Solid State Technology articles from October 2007

Solid State Technology archives from October 2007

50TH Anniversary.(Web Exclusives)
October 1, 2007... retrospective & outlook In November, Solid State Technology will celebrate our 50th anniversary with a special retrospective of highlights from the past half-century of the semiconductor industry, complete with a timeline of key technological...

A mature technology? Hardly.(Web Exclusives)
October 1, 2007... Bill Tobey, Consultant and SST Editorial Review Board member Over the past 50 years in the semiconductor industry, applications have been continuously added and extended, ultimately driving necessary changes in our technology base--some...

Functional scaling: a new paradigm in semiconductor technology.(Web Exclusives)(International SEMATECH)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Raj Jammy, Director of Front End Processes, SEMATECH The success of semiconductor technology has been due to our choice of semiconductor material--typically silicon--and the ability to form high-quality insulating layers from silicon. Th e...

Myths of manufacturing.(semiconductor chips)(Editorial)
October 1, 2007... The biggest challenge the chipmaking industry faces when transitioning from go-it-alone strategies to collaborative models may come not from any external sources, but rather from internal misconceptions about the the extent to which best...

Analyst: MPUs recovering, DSPs still struggling.(BUSINESS TRENDS)(Microprocessor Unit)(digital signal processors)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... After nearly a year and a half of price competition that undercut average selling prices (ASP), the microprocessor market should recover "modestly" in 2007 as PC demand now picks up, according to a report from IC Insights. [GRAPHICS...

Global semiconductor capital spending is projected to grow ~5% this year, entirely due to a spending splurge by Taiwan chipmakers who make up ~22% of all spending, according to Strategic Marketing Associates.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)
October 1, 2007... Global semiconductor capital spending is projected to grow ~5% this year, entirely due to a spending splurge by Taiwan chipmakers who make up ~22% of all spending, according to Strategic Marketing Associates. Taiwan's projected 50% increase (to...

Cadence Design Systems is acquiring Clear Shape Technologies.(USA)
October 1, 2007... Cadence Design Systems is acquiring Clear Shape Technologies, aiming to integrate Clear Shape's predictive (and manufacturing/ OPC/tool independent) lithography capabilities into the Cadence DFM environment.

Edwards (nee BOC Edwards) has sold most of its "Kachina" semiconductor equipment parts cleaning/refurbishment assets to Applied Materials.(USA)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Edwards (nee BOC Edwards) has sold most of its "Kachina" semiconductor equipment parts cleaning/refurbishment assets to Applied Materials, and its stake in a separate business to a Taiwan partner, in order to focus on "profitable growth" in its...

Intel.(USA)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Intel says it will move its embedded NOR flash products to 65nm process technologies to maintain "price/performance balance and ensure support for extended product lifecycles," with first samples expected in 1H08.

SMIC and Qimonda AG have extended their manufacturing partnership to 80nm DRAM trench at SMIC's 300mm fab in Beijing.(ASIAFOCUS)
October 1, 2007... SMIC and Qimonda AG have extended their manufacturing partnership to 80nm DRAM trench at SMIC's 300mm fab in Beijing, with an option to go down to 75nm.

China's fabless industry should surge more than 40% this year to $2.8 billion, according to iSuppli.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... China's fabless industry should surge more than 40% this year to $2.8 billion, according to iSuppli. Notable is growth among "second-tier" players, who should follow 75% sales growth in 2006 with another 60% this year to $660M.

Air Liquide is merging its two Japanese units, Japan Air Gases Ltd. (a gases provider) and Air Liquide Japan Ltd. (which builds gas plants).(ASIAFOCUS)
October 1, 2007... Air Liquide is merging its two Japanese units, Japan Air Gases Ltd. (a gases provider) and Air Liquide Japan Ltd. (which builds gas plants), to better compete with top domestic rival Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp., notes the Nikkei daily.

Elpida Memory aims to ramp to mass production of 65nm DRAMs at its Hiroshima plant during the current fiscal year.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Elpida Memory aims to ramp to mass production of 65nm DRAMs at its Hiroshima plant during the current fiscal year, and will then "quickly" move the technology to its Rexchip JV with Taiwan's Powerchip, according to the Nikkei daily.

Hynix is the first licensee of Innovative Silicon's ZRAM high-density technology for DRAMs.(ASIAFOCUS)
October 1, 2007... Hynix is the first licensee of Innovative Silicon's ZRAM high-density technology for DRAMs, in an "eight-figure deal" to use the technology to build memories.

TSMC wants to increase its stake in Vanguard International Semiconductor through a $168 million share purchase as part of a plan to boost its 200mm capacity.(ASIAFOCUS)(Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... TSMC wants to increase its stake in Vanguard International Semiconductor through a $168 million share purchase as part of a plan to boost its 200mm capacity, though the company says it "has no intention to merge" with Vanguard.

STMicroelectronics.(EUROFOCUS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The European Commission has given its approval for Neumonics, the proposed new JV entity combining flash memory assets of STMicroelectronics and Intel's NOR assets and resources.

Analog Devices.(EUROFOCUS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Analog Devices is phasing out a 150mm facility at its base in Limerick by the end of 2008, shift ing production to a newer 200mm facility on the site, according to the Irish Times.

Sumitomo Precision Products Co. has offered to buy the 37% of shares in the company it does not own in Surface Technology Systems Plc.(EUROFOCUS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Sumitomo Precision Products Co. has offered to buy the 37% of shares in the company it does not own in Surface Technology Systems Plc, a UK-based supplier of deep silicon etch and deposition systems.

Spike RTA+ms annealing may delay need for metal gates.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Results shared at the recent West Coast Junction Technology Group meeting indicated a spike rapid thermal anneal followed by a milli-second laser anneal improves polysilicon gate depletion to the extent that it opens up the possibility of being...

Bosch: deep etch tools on target for 100[micro]m/min throughput in 2-3 years.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Deep etching equipment is about to make a big jump in throughput, according to Franz Laermer, corporate sector research and advanced engineering at Robert Bosch GmbH, and inventor of the widely used Bosch process for deep reactive ion etching...

Ion sources get a new lease on life with in situ chemical cleaning.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Buildup of chemical residues inside an ion implanter limits the tool's overall utilization efficiency. James Dunn, Atmel Corp.'s equipment engineering section manager, described for SST the results of the company's evaluation of a new in situ...

Optical deep trench inspection keeps DRAMs out of the red.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Manufacturing of deep trenches poses great challenges, especially the etching of deep, high-aspect ratio (>20:1) bottle-shaped cavities into the silicon substrate. In particular, the sidewalls of high-aspect ratio trenches may collapse during...

Lam, Novellus both strip wafer edges.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Silicon wafer edges induce inherent non-uniformities in processing, and also seem to be the main source of defects for immersion lithography. Cleaning/stripping the wafer edge (or "bevel") is thus essential for production yield. Advanced fabs...

Interconnect: future nodes look beyond copper.(EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Although copper interconnects have become essential to the continuation of Moore's Law, they too have limits. Scattering effects lead to exponential increases in resistance as linewidth falls. Design optimizations and...

Fifty years of vacuum technology marked by evolutionary advances.(VACUUM)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Vacuum technology is not often considered as leading semiconductor manufacturing. However, a look back at the last 50 years reveals that it has played an essential supporting role. Complex interactions between vacuum and...

SiP and SoC will remain: co-existing system solutions.(TEST/ASSEMBLY/PACKAGING)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW System-in-package (SiP) and system-on-chip (SoC) approaches provide different advantages for different end-market applications. SiPs allow for relatively easy hetero-integration of analog and RF functionalities with...

Accelerating semiconductor R&D with combinatorial technology.(MATERIALS)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW High productivity combinatorial methods have been integrated with characterization systems and an informatics infrastructure to rapidly accelerate the pace of materials-based R&D. Massively parallel screening of...

Monitoring reciculated baths using NIR inline chemical analysis.(WAFER CLEANING)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Specialized chemical mixtures used in semiconductor processing are necessary for the surface preparation of wafers. As little as a 1% error in the dilution ratio can degrade yield in a sensitive process, both for acids...

Process monitoring and surface characterization with in-line XPS metrology.(METROLOGY)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW An X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) is used at 65nm and 45nm nodes to monitor nitrogen dose and the SiON thickness of ultra thin nitrided gate oxides as well as the thickness of amorphous silicon on top of an...

An efficient low-defectivity process for 193nm resist development.(RESISTS)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Increased lithography cluster tool productivity productivity is required to reduce the cost of ownership (COO) of today's advanced 193nm processes. Coater/developer systems, which make up one half of a lithography...

A methodology and system for automatic litho hot-spot repair.(LITHOGRAPHY)
October 1, 2007... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW This paper describes a design-for-manufacturing (DFM) methodology and system for optimizing layouts to eliminate hot spots. This approach takes into account actual foundry information, including defect data, fab-specific...

Scanning electron microscope.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Nova NanoSEM 30 series scanning electron microscope (SEM) features new low kV performance for surface characterization, high current for compositional analysis capabilities, and high-resolution operation in low vacuum to characterize...

XYZ piezo positioning and scanning stage.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The P-733.3CD, XYZ nanopositioning and scanning systems are designed for materials research, high resolution microscopy, ultra-precision alignment, and imaging applications. The parallel-kinematics design (only one common moving platform for...

High-performance silicon carbide.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... HALSIC high performance silicon carbide (SiC) materials for kiln furniture and other high-temperature environments reportedly provide absolute dimensional stability and thermal shock resistance despite extreme mechanical strain in high...

Processing system for FPDs.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The SSEC 3404 wet processor processes flat panel displays up to 500X500mm in size at rates to 100/hr. With single panel technology, the system provides a fully automated, dry-in/dry-out solution. The four processing modules in the SSEC 3404 can...

MBIR reflectance.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The IR3100N is a model-based infrared (MBIR) reflectance metrology solution for measuring 3D structures. It includes proprietary optics and an extended near infrared (NIR) measurement, making it well suited for online, highly automated...

Linear air-bearing stage.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The ABL 1500 series noncontact, linear, air-bearing stage is designed for high-performance scanning and inspection. Linear encoder feedback provides sub-nm resolution. Travel is up to 500mm. The ABL 1500 incorporates an active preload on both...

Advanced bulk gas purification system.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Aeronex gas purification system (AGPS) Z2 series purifies large volumes of purge gases used in dry and immersion-based lithography tools. Using multiple purifier beds working in parallel to maintain a continuous flow of pure gas, the beds...

High-flex round cable.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... This high-flex round cable offers shielded/ unshielded power and signal, video, Ethernet, IEEE 1394 and fiber optics and is available in either a single core with jacket for diameters

Diaphragm metering pumps.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The LKN series of motor driven, mechanically actuated diaphragm metering pump features a maximum capacity of 114gph and a maximum pressure of 225psi. Available in a wide range of materials, the LKN series is suitable for almost any chemical...

Wafer dicing cleaning solution.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The DiamaKleen cleaning solution removes dried-on particles left by silicon, PZT, other ceramics, and III-V materials. Reportedly nonhazardous and fast-acting, it is designed to clean the inside of wafer dicing saws and wafer backgrinders,...

Brightfield inspection system.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The 28xx brightfield inspection platform features specialized optical configurations that solve the unique defect detection challenges of sub-55nm memory and sub45nm logic chip manufacturers. Both the 2810 system for memory and the 2815 system...

High-pressure controller.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The HPC 1100 high-pressure controller allows attachment of particle counters to high pressure (30-150psi) inert gas systems, providing monitoring capability for possible process gas contamination. The controller zero counts in [ILLUSTRATION...

Epoxy resin system.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... In 6 mil thick films, the EP27 epoxy resin system will set in as little as 2 hrs at only 40[degrees]F and will cure in 48-72 hrs. It has a noncritical mix ratio of 2 to 1 by weight or volume and a low mixed viscosity of only 2000cps. EP27...

Ionizing blower.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... This in-tool ionizing blower model 5822i is designed for extremely tight ion balance and as a solution for ESD control in process tools used in the hard disk drive, backend semiconductor, and other automated manufacturing environments. The...

Universal design microscope.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The LV-UDM universal design microscope can be used in bioscience and materials science applications without the need to change hardware. Advanced illumination techniques for both transmitted and reflected light observations can be performed on...

Software for analyzing epitaxial layers.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The X'Pert Epitaxy and Smoothfit soft ware version 4.2 allows the detailed analysis of semiconductor epitaxial layers using the company's X'Pert PRO MRD and earlier high-resolution X-ray diffractometers. The package is part of this company's...

Platform redefines R&D speed.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Tempus HPC fully integrated combinatorial semiconductor R&D platform is a set of systems and methods that radically accelerate discovery and integration of new materials, new process technologies, and new device structures for chipmakers,...

Cleanroom-compatible filters.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Purafilter-CG and the Purafilter-FFU cleanroom-compatible filters use this company's patented dry-chemical media to target specific groups of gases in specific areas of cleanrooms. Third-party testing reportedly verifies that the filters do...

Multisurface inspection tools.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Explorer inspection cluster is a family of multisurface inspection tools designed to deliver macro inspection. Adopting the cluster concept from wafer processing tools, the Explorer System uses adaptive wafer scheduling and flexible...

High-res digital microscope.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The iVista high-resolution digital microscope reportedly delivers sharpness comparable to a 16-Megapixel color CCD. It has up to 40X digital zooming and allows the user to save the full-resolution and the multiview screen for documentation. It...

Vibration cancellation for SEMs.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The FloorPlatform PZT active inertial vibration cancellation system designed for scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) features sub-Hz vibration cancellation in an active hard-mount floor platform that fits most commercial SEMs. It is compatible...

Silicon drift detector.(PRODUCT NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The UltraDry detector detects very-low-energy X-rays down to beryllium with enhancements to the silicon drift sensor. The resulting clear peak separations in the low energy region allow for easier interpretation of spectra and exceptional...

DFM: What's real now?(INDUSTRY FORUM)
October 1, 2007... After nearly half a decade, design for manufacturing (DFM) has not provided the expected value to erstwhile users, in spite of the perceived need and vaunted advantages. For most DFM start-ups, life is still difficult; few have achieved...