A major DRAM manufacturer in Asia has ordered two more single-wafer Velocity cleaning systems from Akrion. The systems will be used for BEOL post etch/ash cleaning steps on a Cu DRAM production line, according to the company. 

EV Group has received an order for two of its MEMS-based systems from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay. The IIT has placed an order for the EVG620TB bond and mask aligner and the EVG501 wafer bonder (pictured), which will be installed later this month in IIT’s Mumbai facility. 

Akrion has said it has shipped a Velocity single-wafer system to a large DRAM manufacturer in Asia. Akrion's Velocity "super scrubber" is adaptable to a wide variety of particle removal applications for manufacturers of LOGIC, DRAM, NAND Flash and other semiconductor devices. 

AMI Semiconductor is to shift a portion of its R&D team to IMEC’s 200mm facility in Leuven, Belgium as part of an extended joint development program for smart power processes and devices at the 130nm and 90nm nodes.  The AMIS I4T platform will enable complex system-on-chip (SoC) Smart Power systems for next generation automotive, power regulation, and communications applications, the company said. 

Hynix Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics have both agreed to assist in the funding of a Korean Government supported program to research and develop future spin-torque-transfer magnetic-random-access-memory (STT-MRAM) and other non-volatile memory devices, according to a news story by Korea Times. 

Inotera Memories has placed a follow-on order with Metryx Limited for its Mentor DF3 mass metrology tool that will initially be used to monitor deep-trench etch processes at one of Inotera’s 300mm DRAM fabs in Taiwan. The Mentor DF3 offers atomic layer measurement accuracy for high volume 300mm manufacturing environments. 

Rudolph Technologies has strengthened its position in the 3D bumped wafer inspection market, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27 percent through 2010, according to TechSearch, with the acquisition of intellectual property and selected assets of RVSI Inspection. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

IMEC has established a foothold in Taiwan as more of the mainstream semiconductor manufacturing becomes established on the island. Initially, IMEC will only have a representative office under the name ‘IMEC Taiwan’ but expects to have migrated to become an active R&D center in six months. 

Wafer prep equipment specialist, Akrion, Inc. has entered the photovoltaic market with the announcement that a GAMA immersion cleaning system has been qualified for an advanced solar cleaning application for an unidentified solar cell manufacturer.