Hynix Semiconductor has expanded bulk gas supply contracts with Air Liquide Electronics at its new 300mm fab located in Cheongju, South Korea and its joint venture 300mm fab in Wuxi, China. 

Chartered Semiconductor has made an investment in Taiwan-based SOCLE Technology Corporation, known for its system-on-chip (SoC) design services using ARM cores and developing ARM-based platforms. Financial terms of the investment were not announced. 

Freescale has said that its MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) technology, manufacturing and IP have been transferred to a new company, EverSpin Technologies, backed by a group of venture firms. Freescale will hold a share in the company but has not revealed its actual stake. The move was touted by Freescale as the best way forward to see a faster adoption of the technology in the multiple markets to which the technology could be applied. 

Axcelis Technologies has said that it is to start negotiations shortly over the possible sale of the company to Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) and TPG Capital. The parties signed a confidentiality agreement with respect to discussions between the parties and the confidentiality of information to be provided by Axcelis to SHI and TPG. 

Eyelit has said that SYSTEMA GmbH will now offer consulting services and product sales for Eyelit’s manufacturing software suite of products across Europe as the demand for its products has increased in the region. SYSTEMA is already a trained Eyelit solution provider. 

ASM International has publicly announced that it has received an unsolicited offer for its ALD and PECVD product ranges from Applied Materials who is offering between $400 million and $500 million for the two businesses. 

Replisaurus Technologies, has acquired S.E.T. SAS to establish a production site for its proprietary ‘ElectroChemical Pattern Replication’ (ECPR) technology, used for TSV and other IC packaging integration schemes. S.E.T. Smart Equipment Technology is the former device bonder division of SUSS MicroTec and is based in France. 

The Si2 Design-for-Manufacturability Coalition has welcomed Takumi Technology as its newest member. Takumi follows in the footsteps of Intel, Infineon, Mentor Graphics, UMC and STARC, who joined the association in January. Si2 was founded to maintain standards between EDA software tools and manufacturing software and now represents nearly 100 companies in all areas of the silicon supply chain. 

First Nano has shipped one of its SiGe CVD systems to CEA Grenoble, France. The CEA will use the system in its Silicon Nanoelectronics Photonics and Structures (SiNaPs) laboratory for aiding research into low-dimensional silicon-based nanostructures.

Nantero is placing its ‘CMOS-friendly’ CNT process modules at SVTC’s two development fabs in the U.S. to allow for wider collaboration with potential licensees of Nantero’s technology and the ultimate aim of full commercialization. 

In joint development work, IMEC and AIXTRON have said that they have successfully deposited crack-free AlGaN/GaN structures onto 200mm Si(111) wafers. This is the first such demonstration, according to the development team. The aim is to reach full fabrication of low-cost GaN power devices for high-efficiency/high-power systems beyond the silicon limits. 

April semiconductor sales were essentially flat, with the March 2008 figure only 5.9 percent higher than the same month in 2007. This result is despite continued softness in memory markets, according to the latest figures released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). April sales were $21.2 billion. 

Voltaix LLC has announced that due to increased demand for germane from both the semiconductor and solar industries, it plans to expand production of the compound. The expansion will include the completion of the installation of a previously constructed skid-mounted site, the location of which was not disclosed by the company. 

Gartner has tweaked its semiconductor forecasts for 2008 and beyond. The good news is that the first quarter showed seasonal declines rather than a reaction to macro-economic factors, suggesting that IC market conditions have remained stable, according to Gartner. The market research firm has therefore raised projections for 2008 to growth of 4.6 percent compared to its previous forecast of only 3.4 percent growth. Sales will now reach $287 billion in 2008 compared to $278 billion as previously projected. 

TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, has joined the Interoperable PDK Libraries (IPL) Alliance. The Alliance aims to standardize process design kits (PDKs - sets of foundry-verified data files for analog and mixed signal design flow) to create uniformity in design flows for customers across the board. Specialized PDKs for individual EDA vendors and tools can lead to uniformity problems further down the line when multiple vendors and customers are involved. 

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. will transfer 95% of its issued shares in the company’s semiconductor business to Rohm Co., Ltd. in a cooperative move that will see the companies sign an agreement, pending approval by Oki’s shareholders at its upcoming annual shareholder meeting.  Oki has been investigating initiatives to expand its business while Rohm has been looking to expand its IDM product portfolio of late. 

Strong growth in the industrial gases market has led to Air Liquide pouring €110 million into an expansion program. The company will open production facilities in Ulm, southern Germany, and Sines, southwest Portugal, with initial production expected between the end of 2009 and early 2010. 

IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), the joint venture NAND flash manufacturing partnership between Intel Corp. and Micron Technology, has produced working samples of its 34nm 32Gb multi-level cell NAND flash device, which fits into a standard 48-lead thin small-outline package (TSOP). The 172mm² die produce approximately 1.6 terabytes of NAND flash memory per 300mm wafer, according to the companies. 

Qcept Technologies, Inc., the wafer inspection systems company, and CEA-Leti, the micro- and nanotechnology research organization, have signed an agreement that will see them collaborate on advanced semiconductor process development.  High-k and low-k dielectrics, ALD, and FUSI metal gates are among the technologies being researched and examined under the new agreement. 

Celerity, Inc. has opened a new manufacturing facility in Singapore, entitled Celerity Fluid Systems Pte. Ltd. Located in the Woodlands Industrial Park area in northern Singapore, the 17,000 square foot facility will house integration and manufacturing of the company’s advanced gas delivery systems, among others. Initial shipments from the new facility are expected in August 2008.