Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Unlike the PV industry that has seen wafer prices decline by as much as 70% in 2011, semiconductor silicon wafer revenue actually increased by 2%, while shipments decreased 3%. Though SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) didn’t say why shipments were lower but revenue higher, consolidation in the market coupled to the continued migration to 300mm wafers at the expense of smaller sized substrates could be the key underlying reason for the trends in 2011. Read more >>

An attempt to regain lost revenue has led to MEMC Electronic Materials’ decision to cut its global workforce by 20%, or over 1,300 employees. The cuts, only 250 of which will be from its US workforce, will see the company’s semiconductor segment reduced by 41% and its solar materials staff by approximately 47%. Among other activities, the company will also idle its 6,000MT Merano, Italy polysilicon facility, which it says it will close unless “dramatic feedstock, power and other cost reductions are achieved” in the near future. Read more >>

Air Products has launched a research and development program into electronic materials in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Laboratory at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, China. The project's aim is to accelerate the product development of materials for the microelectronics industry.
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Worldwide silicon wafer shipments by ‘area’(million square inches) increased 5% in the second quarter of 2011, compared with the previous quarter, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Read more >>

ATMI has said that its 'iCleaner' product is the first chemistry in the semiconductor industry to receive the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 'Design for the Environment' label. For this product, ATMI partnered with a customer to deliver cleaning solutions used in the semiconductor fabrication process. With the aid of ATMI's High Productivity Development tools and the '12 Principles' approaches, the team developed a novel, low odor, and environmentally benign formulation that delivers a time- and cost-effective in-line cleaning method. Read more >>

Showa Denko has blamed a sharp rise in the prices it pays of raw materials that go into its high-purity fluorine-based gases for the need to raise its own prices for high-purity FC-116 (C2F6) and FC-14 (CF4) gases, mainly used chamber cleaning applications in semiconductor process tools. Showa Denko said prices would increase by 500 yen per kilogram, with shipments on August 1, 2011 onwards. Read more >>

Matheson has become the Total Gas and Chemical Management (TGCM) provider for SMIC’s foundry fab in Shanghai, China. Matheson will be responsible for inventory, delivery and hook up of the facility’s process gases and chemicals as well as overseeing the operation and maintenance of the facility’s gas and chemical delivery systems.  Read more >>

State-owned, Hua Li Microelectronics has selected Praxair China to supply a range of gasses for its 300mm fab in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Shanghai, China. Praxair is a leading gas supplier in the park. Praxair will supply compressed dry air, ultra-high-purity oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen and helium to the 300mm fab. Read more >>

Used as greenhouse gas replacement chemistry for semiconductor equipment chamber cleaning and other applications, 3M’s ‘Novec’ product range is continuing to meet customer demand after the company announced plans to expand production. 3M has broken ground on an expansion at its Cordova, Ill., manufacturing facility that is designed to stay ahead of market demand. Read more >>

Fab materials specialist, Matheson has joined ISMI’s Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Technology Center at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) Albany NanoTech Complex. The aim is to collaborate on environmental and sustainable solutions in areas such as energy and resource conservation, chemical management, and industry response to climate change. Read more >>