Microtechnology News articles from July 1999

Microtechnology News archives from July 1999

APPLICATIONS: Benchtop System Detects Disease DNA.
July 1, 1999... Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA) has successfully demonstrated a small, bench-top detection system that can process up to 5 mL of raw urine and determine the presence of chlamydia and gonorrhea (Ct/GC) in less than 30 minutes. The new system, called...

Lightest, Brightest Projectors.
July 1, 1999... NEC Technologies scored big in the ultra-portable projector market by introducing the lightest and brightest projectors on the market, the MultiSync LT84 and MultiSync LT140. Lighter than most notebook computers available today, these new...

Display Uses MEMS Device.
July 1, 1999... Another advanced display was unveiled in June that featured the DLP MEMS-based technology. Ballantyne (Omaha, NE), a manufacturer of motion picture projection and entertainment lighting equipment, and Digital Projection International plc....

Optical Sensor Is Super Sensitive.
July 1, 1999... IntelliSense Corp. (Wilmington, MA) has developed a highly sensitive optical processing technology with environmental sensing and inertial measurement applications. A tiny prototype, called a resonant optical processing element (ROPE) has been...

Sensor Interface Lowers Testing Costs.
July 1, 1999... ENDEVCO (Ontario, California), announced the availability of its Oasis 2000 open architecture sensor interface system. This computer controlled, multi-channel laboratory measurement instrumentation front end provides users with a convenient...

Flat Screens Based on Nanotubes.
July 1, 1999... An Australian advance in nanotube technology could lead to a new type of TV and computer flat screen. Liming Dai and Shaoming Huang from CSIRO Molecular Science (Canberra, Australia) say the new flat screens will last longer, be more energy...

Vapor Pushes Liquids through Microdevices.
July 1, 1999... Many high tech devices smaller than a postage stamp are being developed to treat medical conditions, test new drugs, and monitor pollutants. All of these require a tiny pump that can repeatedly and reliably push small amounts of liquid through...

FABRICATION: Coating Integrated MEMS Components.
July 1, 1999... Electronic Visions (Phoenix, AZ) has developed an advanced resist processing technology based on spray coating that presents new opportunities for highly integrated MEMS components, novel interconnect structures and advanced packaging...

Ultratech Gets Large Order.
July 1, 1999... Ultratech Stepper (San Jose, CA) a leading supplier of photolithography systems used to make semiconductors, micromachining devices, and thin film heads (TFH) for disk drives, say they received a million dollar order for the Saturn I stepper...

Desktop Micromachine Fabrication Unit.
July 1, 1999... Researchers at the University of Southern California's Information Science Institute led by physicist Adam Cohen have built a prototype micromachine fabrication unit small enough to fit on a desktop. It is an electrochemical process that can...

MEMSCAP to Aid Commercial Design.
July 1, 1999... MEMSCAP S.A. (Grenoble, France) the leader in commercial design technology for MEMS, opened a U.S. subsidiary and the first of several planned U.S. operations centers to tap into the growing market for MEMS device development. The company has...

MEMSCAP Signs Japanese Agreement.
July 1, 1999... In another announcement, MEMSCAP signed a distribution agreement with Tokyo- based Cybernet Systems Co., Ltd. Under the terms of the deal, Cybernet Systems will market, sell, and support MEMSCAP's portfolio of design tools and semiconductor...

PROCESSING: Dual-Frequency Dielectric Etch.
July 1, 1999... Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, CA) introduced its Exelan next-generation dual- frequency dielectric etch system. Exelan is designed specifically to provide advanced processing capability while delivering the industry's lowest cost of ownership...

Developing Process for Photoresist Strip.
July 1, 1999... Eaton Semiconductor Equipment Operations (SEO, Beverly, MA) says it reached a milestone with the development of a number of unrivaled processes for advanced photoresist strip over low K materials. Using its FusionGemini ES Ashers, Eaton...

Lam Ships100th Cleaning System.
July 1, 1999... Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, CA) announced the shipment of its 100th Synergy Integra to a major Korean DRAM manufacturer. Introduced in 1997, the Integra reached this milestone as the result of growing demand from semiconductor manufacturers...

NEW PRODUCTS: Sensor Measures Interface Force.
July 1, 1999... Sensor Products, Inc. (East Hanover, NJ) introduced Pressurex, a tactile force indicating sensor film. The sensor is useful in assessing compression magnitude and distribution between any two mating or impacting surfaces. There are...

Penny Dwarfs Tiny Oscillator.
July 1, 1999... Though dwarfed by a penny, a tiny device is a fully functioning oscillator that is used to study the effect of magnetic fields on materials. Created by Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) the oscillator measures about a hair's thickness in...

Metrology Tool Named Best Product.
July 1, 1999... The MetaPULSE opaque (metal) film metrology tool from Rudolph Technologies (Flanders, NJ), which uses a state-of-the-art diode pumped ultrafast laser, won the "1999 Circle of Excellence Award." The company was recognized for "pushing the...

Solid State Pressure Sensor.
July 1, 1999... SSI Technologies (Janesville, WI) has developed a standard bulk micromachined absolute pressure sensor for both harsh and benign media with superior accuracy of plus or minus 2% Vcc from -40C to +125C. This compact, cost-competitive sensor...

Pressure Sensor Uses Thin Film Transducer.
July 1, 1999... A patented thin film transducer technology is featured in an intrinsically compensated, dual port pressure sensor with a full range output of 32. mV/V at 14 in. of water column. The sensor is made by Integrated Micromachines Inc. (3360 East...

TEST AND MEASUREMENT SEMS Analyze Cross Sections.
July 1, 1999... Surface/Interface (Sunnyvale, CA) designed the PreSet system for cross-section sample prealignment to increase productivity/throughput and accuracy for critical dimension measurements by field emission scanning electron microscopes (FE-SEMS)....

High Pressure Gas Analyzer.
July 1, 1999... Spectra International (Morgan Hill, CA) announced the HPQ2-S, a higher pressure version of its existing HPQ-2 Residual Gas Analyzer, which is itself designed to operate at higher pressures than conventional RGAs. Optimized for operating...

Better Ultrasonic Imaging.
July 1, 1999... Advances in time grating of ultrasonic signals in scanning acoustic microscopes have been proposed to permit detailed nondestructive examination of bonds and other interfaces deep within the interiors of such micromachined objects as high...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Program Optimizes Electronic Development.
July 1, 1999... ViewLogic Systems (Marlboro, MA) launched "First-to-Market," a comprehensive program of business offerings-services, partnerships, software, and technology- designed to help enterprises worldwide optimize the eProduct (electronic product)...

Beta Squared in Military Program.
July 1, 1999... Beta Squared, Inc., a subsidiary of Photronics, Inc., and the U.S. Army's Missile, Research, Development and Engineering Center (MRDEC) have agreed to jointly research and develop plasma etch processes and new chamber designs using Beta...

Sale of Foundry Unit Completed.
July 1, 1999... Standard Microsystems, Inc. (Hauppauge, NY) announced in April the signing of a letter of intent to combine its foundry business unit with privately held Inertia Optical Technology Applications, Inc. (IOTA, Newark, NJ) into a new company to be...

Microvision Links with Electro-Optics Leaders.
July 1, 1999... Microvision, Inc. (Bothell, WA) developer of the virtual retinal display (VRD) announced it has agreed to join the integrated small precision optics manufacturing technology consortium (ISPOMT), a team of world leading research and product...

Plasma-Therm Reports Loss.
July 1, 1999... Plasma Therm, Inc. (St. Petersburg, FL) reported a net loss of $706,818 or $.06 per diluted share for the three months ended May 31, 1999. This compares to net income of $1,579,913, or $.14 per diluted share, for the same period last year....

Micrion Shareholders Approve Merger.
July 1, 1999... Micrion Corp. (Peabody, MA) a leading supplier of focused ion beam (FIB) equipment for the worldwide semiconductor and data storage industries, says its shareholders approved the proposed merger with FEI Co. at a special meeting held June...

Microcosm Announces Product Partnerships.
July 1, 1999... Microcosm Technologies (Raleigh, NC) joined forces with three initial partners to permit broad access to MEMS/MST technology through an innovative combination of design tools, services, and manufacturing capabilities. Charter members of...

CALENDAR.
July 1, 1999... August 25-27, 1999. EMAG 99, Electron Microscopy and Analysis Group Conference, Sheffield, U.K. Contact: Beccy Chapple, Institute of Physics; Tel: 44/171-470- 4800, Fax: 44/171-470-4900. September 8-10, 1999. 7th Int'l Conference. on...