Online information source for semiconductor professionals

X-FAB UK Ltd., the semiconductor manufacturer, has announced that it has cut its annual energy costs by over £30,000 following the installation of six 37kW ABB HVAC drives on its three cooling towers. The installation of the ABB drives by Drive Control, the local ABB HVAC partner, cost £15,000, according to the company, all of which will be recouped by the company in the space of six months. Read more >>

At the 2008 International Symposium on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV), ASML expects to present on new developments in EUV lithography that it claims show a production worthiness for the technology down to 11nm. The lithography equipment supplier has dubbed the production tool its 'NXE' series with the design having been completed and evolved from its optical TWINSCAN platform, and has orders for five of these systems from memory and logic customers, the company said. Read more >>

Market research firm, IC Insights has revised downwards its worldwide semiconductor market forecast for 2008. Price erosion, specifically in NAND flash and logic devices was cited for a revenue reduction of $5.2 billion compared to its previous forecast in the middle of the year. In its mid-year report, IC Insights projected semiconductor sales to reach $670.68 billion. The revised forecast puts sales at $$660.73 billion for 2008, a $6 billion decline. Read more >>

Private equity firm Bayside Capital has bought substantially all the assets of surface preparation equipment manufacturer Akrion Systems. The companies said the transaction includes a major investment from Bayside and positions Akrion for growth in both the semiconductor and solar cleaning equipment markets. Customers will benefit from the transaction through new product introductions, enhanced service levels, and expanded R&D. Read more >>

ARM is to develop a comprehensive 32nm and 28nm Systems-on-a-Chip (SoCs) design platform based on IBM’s processes that will employ high-k metal-gate (HKMG) technology. ARM will develop and license a design platform that includes logic, memory and interface products for the Common Platform technology alliance that includes IBM, Chartered and Samsung. This will be a multi-year collaboration, ARM said. Read more >>

The worlds largest and most profitable semiconductor foundry has announced preliminary details regarding what it claims will be categorized as a full node process for the 28nm node, employing options on high-k metal gate (HKMG) or silicon oxynitride (SiON) materials depending on the IC application and customer requirements. TSMC said that several customers were already working on designs with TSMC for the 28nm node, while initial production is expected in the first quarter of 2010. The 28nm node would be treated by the ITRS as a half-node technology, between 32nm and 22nm. Read more >>

According to The Korean Times, Samsung is to accelerate the migration of NAND flash devices to its 42nm node process in an effort to improve profitability as ASPs continue to decline rapidly due to the continuation of the oversupply situation, further compounded by weaker demand. The Korean Times quoted an unnamed Samsung spokesperson that said that it was currently ramping 42nm MLC flash devices to 10 percent of production capacity by the end of 2008 at one of its most advanced 300mm fabs in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Read more >>

In its continued efforts to become a major force in the materials metrology markets for both semiconductor and photovoltaics industries, Semilab Co. Ltd., has acquired French metrology equipment specialist SOPRA SA. The all cash transaction was closed on the 17th September, 2008. Details of the deal were not announced. Read more >>

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has had its S2/FAB 8 pass the BSI ISO27001 audit for information security management systems. This is the first of SMIC’s fabs to gain the certification. Read more >>

CIMAC has become the exclusive reseller of SECS/GEM equipment software from Korea-based firm IT Innovation in the U.S. The software is available for both 200mm and 300mm equipment, the company said. The IT Innovation partnership also includes equipment data acquisition and communications software products. Read more >>