Solid State Technology articles from September 2006

Solid State Technology archives from September 2006

Standard microfittings provide modularity in a new surface-mount gas-delivery system.(Gases)
September 1, 2006... A modular gas-distribution system for standard surface-mount components has been designed for gas panels. This system also allows easy field repair and replacement of system elements in situ an installed production tool. Other technologies...

Why is Asia forging ahead in technology?(EDITORIAL)(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... While the United States remains a world leader in many areas of technology, it is clear that over the past few decades the lead has been shrinking. Not only is the rest of the world catching up, but the progress of many nations, especially in...

Midyear forecasts: 2006 bearish, 2007 bullish.(BUSINESS TRENDS)(updates for semiconductor sales, equipment sales, and capital expenditures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A roundup of midyear forecast updates for semiconductor sales, equipment sales, and capital expenditures indicates general agreement that 2006 will shape up to be a boon year overall. Most analysts expect strong sales of analog ICs this...

Rambus Inc.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(Federal Trade Commission overturned a previous court ruling, finding that Rambus Inc)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has overturned a previous court ruling, finding that Rambus Inc. unlawfully monopolized markets for four computer memory technologies that were incorporated into industry standards for SDRAM and DDR SDRAM.

Flash memorygiant SanDiskCorp., Milpitas, CA, has agreed to acquire Msystems Ltd., Kfar Saba, Israel, in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.55 billion.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(SanDisk Corp acquires with Msystems Ltd)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Flash memorygiant SanDiskCorp., Milpitas, CA, has agreed to acquire Msystems Ltd., Kfar Saba, Israel, in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.55 billion. Msystems' x4 technology is designed to enable utilization of 4-bit/cell NAND flash.

A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 34 US states, against the same group of international DRAM chipmakers.(WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 34 US states, against the same group of international DRAM chipmakers--Micron, Infineon, Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Mosel-Vitelic, Nanya, Elpida, and NEC Electronics--as in a federal investigation...

Freescale Semiconductor Inc.(USA)(production management)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Freescale Semiconductor Inc. says it has begun volume production of its 4Mbit MRAM devices, built at its 200mm fab in Chandler, AZ, using 0.18 [micro]m process technologies.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has agreed to acquire graphics chip firm.(USA)
September 1, 2006... Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has agreed to acquire graphics chip firm ATI Technologies Inc. in a $5.4 billion cash-and-stock deal.

Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc., through their joint venture IM Flash, have started sampling 4Gbit NAND flash memory devices.(USA)
September 1, 2006... Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc., through their joint venture IM Flash, have started sampling 4Gbit NAND flash memory devices using 50nm process technologies, and plan to ramp to mass production within the next year.

Soitec.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Soitec has revealed plans to build a new 350 million [euro], 300mm SOI facility to open in Singapore, boosting the company's annual production capacity by nearly 40%. Production at Fab 3 is slated to start in mid-2008, and ramp over a two-year...

Toshiba and SanDisk have reportedly broken ground on their newest IV, Fab 4, in Yokkaichi, Japan, with investments expected to top $3.0 billion through the end of 2008.(ASIAFOCUS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Toshiba and SanDisk have reportedly broken ground on their newest IV, Fab 4, in Yokkaichi, Japan, with investments expected to top $3.0 billion through the end of 2008. Initial NAND production is scheduled to begin by the end of 2007, starting...

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has shipped its first programmable system-on-chip (PSoC) mixed-signal arrays manufactured by China's Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.(ASIAFOCUS)
September 1, 2006... Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has shipped its first programmable system-on-chip (PSoC) mixed-signal arrays manufactured by China's Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. The company plans to transfer its 0.13 [micro]m C8 process technology to...

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Siltronic AG have finalized plans to build a $1 billion, 300mm wafer fab in Singapore, with peak output of 300,000 wafers/month by 2010.(ASIAFOCUS)
September 1, 2006... Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Siltronic AG have finalized plans to build a $1 billion, 300mm wafer fab in Singapore, with peak output of 300,000 wafers/month by 2010. Siltronic Samsung Wafer Pte. Ltd. is slated to open in mid-2008, with...

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and Renesas Technology Corp. say they have entered full integration testing of 45nm system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturing technology.(ASIAFOCUS)(partnership between Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Ltd and Renesas Technology Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and Renesas Technology Corp. say they have entered full integration testing of 45nm system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturing technology, to be used in mobile and networked consumer electronics products.

Royal Philips Electronics.(EUROFOCUS)(Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V has sold its semiconductor division)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Royal Philips Electronics has sold its semiconductor division to a consortium of equity firms for 8.3 billion [euro] (US $10.63 billion). The new standalone company will continue to focus on its four key markets: mobile/personal, home,...

Carl Zeiss SMT has acquired all the shares of ALIS Corp., a developer of helium ion microscopy technology, from a group of financial backers and strategic investors.(EUROFOCUS)(Carl Zeiss SMT has acquired all the shares of ALIS Corp)(new atomic-level helium ion microscopy technology)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Carl Zeiss SMT has acquired all the shares of ALIS Corp., a developer of helium ion microscopy technology, from a group of financial backers and strategic investors. The new atomic-level helium ion microscopy technology reportedly provides...

Helium ion microscopy promises better resolution than SEMs.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)(scanning electron microscopy)
September 1, 2006... Anew helium ion-based scanning technology shown at SEMICON West by ALIS Corp. (since acquired by Carl Zeiss SMT) reportedly can generate higher-resolution images with more contrast than scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The technology,...

Auto-fix for hot-spots in nanometer node designs.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... DFM start-up Takumi Technologies, building on its mask-data preparation (MDP) work for NEC and other customers, is now promoting its ability to automatically detect, classify, and repair yield-limiting design "hot spots"--areas of a design...

Correction.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)(Correction notice)
September 1, 2006... In the July 2006 Technology News story on Metryx's microgram scales, we incorrectly stated that the repeatability in automated systems is in the 10-milligram range, instead of the correct 0.10-milligram range.

Promising progress in monitoring nanostructure fabrication.(TECHNOLOGY NEWS)
September 1, 2006... Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new technique for growing nanotubes that may ultimately enable in situ monitoring of fabrication of nanoscale structures. Instead of using a large furnace as part of the...

Applying chip manufacturing technologies to life science applications.(M E M S)(applications of MEMS manufacturing technology)(Case study)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Semiconductor chip manufacturing technology in general, and MEMS manufacturing technology in particular, have applications in emerging life sciences fields. For example, IC fab lithography allows for massive parallelism...

Green wavelength laser processing of memory metal fuses.(YIELD ENHANCEMENT)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Metal fuses in redundancy circuitry can be laser repaired to enhance yield. However, shrinking IC design rules have necessitated fuse pitches smaller than the 2[micro]m pitch lines that can be processed by traditional...

Extending 193nm immersion with hybrid optical maskless lithography.(LITHOGRAPHY)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Immersion-based optical lithography techniques at 193nm have made great progress and are viewed by many as an option for the 45nm node. But options for the 32nm node are uncertain. EUV is one possibility. However, critical...

Improving workfunction control of metal gate electrodes.(GATE-STACK ENGINEERING)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Next-generation MOSFET devices require the introduction of metal gate (MG) electrodes for further performance increases. A key challenge to implementing MGs, however, is the selection of a metal with the appropriate...

Leakage reduction in SOCs using gate-length biasing.(ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROL)(Silicon on ceramic)(Case study)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Leakage control in hand-held and wireless devices is a challenge that increases with IC technology nodes. After the foundry engineers the transistor, designers have much of the control over system-on-chip (SOC) leakage...

Attendees choose 'best-in-show' products: Solid State Technology and sister magazine Advanced Packaging invited SEMICON West attendees to vote on the best products they saw at the July trade show in San Francisco's Moscone Center. Three categories of awards were given for both the Wafer Processing Products and the Final Manufacturing Products.
September 1, 2006... Wafer Processing Winners Most innovative: Aviza Technology Inc.'s Celsior single-wafer ALD system The Celsior is a next-generation single wafer atomic layer deposition (ALD) system designed for manufacturing at the 90nm node, and R&D...

Next-gen immersion lithography tool.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The NSR-S610C immersion lithography tool (NA=1.30) utilizes the "tandem-stage" platform used with the company's previous-generation immersion system, which combines a moving wafer-exposure stage with a dedicated calibration stage. The system...

ArF source for 45nm node.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The XLR 500i targeting 45nm production immersion photolithography replaces the conventional power amplifier stage with a "recirculating ring" that delivers a step-function (1.5x) improvement in pulse energy stability vs. previous-generation ArF...

Point-of-use copper abatement.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The Aquareus system, jointly developed with BOC Edwards, abates copper from a CMP system's effluent stream. It concentrates copper by a factor of 200:1, providing >99% removal efficiency and over 3000 hours MTBF. A proprietary fluidized bed ion...

Metallization for 45nm contacts.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The 300mm Endura iLB II system addresses newliner/barrier challenges with the transition to 45nm-and-below nodes, including thin NiSi films in gate and contact applications, and tighter requirements for step coverage and contact resistance. The...

300mm photoresist dry strip.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The Gamma Express 300mm photoresist dry strip system offers both front-end-of-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-line (BEOL) resist removal for 65nm and 45nm processing. The system is compatible with advanced silicide and ultralow-k films, and...

Fab process scheduling.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... iLog Fab PowerOps software schedules 300mm fab front-end process areas including diffusion, photo, etch, thin films, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), and implant, as well as re-entrant flows for photolithography processes. The system can...

New FIB system for 90-65nm apps.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The V600FIB focused ion beam system, replacing the company's FIB200, targets applications for 90-65nm semiconductor devices, such as circuit modification, cross-sectioning, sample prep, and failure analysis. It features a 30kV ion column,...

High-rate UV laser.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The Tristar UV laser series targets applications requiring high throughput and highly-focused spots, such as memory repair and flat-panel tilting. It can be configured with >800mW of 355nm power at 100kHz, with 2W, or increased to rates...

High-volume scatterometry metrology.(PRODUCT NEWS)
September 1, 2006... The NovaScan 3090Next-SA standalone high-volume scatterometry-based metrology system features full pattern profiling in 2D/3D, and thickness measurement of dielectric, polysilicon, and thin condustring layers on either multilayer stacks or...

Tristar[TM] UV laser.(LITERATURE showcase)
September 1, 2006... The Spectra-Physics Tristar[TM] is a high-repetition rate UV laser that offers an impressive combination of power and flexible repetition rates. It can be configured with more than 800 mW of 355 nm power at 100 kHz with a pulse width of 2 W. or...

MSP Turbo-Vaporizer.(LITERATURE showcase)
September 1, 2006... The Model 2800 Turbo-Vaporizer[TM] from MSP Corporation uses fine droplet atomization to increase droplet surface area by six orders of magnitude for efficient droplet vaporization, and avoid direct liquid-to-hot metal surface contact that can...

Vanguard[TM] Solid State UV laser.(LITERATURE showcase)
September 1, 2006... Spectra-Physics, a Division of Newport Corporation, has introduced the 1 Watt Vanguard[TM] UV laser. Vanguard is a quasi-CW laser that delivers a stable high performance beam low CoO. and high reliability. Ideal for demanding OEM applications...

Tiger Optics introduces world's first laser-based trace oxygen analyzer.(LITERATURE showcase)
September 1, 2006... Tiger Optics introduces an electro-optic oxygen module for its new LaserTrace, multi-point, multi-species, multi-gas analyzer. Based on a powerful, proven technology, Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS), rapidly measures trace oxygen down to...

Disruptive technologies and markets force MEMS industry maturation.(INDUSTRY FORUM)(Micro Electro Mechanical Systems)
September 1, 2006... A number of emerging trends could very well re-shape the MEMS industry as we know it over the next few years. Changes taking placing in fabrication, packaging, and even new product and market segments will both challenge the status quo and...

Data storage: playground for disruptive technologies.(Editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... The urgent need to push storage densities and access speeds for memory is even more intense than that faced by semiconductor technologists who have miraculously followed Moore's Law for nearly 50 years. While semiconductor fabs have managed to...

Patterned magnetic media: impact of nanoscale patterning on hard disk drives.(MAGNETIC MEDIA)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW As the superparamagnetic limit continues to make scaling of conventional magnetic recording technology to higher densities and larger capacities more difficult, novel concepts such as patterned magnetic media are being...

Flash vs. hard drives: the battle intensifies.(Flash/Hard Drives)
September 1, 2006... EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Both flash memories and miniature disk drives have begun to replace each other in a variety of applications, mostly in portable but also in some fixed devices. In this article two seasoned analysts, one covering...

Hard-disk drives: 50 years and going strong.(Hard-disk Drives)
September 1, 2006... As the hard-disk drive celebrates its 50th anniversary, the future for the industry has never been brighter. In fact, the industry is expected to ship as many drives in the next five years as it did in the last 50! A lot has happened since...

AMD & SOI: winning with performance/watt/dollar: Nick Kepler, vice president of logic technology development at AMD talks about the role of SOI in the company's strategy.(SOI In Action)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... AMD Advanced Substrate News: How important is SOI to your strategy? Nick Kepler: SOI is an important part of AMD's product strategy. We are currently utilizing it for our entire line of 90nm AMD64 products. AMD uses SOI because it...

Honeywell & SOI: military, aerospace and beyond: Honeywell has sent SOI by Jupiter and to Mars. Now its SOI rad-hard foundry services are charting new frontiers with the industry's first 150 nm rad-hard, digital ASIC solutions and more.(SOI In Action)(Application specific integrated circuits)
September 1, 2006... Honeywell's path runs parallel to commercial markets. Chips destined for space are increasingly facing the same performance vs. power issues of chips we find down here on the ground. Deep space probes are collecting, sorting, sifting and...

Partners in design: standard tools simplify Rad-Hard SOI design: Honeywell has worked with the top EDA tool vendors to develop the SOI process design kits (PDKs) needed by both in-house designers and foundry customers.(SOI In Action)
September 1, 2006... ASIC Design With Pilot Flow For digital rad-hard ASIC design, we worked with Synopsys to adapt the Pilot Design Environment to our process. The environment supports their entire RTL to GDSII flow, including all their synthesis tools, place...

Enhanced strained silicon-on-insulator CMOS devices: Freescale has investigated a selective biaxial-uniaxial strain hybridization method that significantly enhances drive current without adding process complexity.(ON THE CIRCUIT)(Complementary metal oxide semiconductors)
September 1, 2006... It has become increasingly difficult to scale CMOS transistors, yet still maintain high drive currents and simultaneously reduce supply voltage ([V.sub.dd]). This is because threshold voltage and gate oxide thickness cannot be scaled at the...

Strained engineered substrates: sSOI and beyond: the semiconductor industry has entered an exciting phase in which further performance gains (power, speed) are directly connected to materials engineering and the insertion of new materials into the heart of silicon integrated circuits.(PROFESSOR'S PERSPECTIVE)(Silicon-on-insulator)
September 1, 2006... The rate at which the industry is incorporating strain engineering into production is a direct result of using strained substrate materials in research and development for the requisite 10-15 years before such innovation can be incorporated...

Strained Silicon-On-Insulator (sSOI) becomes an industrial reality: after several years of rigorous R&D work in close partnership with suppliers and customers alike, Soitec's sSOI wafers are now ready for industrialization.(R&D OUTLOOK)
September 1, 2006... The benefits of strained silicon as an amplifier of carrier mobility, current drive and, as a result, device performance are well documented in literature and highlighted by Dr. Nguyen of Freescale in this same Advanced Substrate News issue. A...

Photoreflectance: promising metrology on sSOI: OMI describes a new approach to in-line strained SOI metrology.(SHOPTALK)(Strained-SOI )
September 1, 2006... Strained-SOI (sSOI) requires fast, accurate and non-contact strain metrology. To address new demands in the engineered substrates industry, several techniques compete: Photoreflectance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and...

A new generation of structures: bonding and thinning technologies pave the way to new substrates for MEMS and power ICs, and enable the transfer of finished circuits to new supports.(E2E)(Microelectromechanical systems)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Layer transfer and direct bonding technologies that leverage molecular adhesion and mechanical and chemical thinning open doors to new generations in advanced and engineered substrates. A spin-off of CEA-Leti, TraciT Technologies has developed...

The memory of an SOI champion lives on: soitec pledges to honor the life's work of co-founder Jean-Michel Lamure with continued success and passion for the industry.(PEOPLE)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... This spring, the advanced substrate community lost a great friend and colleague, Jean-Michel Lamure. An unflagging SOI champion and Soitec co-founder, Jean-Michel spent most of his career in the semiconductor industry. As an award-winning...

EE Times Ace Awards again honor SOI Innovators: Freescale's Leo Mathew was chosen for his novel transistor structure. IBM & Microsoft Design Teams win for Xbox 360[TM].(PEOPLE)
September 1, 2006... Leo Mathew, a principal solid state engineer at Freescale Semiconductor, was named Innovator of the Year at the EE Times Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) awards ceremony, for his invention of a novel transistor structure. His inverted...

Calendar highlights *.(In and Around Our Industry)(Calendar)
September 1, 2006... 12-14 September SSDM 2006 International Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials Pacifico Yokohama www.ssdm.jp 18-22 September ESSCIRC-ESSDERC European Solid-State Circuits/Device Research Conference Montreux ...

Outside the box: leading companies are finding that SOI just keeps on opening doors.(silicon on insulator)(Editorial)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Across the advanced substrate community, companies are finding that SOI lets you step outside the box. Once you realize its potential, you start to leverage it in opportunities you might not have even considered in your bulk days. The...

KORRIGAN initiative federates European GaN efforts: systems houses and research labs from seven European nations are working together on GaN HEMT technology for critical defense applications.(III-V CORNER)
September 1, 2006... Defense radar and communication systems as well as wireless communication systems have a drastic need for increased RF performance and high power, high-efficiency, high linearity and low cost monolithic amplifiers operating in the 1-40 GHz...

Innovative substrate opportunities in GaN RF-defense applications: the KORRIGAN program will provide a forum for suppliers and system houses to confirm new approaches.(Advanced Substrate Corners)
September 1, 2006... KORRIGAN is a very important program in terms of GaN material and device development, giving suppliers the opportunity to demonstrate technology and products to European defense companies. This complements cooperation and business relations...

IBM nanoscale probe storage system leverages SOI in new frontiers: an IBM-Zurich team including Nobel laureates has extended the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) concept to data storage. IBM group manager and probe storage team member Michel Despont explains.(MEMS)(Silicon-on-insulator)(International Business Machines Corp)
September 1, 2006... While today's magnetic data storage techniques are reaching some impressive levels, at some point in the not too distant future they will hit the physical limits of the technology. IBM has recognized that new approaches will be needed. Ten...

SOI-based electronics for Avionic & Space harsh environments: SOI-based ICs developed by CISSOID for extreme conditions are reaching record operating temperatures.(DESIGNER'S CORNER)(silicon on insulator)(integrated circuits)
September 1, 2006... The electronics used in Avionics & Space are subject to very harsh conditions, in particular very wide operating temperature ranges. In avionics, the sensors placed close to the engine are subject to very high temperature, well above...

Thick SOI MEMS moves up in $75m materials market: market analysts at Yole look at the rapid growth of thick film SOI far MEMS applications.(GUEST SPOT)(silicon-on-insulator)(Microelectromechanical systems)
September 1, 2006... While thin-film SOI applications (especially for microprocessors) dominate SOI markets, thick-film SOI applications account for more than 20% of the total SOI production. SOI is considered "thick" when the thickness of the top single-crystal...

AMD.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... AMD, which builds its entire AMD64 fine on SOI, is on a roll: * As of Q1 06, the AMD Opteron processor now accounts for 22.1 percent of the worldwide x86 server processors shipped in the first quarter, up from 16.4 percent in the 2005...

Dell Computer has announced that it will introduce new AMD Opteron processors in its multi processor servers by the end of the year, "offering a great new technology to our customers at the high-end of our server line.".(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Dell Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Dell Computer has announced that it will introduce new AMD Opteron processors in its multi processor servers by the end of the year, "offering a great new technology to our customers at the high-end of our server line." This follows on the news...

Two important SOI related announcements from Chartered. It is licensing IBM's 90 nm SOI technology, enabling it to expand the use of the technology to areas such as consumer, multi-media, communications, automotive and industrial applications for foundry customers.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(silicon on insulator)(Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc.)(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Two important SOI related announcements from Chartered. It is licensing IBM's 90 nm SOI technology, enabling it to expand the use of the technology to areas such as consumer, multi-media, communications, automotive and industrial applications...

Nintendo.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Nintendo Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Nintendo has announced that the CPU of its new Wii game console is based on a PowerPC (code-named "Broadway") made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process, jointly developed with and manufactured by IBM. The design was optimized with state-of-the-art...

Philips.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Philips Semiconductors)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The new GreenChip SR (Synchronous Rectifier) from Philips Semiconductors is built on SOI. A secondary control IC for notebook adapters, Philips says it simplifies design and improves laptop efficiency.

Mercury Computer Systems.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Mercury Computer Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Mercury Computer Systems has announced the 1U Dual Cell-Based Server, which it says is the first 1U server available with Cell Technology. Availability is planned for Q3 06. It also introduced the PowerBlock[TM] 200, the third member of its...

Thales Computers has committed to building systems for severe environmental conditions.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)
September 1, 2006... Thales Computers has committed to building systems for severe environmental conditions using IBM's low power, SOI-based 970FX offering.

RPI.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)
September 1, 2006... RPI's new supercomputing center will complement the ongoing joint R&D activity between IBM and AMD in developing advanced, high-performance SOI devices and manufacturing processes.

Innovative Silicon.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Innovative Silicon Inc. )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Innovative Silicon Inc. (ISi), the developer of Z-RAM[R] high density memory IP, announced that it has recruited semiconductor memory and SOI luminaries Dr. Jean-Pierre Colinge, Dr. Michel J. Declercq, Dr. Richard C. Foss, Dr. Carlos Mazure,...

X-FAB.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG introduces SOI CMOS technology )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG has announced XT06, its new 0.6 [micro]m SOI CMOS technology with trench isolation, which reduces die size by up to 40% and makes SOI cost competitive with bulk CMOS technology. XT06 technology is targeted at...

EMT has licensed the SOI-based TTRAM technology from Renesas.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)
September 1, 2006... EMT has licensed the SOI-based TTRAM technology from Renesas (the Hitachi-Mitsubishi JV) as its high density SoC memory IP.

Freescale.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(product information of Freescale Semiconductor Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Freescale's newly introduced Quad-Core MSC8144 is built on 90 nm SOI technology. Based on next-generation StarCore[TM] Technology, it is billed as the industry's highest performance fully programmable DSP, delivering performance equivalent to a...

Soitec has announced the acquisition of TraciT Technologies.(Buzz: Advanced Substrate Industry)(Soitec S.A. acquires TraciT Technologies)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Soitec has announced the acquisition of TraciT Technologies. A CEA-Leti spin-off, TraciT specializes in thin-film layer transfer technologies that leverage molecular adhesion and mechanical and chemical thinning processes for MEMS and power...