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Global semiconductor materials market contracted 19% in 2009

18 March 2010 | Materials and Gases
Semiconductor Materials Market by World RegionAlthough the drastic nature of the production cuts in the first half of 2009 impacted demand for semiconductor materials, the second half recovery saw the materials market only contract 19%, according to a new report from SEMI. In the last major downturn in 2001, the materials market decline 26%. Semiconductor materials market revenues totalled US$34.6 billion globally in 2009, while total wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials were US$17.9 billion and US$16.8 billion, respectively. Silicon revenues contributed to the year-over-year decline in the wafer fabrication materials market. Read more >>

News

Tool Order: FSI to supply ‘ORION’ single wafer cleaning system

18 March 2010 | Wafer Processing
‘ORION’ single wafer cleaning system from FSI InternationalA major semiconductor manufacturer based in Asia has selected an ‘ORION’ single wafer cleaning system from FSI International to meet anticipated resist stripping requirements for front-end-of-line (FEOL) cleaning processes in advanced IC manufacturing. FSI expects to ship this evaluation FSI ORION single wafer cleaning system to this customer during its fiscal 2010 third quarter. Read more >>

Tool Order: Taiwan foundry to use Camtek’s Automatic Optical Inspection for 3D IC process

16 March 2010 | Wafer Processing
Camtek's Falcon Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) systemA leading foundry in Taiwan has selected Camtek's Falcon Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) system, for metrology and inspection solutions for the 3D IC processes. The Falcon 830plus system was evaluated and selected over its competitors after demonstrating the best-of-breed performance in this challenging arena, according to the company. Read more >>

MEMC becomes member of SOI Industry Consortium

16 March 2010 | Materials and Gases
Having been developing SOI technology in house for many years and can offer partially depleted SOI, fully depleted SOI, strained SOI and other SiGe-on-insulator substrates has finally joined the SOI Industry Consortium. Read more >>

Gartner expects 29.5% growth in semiconductor silicon wafer demand in 2010

16 March 2010 | Materials and Gases

CSMC using SOI wafers from Soitec for high voltage IC applications

16 March 2010 | Materials and Gases

Profits rule over fab capacity expansions says iSuppli

15 March 2010 | Fab Management

Qimonda’s 300mm equipment at Dresden fab set for auction

15 March 2010 | Fab Management

IMEC to use TCAD tools from Synopsys for 3D stacked IC TSVs

09 March 2010 | Wafer Processing

Editor's Blog & Chip Shots

Micron re-enters NOR flash business

11 February 2010 | Editor's Blog
Jim Handy, Objective AnalysisGuest blog by Jim Handy, Objective Analysis

Late Tuesday Micron announced that the company had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Numonyx in an all-stock transaction.  Micron will issue 140 million shares of the company's common stock, worth approximately $1.27 billion, to Numonyx shareholders Intel, STMicroelectronics, and Francisco Partners. The NOR flash market has been a difficult one for nearly all participants.  Leaders Numonyx and Spansion have suffered losses for several years, with Spansion recently turning a profit through a strategy largely focused upon markets for low-density parts used by markets outside of cell handsets, the largest consumer of NOR flash.  Micron itself participated in NOR starting in the late 1990s, but abandoned this effort in 2006. Read more >>

Bill McClean, IC Insights: 10 Reasons to be optimistic about the IC industry in 2010

05 February 2010 | Editor's Blog
Are you uncertain about the 2010 IC industry recovery? It may help to consider these actual data points and current expectations that offer support for an increasingly positive outlook for the IC industry this year. The 10 points listed should provide the reader with some encouragement with regard to the IC industry and its suppliers in 2010. Is it clear skies and smooth sailing for the rest of the year? Not, quite. Some potential “pot holes” on the road to 2010 success include: a possible spike in oil prices to greater than US$100 barrel; a major terrorist attack that weakens consumer confidence and the economy along with it; and/or, another major shock to the financial system like a major collapse of a country’s economy. Read more >>

RIP, R&D: New innovation models taking hold as semiconductor industry’s R&D progress slows

14 January 2010 | Editor's Blog

Bill McClean, IC Insights: The “Reset” Economy and the 2010 IC Industry

06 January 2010 | Editor's Blog

What has Applied Materials raided from Semitool?

26 November 2009 | Editor's Blog

Out with the old fabs and in with the new - not

23 November 2009 | Editor's Blog

Foundry fun and games continue

11 November 2009 | Editor's Blog

Latest Jobs

Process Engineer Intevac, Inc

14 January 2010 - Santa Clara, CA,

Head Of Thin Film Engineering Solarpro

14 January 2010 - Silistra, Europe

IMEC: Various management and research roles

14 January 2010 - Leuven, Belgium

Applied Materials: c-Si Solar Cell Device Engineer

14 January 2010 - Santa Clara, California, USA

KSK Surya: Head of Module Assembly Engineering

14 January 2010 - San Jose, California, USA

Going Places

SMIC names new executive officers

10 February 2010
SMICSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has made three new executive appointments: Chris Chi as chief business officer; Simon Yang as chief operating officer; and Gary Tseng as chief financial officer. Mr. Yang’s appointment as COO comes as a result of the recent resignation of Marco Mora from the same role. Read more >>

ASML’s Martin van den Brink wins Bob Graham Award from SEMI

09 February 2010
Martin van den Brink, Executive Vice President of Technology and Marketing for ASML, has become the eleventh recipient of SEMI’s annual Bob Graham Award, which is awarded for outstanding contributions in semiconductor equipment and materials marketing. Van den Brink has been with ASML for 25 years, with 15 years as a technologist and more recently as a marketing executive. Read more >>

AZ Electronic Materials appoints new CEO

19 January 2010
Geoff WildAZ Electronic Materials has appointed Geoff Wild as chief executive officer. Wild will succeed Thomas von Krannichfeldt who retires from the position after five years. von Krannichfeldt remains a member of the board. Read more >>

Product Briefings

New Product: ASM’s new PowerFill epitaxial technology enables void free filling of deep trenches

21 January 2010 | Wafer Processing
Product Briefing Outline: ASM International has developed its ‘PowerFill’ epitaxial silicon (Epi Si) trench fill process, which enables void free filling of deep trenches with doped, epitaxial silicon. PowerFill is claimed to be about 3 times faster than competing processes, reducing manufacturing costs and creating an additional degree of freedom in power device design. Fairchild Semiconductor is the first customer to qualify the process for its advanced power management devices, having completed verification at its fab in Korea. ASM believes the new process enables power management devices and circuits to be realized in a smaller footprint thereby reducing die cost and form factor. Read more >>

New Product: SOLA xT from Novellus incorporates monitoring of ultra-violet thermal process

14 January 2010 | Wafer Processing
Product Briefing Outline: Novellus Systems has introduced its next-generation ultra-violet thermal processing (UVTP) system, the SOLA xT. The SOLA xT is used in the manufacturing of advanced logic devices at 45nm and below and incorporates a proprietary UVTP treatment process that modifies the physical characteristics of a previously-deposited film through exposure to ultraviolet light and heat. The new system, featuring on-board UV monitoring and a customizable optics assembly, provides process flexibility and extendibility over multiple device generations. The first SOLA xT system will be shipped to UMC's Fab 12i in Singapore. Read more >>

New Product: Eco-Snow technology improves efficiency of photomasks and reticle cleaning

14 January 2010 | Lithography
Product Briefing Outline: Eco-Snow's advanced, automated MaskClean 150 System is a dry CO2 alternative to conventional cleaning methods for removing particulate and light organic contamination from the surface of photomask substrates. The system is helping a major U.S. photomask manufacturer save money and improve the quality of its photomasks and reticles with a cleaning technology designed for the 28nm DRAM half-pitch technology node. The system reclaims masks by removing contaminants left behind by wet cleaning; preserves mask quality by reducing the number of erosive wet cleaning cycles required and reduces the cycle time required to create masks, since fewer cleanings are needed. Read more >>

Recruitment News

Facility Manager’s Development Program ‘09 begins in September

22 July 2009
CREATEArizona State University's (ASU) developed training program for professionals has announced details for the 2009 ‘Facility Manager's Development Program' (FMDP), due to start in September this year. Read more >>

Axcelis cuts one-fifth of global workforce

22 May 2009
Further to its approximately 14% cut in staff numbers in October 2008 – only seven months ago, Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has again announced that it is letting staff go in a further attempt at cutting operating costs to stay competitive. Approximately 235 staff, or 20% of its global workforce will be axed from the company’s books, yielding an estimated $25 million in savings per annum. Read more >>

Xilinx looks to restructuring

16 April 2009 | Comments (1)
Xilinx semiconductor plant in DublinXilinx, Inc. has announced plans to restructure the company, including getting rid of 6% of its workforce, or 200 employees, which would have a pre-tax charge of US$11-US$13 million for the June quarter, mostly dealing with severance pay expenses. Read more >>

Special Features

300mm activity report: Special Memory Focus

01 March 2008
Mark Osborne, Editor-in-Chief, Semiconductor Fabtech Read more >>

300mm activity report: January to April 2008

01 March 2008 | Comments (1)
Mark Osborne, Editor-in-Chief, Semiconductor Fabtech Read more >>

300mm Prime and the road to 450mm: Part 1

01 December 2007 | Comments (1)
Mark Osborne, Editor-in-Cheif, Semiconductor Fabtech Read more >>