Online information source for semiconductor professionals

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. Read more >>

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. Read more >>

You got your thin wafers, your very thin wafers, and soon your ultrathin wafers. Read more >>

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!). Read more >>

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. Read more >>

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. Read more >>

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. Read more >>

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. Read more >>

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." Read more >>

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. Read more >>