
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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