has proposed to spin off its 8-in. wafer fab into a fully owned subsidiary. The deal would create SiS Microelectronics, with an initial capitalization of $234 million, and stifle...

Siemens Dematic.(Taiwan)(new sales office in Taiwan)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Siemens Dematic hopes to strengthen its business for microbeam lasers, used to create tiny drillings for bonding circuit path levels, with a new sales office in Taiwan. The center will help domestic companies complete pilot applications and...

Olympus Optical Co. Ltd.(Japan)(creates new MEMS technology division)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., Tokyo, has formed a new MEMS technology division to unify its MEMS activities, including R&D and foundries. The deal will increase Olympus' MEMS facilities by 30% and expand its capabilities to 4- and 6-in. wafers.

Toshiba Corp.(Japan)(plans to quadruple productivity at its new 300mm plant in Oita)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Toshiba Corp. plans to quadruple productivity at its new 300mm plant in Oita, according to local media. The company will reportedly cut the number of trial productions from between three and six to one. Toshiba hopes to have the process ready...

Sipec Corp. will provide technical services to Central Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (CSMC), Japan's second-largest foundry.(Japan)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Sipec Corp. will provide technical services to Central Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (CSMC), Japan's second-largest foundry. Sipec will reportedly help transport and install 150mm equipment purchased from Chartered Semiconductor for CSMC's...

UMC Japan (UMCJ) has invested $45 million in UMC's 300mm affiliate in Singapore, UMCi.(Singapore)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... UMC Japan (UMCJ) has invested $45 million in UMC's 300mm affiliate in Singapore, UMCi. The investment will secure access to UMCi's capacity for up to 2000 wafers/ month, allowing UMCJ to serve its Japanese customers by providing access to...

Matsushita.(Singapore)(to invest more than $85 million in its operations in Singapore)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Matsushita says it will invest more than $85 million in its operations in Singapore, a third of which will go toward the island republic's first facility for manufacturing CCD image sensors. The remainder will be spent over the next three to...

Increasing production to meet demand, South Korea's exports of chips to China have more than doubled in the first seven months of 2003, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.(Korea)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Increasing production to meet demand, South Korea's exports of chips to China have more than doubled in the first seven months of 2003, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association. Exports by domestic chipmakers totaled...

The Malaysian government has purchased RFID chip technology from Japanese semiconductor developer FEC Inc. for an undisclosed amount.(Malaysia)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Malaysian government has purchased RFID chip technology from Japanese semiconductor developer FEC Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Silterra Malaysia and FEC will co-produce the "MM Chip," about 5x smaller than conventional RFID chips....

STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, and Alien Technology Corp., Morgan Hill, CA, have agreed to jointly design, develop, and manufacture low-cost RFID technology, with STMicro serving as a second-source for Alien's EPD Class 1 chips.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, and Alien Technology Corp., Morgan Hill, CA, have agreed to jointly design, develop, and manufacture low-cost RFID technology, with STMicro serving as a second-source for Alien's EPD Class 1 chips. The...

Siemens AG, Munich, Germany, and chemical supplier Air Products, Spring House, PA, have entered into a 5-year agreement expanding their efforts in process automation and safety technologies.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Siemens AG, Munich, Germany, and chemical supplier Air Products, Spring House, PA, have entered into a 5-year agreement expanding their efforts in process automation and safety technologies. The new deal covers all of Siemens' fieldbus-based...

E-manufacturing: do you know where your fab stands?(Technology News)
November 1, 2003... Ensuring secure e-manufacturing access to data is "crucial when designing a collaborative work environment," say Stuart Perry and Bill Ramus at ILS Technology, Boca Raton, FL. Perry and Ramus have been stepping through the security requirements...

Start-up company pursues a nonporous low-k solution.(Technology News)
November 1, 2003... Start-up Silecs has entered the low-k fray with an organosiloxane-based low-k dielectric material that is effectively nonporous (see table for materials properties). The company was founded in 2000 and is supported by organizations funded by...

Putting the squeeze on probe technology.(Technology News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... New low-k materials pose integration headaches not only for equipment suppliers and IC manufacturers, but also for those who test the die. With their threshold to cracking and structural failure an order-of-magnitude lower than traditional...

Strategies for high-productivity ALD.(Front End Of Line)(Atomic-layer deposition )
November 1, 2003... The unique properties of atomic-layer deposition (ALD) films have captured considerable interest from IC manufacturers facing challenging manufacturing needs. ALD films grow continuously on any substrate topology with complete conformality and...

Key process parameters for copper electromigration.(Interconnect)
November 1, 2003... While many challenges of dual damascene copper metallization have been addressed, reliability poses a serious concern, especially as the device node shrinks to 90nm and smaller. Migration from Al- to Cu-based metallization, in conjunction with...

Wafer-level packaging update.(Test/Assembly/Packaging)(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... All projections show wafer-level packaging (WLP) to be a leading driver of the semiconductor packaging industry over the next few years, and the current level of activity and recent developments indicate that this is already underway. Unit...

Evaluating the effects of internal gettering in epi Si. (epitaxial silicon structures).(Materials)
November 1, 2003... OVERVIEW A rigorous study of the efficiency of internal gettering under different conditions, comparing it to external and [p.sup.+] gettering, has shown it to be effective in [p.sup.+] substrates with backside polysilicon. This is true when...

Can technology keep pace with high aspect-ratio inspection?(Metrology series: Part 3)
November 1, 2003... OVERVIEW Inspecting deep within high aspect-ratio structures on ICs is an impending problem for fabs. Venerable optical technology simply will not work for fundamental reasons. The emerging possibilities include versions of holographic,...

MEMS and compound semiconductors: ready to take off? (microelectromechanical systems).(Special Report)(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... OVERVIEW As the semiconductor industry appears poised to come out of its worst slump ever, two promising markets may be approaching the time when their potential is finally realized. Global markets for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)...

Incorporating more gas control within cylinders.(Gases And Gas Handling)
November 1, 2003... The primary functions of a compressed-gas cylinder valve are to contain the gas inside the cylinder (isolation) and to allow controlled release of product to the delivery system. The valve outlet serves as the mechanical seal with the delivery...

Simplifying process integration using abrasive-free polishing.(CMP)
November 1, 2003... The move to copper interconnects has forced fabs to abandon subtractive metallization techniques. While PVD provides precise thickness control for aluminum deposition, no such luxury is available with copper metallization. CMP gives only...

Loadlock system handles substrates up to 300mm.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The TEAM-Mate Cassette 300 loadlock system loads flat substrates from a cassette into SEMI-standard or custom process modules. The magnetically coupled elevator system and linear glide mechanism allow substrates to be loaded and removed without...

Liquid particle counter measures to 0.2[micro]m.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The CLS-700 T corrosive-liquid sampler measures process chemicals at temperatures up to 150 [degrees] C, extracting fluid from a bath or drum and compressing it to remove unwanted bubbles that cause measurement inaccuracies. The sampler has...

Standalone metrology platform offers high throughput.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The Flexible Metrology System (FMS) is a cost-efficient, standalone platform that supports up to four modules configured according to the user's process-module needs for integrated metrology capability. Modules can be set up for various...

Liquid-based control systems provide temperature stability.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... A new line of liquid-based temperature-control systems has single-and dual-channel capabilities to provide semiconductor production tools with temperature stability from 20-200 [degrees] C. The systems feature a fully sealed fluid system with O...

Perfluoroelastomer for plasma systems.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The new Chemraz 639 perfluoroelastomer for sealing aggressive plasma systems reduces contamination in oxygen--and fluorine-processing environments. The product's cleanliness is supported by its low metallic-ion content ( [ILLUSTRATION...

Metrology software.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The newly released WAFERMAP version 2.3 metrology software now supports new file formats, importing data files from Filmetrics and QC Solutions for nondestructive, real-time process monitoring. Now used under Windows XP, the software collects,...

Flip-chip bonder.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The Mach FC Plus high-speed, automated flip-chip bonder performs parallel processing of flip-chip devices to achieve high throughput. Process steps such as picking, flipping, fluxing, vision alignment, and controlled die placement are performed...

Vacuum-management tool.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The SmartPump vacuum-management tool features high vacuum flow, low air consumption, an intuitive programming interface, and automatic blowoff; if vacuum builds up, the system will inject pressurized air into the cup to destroy the vacuum. It...

X-ray inspection system.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The FMS-080.20 x-ray inspection system is designed for contract manufacturers, failure-analysis labs, and other end users who require small systems with simple functionality for lead-free solder-joint inspection. The micro-focus sealed tube...

Photomask cleaning tool extends mask-set lifetimes.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The ClearIQ photomask cleaning tool is an enhanced version of a previous tool for cleaning masks and glass plates. ClearIQ's cleaning capabilities for both binary and phase-shift mask layers can extend the lifetime of a mask set and lower the...

Powder coating.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The Kynar Flex 2850PC grade of PVDF designed for powder coating applications is of a grade that contains no additives and offers the same high purity as other Kynar grades. Complex components coated with Kynar Flex 2850PC resin meet...

Compact nanopositioning system.(Product News)
November 1, 2003... The TRITOR100 SG Compact system handles sub-nm positioning with a closed loop motion of 80 [micro] m in three axes. The small size of the TRITOR100 SG Compact allow it to be easily combined with other mechanical positioning systems. 100 [micro]...

What's driving test? (test industry, includes related article).(Perspectives)(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... Solid State Technology asked industry executives to comment on what's driving test industry and where it needs to go. Cost-per-die pressures driving structural test The test sector will undergo significant changes over the next few...