Solid State Technology articles from September 2003

Solid State Technology archives from September 2003

Let's keep a wary eye on China.(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... In recent times, the semiconductor process tool industry has viewed China as the one shining light in a very gloomy market. Limitations on advanced tools for China appear to be rapidly being relaxed or ignored while new foundries and fabs there...

Recovery for 2004 predicted, new technologies introduced at SEMICON West.(Worldwide Highlights)
September 1, 2003... In July, industry leaders at SEMICON West generally agreed that the semiconductor equipment and materials industry is ready to come out of its prolonged downturn, and that 2004 will be a turnaround year with strong growth--but not as...

ETEC Systems, Hayward, CA, has been awarded a $13.5 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.(USA)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... ETEC Systems, Hayward, CA, has been awarded a $13.5 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop sub-45nm lithography systems. Under terms of the agreement, ETEC will research and develop a raster multiple-beam...

Schlumberger Verification Systems, Concord, MA, and LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas, CA, have established a joint development program.(USA)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Schlumberger Verification Systems, Concord, MA, and LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas, CA, have established a joint development program to explore metrology for the 65nm process node. Under terms of the deal, LSI will bring a Schlumberger...

Matheson Tri-Gas Inc.(USA)(has formed a new electronic and specialty gas equipment team)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., Parsippany, NJ, has formed a new electronic and specialty gas equipment team to serve customers requiring high-purity gas delivery systems. The team will be led by John Smickenbecker, director of ESG equipment sales.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, and the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Venture Co. Ltd., Suzhou, China are setting up a joint venture for the assembly and testing of memory ICs.(China)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, and the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Venture Co. Ltd., Suzhou, China, are setting up a joint venture for the assembly and testing of memory ICs. The agreement provides for the construction of...

ST Assembly Test Service Ltd.(China)(will invest $10 million to set up a manufacturing plant in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai's Pudong District)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... ST Assembly Test Service Ltd. (STATS) announced it will invest $10 million to set up a manufacturing plant in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai's Pudong District. STATS will transfer some equipment from its Singapore facilities to the new...

Nikon Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. will jointly develop liquid immersion exposure technology.(Japan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Nikon Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. will jointly develop liquid immersion exposure technology. The two companies will share expertise in an effort to develop key technologies by the end of 2003.

Canon.(Japan)(plans to invest more than [yen] 200 billion to establish four new domestic R&D centers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Canon plans to invest more than [yen] 200 billion to establish four new domestic R&D centers by 2005. The company is looking to increase its resources in the advanced displays, nanotechnology, and next-generation semiconductor production...

Nikon Corp. and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co. will collaborate on photolithography process.(Japan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Nikon Corp. and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co. will collaborate on a photolithography process for next-generation semiconductors made with circuits narrower than 90nm. The two companies will work to combine Nikon's steppers with Dainippon Screen's...

Samsung Electronics.(Korea)(almost completed a 300mm wafer line at its chip plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Samsung Electronics will complete a 300mm wafer line at its chip plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, within this year, which is earlier than its original deadline. When the line is up and running, Samsung will be able to produce a total of...

The Korean Semiconductor Association.(Korea)(started an initiative to achieve technological independence in producing chips)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Korean Semiconductor Association (KSIA) has started an initiative to achieve technological independence in producing chips. The KSIA comprises about 220 firms, including Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing will provide multiyear volume-manufacturing services for Infenion Technologies AG.(Singapore)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing will provide multiyear volume-manufacturing services for Infineon Technologies AG. The agreement includes lnfineon's OptiMOS technology, with potential expansion to the company's CoolMOS technology. Both...

UMC has entered into a partnership with Barcelona Design Inc.(Taiwan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... UMC has entered into a partnership with Barcelona Design Inc., to develop synthesizable PLL and ADC solutions targeted at UMC process technologies, including 180, 150, and 130nm processes. The partnership will also enable UMC to provide...

Intel.(Taiwan)(plans to build a $29 million chip design center in Taiwan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Intel reportedly plans to build a $29 million chip design center in Taiwan, its first in the Asia Pacific region. The facility will develop designs for chips and system platforms, and partner with domestic organizations to develop chips for...

ASML, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, and Micronic Laser Systems AB, Taby, Sweden, are forming a joint venture to develop optical maskless lithography system.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... ASML, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, and Micronic Laser Systems AB, Taby, Sweden, are forming a joint venture to develop an optical maskless lithography system using ASML's lithography technology and Micronic's mask pattern generator. Maskless...

Ricoh Co.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Ricoh Co. will raise monthly production capacity for 200mm wafers at its Yashiro plant in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, to 6500 from the current 5500. The move is designed to respond to demand for power management chips used in mobile phones...

The European Commission is investigating 76.8 million [euro] ($87 million) in aid from the Portuguese government to German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG. The commission needs to verify whether a Portuguese subconductor, Technicos-Fabrico de Semiconductores SA, is eligible to receive the aid.(Eurofocus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The European Commission is investigating 76.8 million [euro] ($87 million) in aid from the Portuguese government to German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG. The commission needs to verify whether a Portuguese subcontractor, Technicos-Fabrico...

Better, less expensive clean without megasonics.(Technology News)
September 1, 2003... Engineers at NOVO Research, San Jose, CA, have developed a megasonic-free single-wafer ozone cleaning process--dubbed OzoneJet--that achieves high particle removal efficiency without damaging wafer patterns. This technology targets conventional...

Technique improves range of new CMP tool.(Technology News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... To counter the kinds of defects that will increasingly occur at 65mm when using spin rinse dryers--due to precipitates left in watermarks--a new CMP tool, Applied Materials' Reflexion LK, incorporates a Desica cleaner with an alternative drying...

Wafers stack on copper Super-Vias.(Technology News)(Tachyon Semiconductor Private Ltd.)
September 1, 2003... A set of multiwafer stacks--reportedly the first ever built with vertical through-silicon connections--has demonstrated the electrical connectivity needed for tightly integrated 3-D semiconductor chips. Engineers created these wafer stacks...

Technologies to improve 300mm substrate performance.(Technology News)(Wacker Siltronic AG)
September 1, 2003... New differentiating technologies are expected to boost substrate performance in the 300mm wafer generation--possibly bringing higher margins to silicon suppliers and certainly bringing them plenty of new demands for their R&D spending. ...

Optimizing processing equipment using virtual prototyping.(Front End of Line)
September 1, 2003... In the past, issues related to fluid flow distribution, heat transfer, and chemical reactions in semiconductor-manufacturing equipment were addressed by trial-and-error methods whose cost and lead time made it very difficult to optimize...

Passionate about innovations that reduce cost of test.(Advertisement: www.keithley.com)
September 1, 2003... At Keithley instruments, we define innovation somewhat differently than other test system suppliers. very simply, we believe the most important innovations we can offer our customers are those that help them reduce their Cost of Test (COT)....

Advanced devices using low-temperature NiSi formation.(Interconnect)
September 1, 2003... Low-temperature ( Among the many silicides, nickel silicide is considered to be one of the most suitable materials for deep submicron, self-aligned silicide (salicide) applications. Key benefits of nickel silicide over other silicides...

Signs of progress with packaging Cu low-k chips.(Test/Assembly/Packaging)
September 1, 2003... The industry-wide struggles to integrate copper low-k processes with the rest of the semiconductor manufacturing flow have been thoroughly documented [1]. Much of the difficulty with the new materials has related to physical stress imparted by...

Breakthrough factory productivity using e-Manufacturing.(E-Manufacturing)
September 1, 2003... OVERVIEW For several years, many in the industry have criticized the shortcomings of lab automation, including the somewhat desperate need to package it all as e-Manufacturing. Is it all coming together now? Here is a rundown of the vision...

Success using e-diagnostics at LSI Logic.(E-Diagnostics)
September 1, 2003... OVERVIEW e-Diagnostics has been highly touted, but slow to start in semiconductor manufacturing. Only now are we seeing concrete examples of its power. Here is a strong example of how the ability to electronically look at production processing,...

Yield enhancement from wafer backside inspection.(Contamination Control)
September 1, 2003... OVERVIEW While defects have always been a concern in wafer processing, until recently little attention has focused on backside defects, simply due to the lack of suitable methods and little awareness about effects. Now, using newly facilitated...

Exploring the link between nanotechnology and metrology.(Metrology Series: Part 2)
September 1, 2003... The future of microelectronics and nanotechnology are, intimately tied together. The smallest feature sizes on today s ICs are already falling below 50nm. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors projects that in 15 years the...

Challenges in advanced wafer test probing.(Wafer-Level Test)
September 1, 2003... OVERVIEW New semiconductor materials, alternative pad constructions, and ever-shrinking geometries are driving up the complexity and the cost of wafer test. Meanwhile, technical requirements for contact technologies are escalating and the rapid...

Attendees choose "best-in-show" products.(Semicon West)
September 1, 2003... For the first time, attendees at the SEMICON West exhibition and conference in July got to choose the best products in three different categories as Solid State Technology (SST) debuted the first annual Attendees' Choice Awards at the show. ...

Handheld particle counter has 0.2[mu]m sensitivity.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The Handheld 2016 particle counter is claimed to be the first and only handheld counter with 0.2[mu] sensitivity. It displays six channels of particle data in either cumulative or differential mode, as well as temperature and relative humidity...

Dry etch equipment for 65nm maskmaking.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Mask Etcher IV uses ICP dry etch technology for 65nm maskmaking. The technology platform reportedly provides better ICP process solutions over previous systems, including particle control, ultra-low CD etch bias, CD uniformity, and feature-size...

300mm coating/developing system is for DUV lithography.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The R[F.sup.3] 300mm coating/developing system is for advanced DUV lithography. The new track delivers 150 wafers/hour throughput, which meets the demand of next-generation scanners. Plans are in place to increase this capability to 180...

Bumping equipment offers high throughput.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... PacLine 2000-A50 is a fully automatic, wafer-level electroless nickel/gold bumping system that provides high throughput, with an average processing time of only 20 min, which translates into 150 200mm wafers/hr, or 75 300mm wafers/hr. This is a...

Integrated metrology platform.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... ISM300 integrated technology platform is a compact XY-Theta positioning system designed for fast and accurate measurements in applications including 300mm wafer metrology, thin film measurements, overlay metrology, and characterization of both...

Combination spin track.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... TrackTrix XP Combo combines coat, bake, chill, and develop functions in a spin track that is claimed to be half the size and cost of competitive systems. Features include Sof-Touch wafer handling for silicon and III-V substrates and a Windows...

Fluoropolymer membrane.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The Ultikleen Excellar all-fluoropolymer membrane reduces defect-causing particles from the chemical cleaning solutions used in semiconductor processing. The filter is designed with a new 0.03[mu]m PTFE non-dewetting membrane that enables...

Overlay technology option.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The diffraction-based overlay (DBO) technology option for the 9300 advanced 300mm metrology system is based on the spectroscopic method, rather than traditional imaging overlay technologies. The DBO technology is claimed to achieve the...

E-diagnostic enhancement.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... eMatrix adds an added dimension to e-Diagnostic and advanced process control (APC) systems that currently rely solely on equipment data. eMetrix is for seamless and accessible integration of the manufacturer's integrated process monitors...

Piping and fusion system.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The SYGEF Plus piping system and IR 315 Plus fusion machine is for ultra-pure water applications. The large-sized piping system is designed to meet requirements for 300mm wafer processing. Chipmakers can install a single 250mm or 315mm-dia....

Expanded robot teacher.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... EZTeach technology now offers extended functionality, including apparatus, algorithms, teaching wizards, and fully developed diagnostic scripts, thereby simplifying the robot teaching process, optimizing operator interface, and reducing the...

Electric pinch valve for CMP.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... This advanced PV series of pinch valves has been expanded to include the PV-EL, which is designed for CMP slurry applications. The PV-EL provides good resistance to wear from slurry abrasions, and can provide flow control as low as 10cc/min,...

Excimer laser.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The compact 500Hz, OPTexPro excimer laser with solid state pulser is for applications that include mask and wafer inspection, and surface analysis. Design features such as air cooling, a maintenance-free solid state pulser, and stable energy...

PVDF powder coating.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Kynar Flex 2850PC, a new grade of PVDF designed for powder-coating applications, contains no additives. Complex components coated with Kynar Flex 2859PC resin meet semiconductor and cleanroom requirements, and possess good chemical and abrasion...

Low-cost minibatch furnace.
September 1, 2003... The MBF minibatch furnace is a single-chamber process tool for 200mm and 300mm wafer processes. The MBF platform is a low-cost system for new applications where small lots are processed, especially in foundry manufacturing. Good process...

The heir apparent to SECS.(Perspectives)
September 1, 2003... While SECS/GEM standards have served the industry well overall, they will not meet future equipment integration demands for two reasons: the need to serve multiple clients simultaneously and the need for wafer-level control. More...

Data quality is key.(Perspective)
September 1, 2003... The move toward 300mm and total automation has heightened the importance of equipment-to-factory integration. One of the fundamental sticky points is the correctness of the information of the SECS/GEM link. We have matured to the point where we...

Let's consider API.(Perspectives)
September 1, 2003... Next-generation equipment, as well as new lab-to-fab equipment hitting lab production lines for the first time, pose a difficult challenge for integrators of new 300mm standards. It is not like the old days where you could simply understand...