Microtechnology News articles from June 1999

Microtechnology News archives from June 1999

APPLICATIONS: System Controls Actuator-Driven Engines.
June 1, 1999... Pragmatic Instruments' 9014 MEMS Driver System allows easy and accurate control of electrostatic actuator-driven engines. MEMS systems are finding application in many areas, such as air bag deployment systems, ink jet printers, advanced...

Laser Project Yields Innovations.
June 1, 1999... The European Union (EU) recently funded a three-year program to look at laser- based micromachining. Called COMPALA (cost-effective series and mass production of high precision microparts and optical structures in molds by laser sub-micron...

Device Shows "Star Wars" Movie.
June 1, 1999... Digital projectors are being heralded as the beginning of "filmless" movies. There are major differences between the digital models and the traditional movie projectors so well known to the public. First, the digital projectors are laded with...

DARPA Explores Vision System.
June 1, 1999... Microvision Inc. (Bothell, WA), received a Phase I contract from DARPA to explore integrating the company's proprietary Virtual Retinal Display technology (VRD) into armored vehicles. Under the terms of the contract, DARPA has requested that...

MicroRing Gyro Being Tested.
June 1, 1999... MicroSensors Inc. (MSI, Costa Mesa, CA), a consolidated subsidiary of Irvine Sensors Corp., said that Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany) one of the world's largest manufacturers of automobile components, has successfully fabricated...

Display Detects Retinal Diseases.
June 1, 1999... Microvision Inc. (Bothell, WA), at the annual meeting for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, faculty of the Shiley Eye Ctr., Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego...

FABRICATION: MEMS Design Software Released.
June 1, 1999... IntelliSense Corp. (Wilmington, MA) announced a new version of its IntelliCAD MEMS design software, called IntelliSuite. The new version becomes the only fully functional stand-alone MEMS device software available on both Windows NT and UNIX...

More Design and Fabrication Patents.
June 1, 1999... Microvision Inc. (Bothell, WA) announced that the U.S. Patent Office has issued one new patent and allowed two others surrounding the company's Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) technology and related scanning technology. The company also...

PROCESSING: Optical Lithography Makes Smallest Device.
June 1, 1999... Researchers at Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) have produced the smallest working electronic device ever made with optical lithography, the technology currently used to manufacture silicon chips. The experimental device, a flash memory...

Deep Reactive Ion Etching Service.
June 1, 1999... Advanced MicroMachines (AMMi, Cleveland, OH) is offering a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) service for 150-mm (6-in.) diameter silicon wafers. The company shipped its first DRIE 6-in. wafers in early spring, and is continuing with etch...

TRW Contributes to EUV Lithography.
June 1, 1999... TRW (Redondo Beach, CA) delivered its first laser to Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. The Nd:YAG laser, diode-pumped and with a pulsed output of 1.7 kw, is to become the central component of a light source that will...

Blue and Green LEDs Aid Miniaturization.
June 1, 1999... Cree Research Inc. (Durham, NC) announced a significant expansion of its product portfolio with the addition of high performance blue and green light-emitting diode (LED) products. These new chips are made from indium gallium nitride (InGaN)...

TEST AND MEASUREMENT: Interferometer Measures Optics Online.
June 1, 1999... Pilkington Optronics (Wales, U.K.) found that imprecise mounting of optics on the diamond turning machine resulted in inaccuracies in finished parts, which were discovered only when the part was measured off-line. To get around costly...

Automated Atomic Force Microscope.
June 1, 1999... Veeco Metrology Group (Santa Barbara, CA), the world's leader in 3D surface metrology, introduced the Digital Instruments Dimension 9300 Series Atomic Force Microscopes, completely automated AFMs for on-line process monitoring of 300-mm wafers....

Probe Measures Wafer Temperature.
June 1, 1999... SensArray Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) announced Process Probe 1730 wafers, instrumented with an array of embedded thermocouples, for directly measuring the temperature and temperature uniformity of wafers in photoresist track systems, vapor prime...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Hyperion to Buy Start-Up Company.
June 1, 1999... Hyperion Technologies Inc. (Hillsborough, NC) agreed to acquire NextWave Photonics LLC, a privately owned company headquartered in Largo, Florida. The company will be acquired by Hyperion for stock, subject to the completion of a definitive...

Spire Explores Options with OEM Capital.
June 1, 1999... Spire Corp. (Bedford, MA), which provides products to the solar photovoltaics, optoelectronics, and biomedical markets worldwide, has retained OEM Capital as its financial advisor to advise the company on its strategic options, which may...

Irvine Exec Chairs Industrial Board.
June 1, 1999... John C. Carson, Irvine Sensor's VP and chief technical officer, has been appointed Chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board for the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering (CNSE) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)....

Microvision Reports Increased Revenue.
June 1, 1999... Microvision Inc. (Seattle, WA) developer of the Virtual Retinal Display (VRD), reported revenues for the first quarter of 1999 rose 35% to $2.3 million from $1.7 million in the comparable period last year. For the quarter, the company reported...

Irvine Sensors Revenue Gains.
June 1, 1999... Irvine Sensors Corp. (Costa Mesa, CA) reported revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 1999 were $3,021,300, up from the $2,533,300 of last year's second fiscal quarter, reflecting the continuing improved revenues of Irvine Sensor's NOVALOG...

Princeton Begins Biomolecular Center.
June 1, 1999... Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) introduced a new multidisciplinary research activity called BANS (Biomolecular Applications of Nanoscale Structures). The new activity will focus on the application of microstructure and nanostructure...

Crossbow Adds Marketing Team.
June 1, 1999... Crossbow Technology (San Jose, CA), an emerging leader in integrated sensor systems for a broad range of markets and applications, has bolstered its worldwide staff with the addition of two new sales and marketing managers. Phil Lees has...

Hyperion Acquires NextWave Photonics.
June 1, 1999... Hyperion Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire NextWave Photonics, LLC, subject to completion of a definitive merger agreement. The privately-held NextWave Photonics (Largo, FL) is a start-up R&D...

Briefly Noted:.
June 1, 1999... Plasma-Therm (St. Petersburg, FL) said it will cut another 15%-20% of its workforce, postpone construction of an R&D center, and push back introduction of a new PVD tool until late 1999. The thin-film etching and deposition company has...

CALENDAR.
June 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 International Conference on...