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Dec 24, 2007 at 09:31 AM |
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As we reported in Fabtech's pair o' blogs last week, Nanosolar announced it had shipped its first CIGS-based solar panels and put its second roll-to-roll manufactured panel up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds destined for charity.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 20, 2007 at 06:08 AM |
Two reports have come out that present some interesting comparisons and contrasts: Gartner Dataquest's latest semiconductor capital equipment market forecast and a KPMG/SIA joint survey of C-level chipmaker executives.
The outlook is a bit grim for the equipment folks in 2008, according to Dataquest, which projects that capital expenditures will plummet 13.2% to $51.3 billion, largely due to a drawdown from DRAM manufacturers and lack of a hoped-for "revival" from the foundry sector---and despite continued increases from those capacity-crazy NAND flashers and a possible logic spending upside.Write Comment (1 comments) |
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Dec 19, 2007 at 01:04 PM |
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FEI and the Dutch-based Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter announced that they have partnered up, not only to see single-atom-scale materials but to figure out how to process those materials as well.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 18, 2007 at 08:38 PM |
With all the IEDM coverage of late, Chip Shots has a backlog of developing stories that need some updating and comment; refreshingly, no 45-nm semiconductor tech coverage will be included.
First off, First Solar stayed true to its corporate word with the announcement of the acquisition of Turner Renewable Energy a couple of weeks ago.Write Comment (1 comments) |
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Dec 17, 2007 at 12:11 PM |
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Morris Chang attended his first IEDM in 1956---the same year I was born: another way of putting it is that he's been in the chipmaking biz practically since its inception and before mine.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 14, 2007 at 08:13 AM |
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The Churchill Hotel may not be the newest or trendiest hotel in Washington, DC, but it does have a certain air of old-school class, making it a fitting site for Chipworks' Dick James now-becoming-annual (and always entertaining) "Ongoing History of Strain" invite-only presentation at IEDM.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 13, 2007 at 01:29 PM |
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One recurring front-end-of-line process theme from this week's IEDM was the critical importance of advanced, next-gen annealing in the ability to achieve the junction depth scaling needed for sub-45-nm technologies.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 11, 2007 at 02:01 PM |
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No single International Electron Devices meeting (IEDM) paper was more eagerly anticipated---or cynically discounted---as Intel's morning presentation on the Big Kahuna's Moore's Law saving, production-worthy 45-nm logic technology featuring high-k dielectrics/metal gates.Write Comment (3 comments) |
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Dec 11, 2007 at 08:00 AM |
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In yesterday's opening segment of Chip Shots' story about the official launch of Chinese equipment supplier AMEC, chairman/CEO Gerald Yin shared a bit of the company's background and strategic thinking.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 10, 2007 at 08:00 AM |
Gerald Yin didn't waste any time offering a key tenet of the AMEC mission statement: "We want to be leaders, rather than followers, by continuing to innovate new technologies and new products," the company chairman/CEO told me during an embargoed mid-November briefing in Silicon Valley.
After more than three years of careful preparation, AMEC (which stands for the deceptively generic sounding "Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment"), the first advanced semiconductor process equipment player to set up shop in China, came out of semistealth mode and launched its 65-/45-nm, 300-mm dielectric etch and HPCVD product line during Semicon Japan week.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 06, 2007 at 04:01 PM |
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When I read the brief report about Micrel's contract manufacturing of solar cells in its San Jose semiconductor facility, I did a double take: "They're running PV wafers and semi wafers in the same fab?" I thought.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 04, 2007 at 04:26 PM |
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After months---OK, a month or so---of speculation (including in Chip Shots' November 2 posting), Cypress Semi spinoff SVTC and Sematech subsidiary ATDF have finally announced their merger, creating what is probably the world's largest development foundry operation.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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Dec 03, 2007 at 04:42 PM |
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When you go to the newly launched www.gsaglobal.org site (which can also be reached by clicking on the same old fsa.org link), you see a graphic, where the "F" in the old FSA logo morphs into a "G," representing the new acronym for what was, until last week, the Fabless Semiconductor Association and what has become the Global Semiconductor Alliance.Write Comment (0 comments) |
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