
The Chip Shots blog channels the observations of Fabtech's and PV-Tech/Photovoltaic International's Senior Contributing Editor--USA, Tom Cheyney, a 20-year veteran of semiconductor, advanced micro/nanoelectronics, and solar manufacturing trade journalism. For 15 years, Tom was editor in chief of MICRO (the original home of Chip Shots) until it ceased publication in July 2006. Tom calls Los Angeles home.
View MICRO Magazine archive.
13 August 2008
By the time the Los Angeles Lakers have their grudge match with the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics on Christmas Day 2008, the home team's
Staples Center venue should be getting a burst of power from a fresh batch of 1727
Solar Power, Inc. (SPI) modules on its very SoCal "surfboard"-shaped roof.
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Although David Lammers of
Semiconductor International
might be better known for his consummate "reportering" skills (with no
apologies to George W), he's also a pretty good blogger when he gets
around to it.
His latest posting, the snappily headlined
"M&A Activity Picks Up in Downturn Dog Days,"
discusses the wave of mergers and acquisitions' goings-on in the
semiconductor equipment and materials space over the past several
months.
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11 August 2008
You got your thin wafers, your very thin wafers, and soon your ultrathin wafers.
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07 August 2008
The copy flow has slowed here this week, due to a combination of laptop
software problems (thanks, Microsoft Vista!) and a deadline for a print
feature in the first edition of
Photovoltaics International (if you haven't signed up for a free subscription at
pv-tech.org, please do!).
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04 August 2008
Although its name conjurs connections with the dinosaur realm, fallen
Roman (or Romulan) Empire heroes, or fabled half-human/half-horse
creatures,
Synopsys' Sentaurus has more in common with virtual reality than paleontology, ancient history, or Greek mythology.
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During our Tuesday (July 29) chat at the company's modest global headquarters in Menlo Park,
Signet Solar's
founder-CEO Rajeeva Lahri and VP of manufacturing Bijan Moslehi updated
me on the company's latest news and future plans, including the status
of the ramp of their first production facility in Mochau, outside of
Dresden.
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30 July 2008
A cloture motion on an eight-year extension of the 30% solar energy
investment tax credit failed yet again on the US Senate floor today
(July 30), by a largely party-line vote of 51-43, the legislation still
needing an additional nine votes to get to the senior chamber's floor
for debate.
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28 July 2008
Although I haven't finished with my post-Intersolar North
America/Semicon West-inspired blogging yet, I'll be on the road again
the beginning of this week, visiting a mostly solar PV cast of
companies in the anachronistically named Silicon Valley. I also have a
backlog of interviews and coverage to plow through that I collected
before
the recent double-banger event, including interviews with execs from
Suniva and Skypoint Solar, as well as a report about my recent visit to
Cymer's extreme-UV lithography source project.
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26 July 2008
The impending closure of Hynix Semiconductor's Eugene, OR, 200-mm fab
and resultant layoff of more than 1400 employees and contract workers
announced last Thursday has sent shockwaves through the community--but
the story may end up having a silver lining, or at least a sunny
outcome. The local
Register-Guard newspaper ran an
extensive feature in Friday's edition, with the headline "Hynix, solar company talk: State, local officials report negotiations but say it's not sure thing."
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Anyone who's been driving yield enhancement in a chip fab, conversion
efficiencies in solar cells and modules or productivity improvements in
either sector knows that a few percent here, a few percent there can
add up to millions of dollars in savings or improved bottom-line
margins.
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