Microtechnology News articles from August 1998

Microtechnology News archives from August 1998

APPLICATIONS: Sandia Cheapens a Hot Idea.
August 1, 1998... Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, NM 87185), a Dept. of Energy (DOE) research and development lab, have put a new spin on an expensive old cooling idea and may have found a way to make it affordable. Led by David Benson...

MEMS Team Gets $1.3 Million.
August 1, 1998... Mentor Graphics Corp. (Wilsonville, OR) says the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a major contract option to a team consisting of Mentor Graphics, MEMSCAP and MCNC. Under the terms of the agreement, $1.3 million in...

MEMS Used in Grating Light Valve.
August 1, 1998... Silicon Light Machines (Sunnyvale, CA) is using a new technological approach in making displays using its Grating Light Valve (GLV) MEMS. Instead of using the customary two dimensional arrays of pixels to create two dimensional images, the new...

Caliper Raises $7.4 Million.
August 1, 1998... Caliper Technologies Corp. (Palo Alto, CA) says it has raised an additional $7.4 million in equity financing to accelerate development of the company's proprietary LabChip technology platform for ultra- high throughput chemical and biochemical...

KrF Litho Tool for 0.18 Micron.
August 1, 1998... Canon USA, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) introduced the FPA-5000ES2 scanning stepper, the industry's first 248 nm deep UV step and scan system capable of realizing 0.18 micron line width on either 200 mm or 300 mm wafer substrates. The system's...

Effort to Clean Masks.
August 1, 1998... Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) and Beta Squared, Inc. (Allen, TX), a subsidiary of Photronics, Inc. have an agreement to develop a mask cleaning technology for Lucent's SCALPEL electron beam lithography system. By doing this, Lucent...

Corp. to Develop EUV.
August 1, 1998... A newly formed private corporation, United States Advanced Lithography, is looking for funding of $50 million to develop extreme UV lithography under license from the Extreme UV Limited Liability Corp. (EUV LLC). The new company will also keep...

FABRICATION: Tool Suite Builds MEMS.
August 1, 1998... Tanner EDA (Pasadena, CA) has developed an integrated, system level design tool suite for MEMS devices. The company's MEMS Pro package is claimed to be the first tool suite to target both device-level and system-level design. MEMS Pro,...

Bosch Process Controls Deep Silicon Etching.
August 1, 1998... Plasma-Therm (St. Petersburg, FL) recently conducted tests concerning the use of the Bosch process with the company's ICP deep etching system. Results showed that straight wall etching can be optimized to obtain re-entrant, vertical, or tapered...

Camera-on-a-Chip Silicon Technology.
August 1, 1998... Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. has licensed high performance "camera on a chip" technology from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs (Murray Hill, NJ). This technology will lead to marble-sized video cameras because each camera will use a...

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES High Density Dielectric Etch.
August 1, 1998... Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, CA) launched the TCP 9100TX, a high density dielectric etch system designed for 0.25 micron and beyond device production. Featuring Lam's proven industry-leading TCP source, this next generation etch system provides...

Carbon Dioxide Removes Photoresists.
August 1, 1998... A new method for processing wafers using a nonflammable, nontoxic, environmentally friendly solvent could reduce water use and cut the volume of hazardous waste produced by computer chip makers. Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory...

New CMP Copper Cleaning Solution.
August 1, 1998... OnTrak Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lam Research Corp., introduced the Synergy Performa, a new copper CMP cleaning solution developed specifically for the challenges posed by the emergence of the copper...

DLC Coatings Reduce Friction.
August 1, 1998... Ion beam deposited surface layers of diamond-like carbon (DLC) on fine grain chemical vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond have been found to be effective in reducing friction and wear in a variety of environments including ultrahigh vacuum. This work...

MATERIALS: Sapphire May Make Smaller Circuits.
August 1, 1998... Alumina, better known as sapphire or ruby in its mineral form, may promise faster, smaller and more reliable computer circuits, according to University of Delaware technology described in the July, 1998 Journal of Electronic Materials. ...

NEW PRODUCTS: Microminiature Silicon Scanner.
August 1, 1998... Microvision (Seattle, WA) has demonstrated a microminiature scanner that represents a breakthrough for a wide variety of next generation display and imaging products. The development is significant because of the degree of system...

Linear Stepper Motor Gets Innovation Award.
August 1, 1998... Micro Medical Devices, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) a four year old medical device engineering company received the 1998 Enterprise Development, Inc. (EDI) innovation award for its linear stepper motor, a device that uses MEMS technology to help...

Sensor Measures Liquid Viscosity.
August 1, 1998... A microviscometer made by Berkeley MicroInstruments (Richmond, CA) uses a unique silicon micromachined sensor to measure liquid viscosity. The BMV105 can make measurements continuously and in real time. The unit is made up of a small sensor...

TEST AND MEASUREMENT Magnetic Manipulators for High Vacuums.
August 1, 1998... The Surface/Interface Vacuum Products Group (Sunnyvale, CA) specializing in sample transfer and positioning systems in vacuum for OEMs and end-users, announces the introduction of a line of compact precision magnetic manipulators (PMMs). The...

QuickSilver Series Inspects Microstructure.
August 1, 1998... Electroglas, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) announced the QuickSilver line of automated inspection products designed to deliver a sort-floor cost breakthrough for semiconductor fabs. When used for chip or bump inspection, a single automated QuickSilver...

Nanometrics Intros Three Products.
August 1, 1998... Nanometrics, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) introduced three new film thickness metrology systems--the NanoSpec 8300Z, the EPIC series, and the NanoSpec 9000. Each product, capable of meeting the rigors of 0.13 micron design rules, has been designed...

System Measures Transparent Films.
August 1, 1998... Rudolph Technologies (Flanders, NJ) announced its new transparent film metrology system, the SpectralLASER UTF (Ultrathin Film) for current and future advanced processing applications identified in the most recent SIA Roadmap. Capable of...

INDUSTRY NEWS: ART Acquires Tech-Ceram Corp.
August 1, 1998... Advanced Refractory Technologies (ART, Buffalo, NY) announced the acquisition of Tech-Ceram Corp. (Amesbury, MA), a leading manufacturer of ceramic components and packages used in the wireless, telecommunications and optoelectronics industries....

...and Teams Up with Honeywell.
August 1, 1998... Honeywell Technology Center (HTC) received funding from DARPA for a three year program entitled "Mesoscopic Pumps Based on Bi- directional Electrostatically Activated Diaphragm (BEAD) Arrays." The value of the contract is over $2 million. ART...

Lam Cuts Work Force.
August 1, 1998... Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, CA) announced its intention to restructure the company including a reduction in its global workforce of about 20 to 25%. Further weakening in the order outlook for semiconductor capital equipment is cited as the...

Agreement with East Germany.
August 1, 1998... The Bay Area Regional Technology Alliance (BARTA, Fremont, CA) has entered into a cooperative agreement with the association for technology transfer (ATT) located in the city of Chemnitz, in the state of Saxony, in the former East Germany. The...

MEMS Center Opened.
August 1, 1998... The University of Washington in Seattle recently started the Center for Applied Microtechnology at its Washington Technology Center. The many faceted mission of this new center is to provide support for cutting edge, microtechnology-based...

Plasma-Therm Sells MEMS Sensor System.
August 1, 1998... Plasma-Therm (St. Petersburg, FL) announced the sale of a Shuttlecock 770 plasma processing system to a prestigious automotive corporate research center, located in the U.S., for use in the development of advanced MEMS sensors. The system...

MEETINGS: Microlithography Symposium.
August 1, 1998... Interface '98, the industry's premier microlithography technical symposium, is scheduled for November 15-17, 1998 at the Hotel del Coronado (San Diego, CA). This is the 35th annual symposium and is sponsored by Olin Microelectronic Materials....

CALENDAR.
August 1, 1998... July 13-17, 1998. Semicon West '98, San Francisco, CA. Contact: SEMI; Tel: 415/940-7998, Fax: 415/940-7913. September 8-10, 1998. 28th European Solid State Device Research Conference, Bordeaux, France. Contact: Herbert Grunbacher, ESSDERC...