Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Integrated Materials, Inc (IMI) known for its ‘SiFusion’ processes for manufacturing polysilicon-based furnaceware has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by Ferrotec. The SiFusion materials range is expected to complement Ferrotec's existing line of advanced materials for semiconductor manufacturing that include fabricated quartzware and advanced ceramics. Read more >>

A five-year contract to service all Applied Materials chip production equipment at NXP Semiconductor’s facility in Nijmegen, Holland has been signed with the equipment company. Through its Applied Performance Service program, over 70 Applied Materials systems at NXP’s 8-inch wafer facility will be covered by the new contract. Applied will also hire NXP engineers to become members of Applied’s on-site service team. Read more >>

Five finalists have been listed for this year's SEMICON West, Sustainable Technologies Award, which includes Applied Materials, Edwards, Pall, Tokyo Electron and Verigy. The annual award recognizes equipment, materials or services that have been introduced to the marketplace in the last three years that can contribute to sustainable improvement of the environment. Read more >>

A just announced angstrom-level etch system, dubbed Applied Centura ‘AdvantEdge Mesa’ from Applied Materials has seen strong demand from customers, according to the company. Applied said that more than 60 chambers have shipped to customers in the last three months – where they are tool-of-record for 32nm IC fabrication and 22nm process development. Read more >>

No surprises that Applied Materials continued to lead the semiconductor equipment sales in 1Q10.  The company’s IC manufacturing equipment and related service revenues increased 43% in the first quarter, the highest growth among major WFE suppliers. However, the market research firm noted that Teradyne achieved the highest growth in 1Q among the top 10 suppliers, driven by strong demand of its SOC test systems.  Overall the semiconductor equipment market grew 43% in the first quarter, reaching U$10.4B in sales, naturally a significant recovery from the 2009 recession. Read more >>

A long-running issue in photomask inspection and more so in relation to EUV technology is the lack of development or existence of the required tools, due to the limited expected market and ROI for the equipment vendor. However, SEMATECH and Carl Zeiss are to now design and develop the industry’s first-ever actinic aerial image metrology system ‘AIMS’ for defect review of EUV photomasks. Read more >>

Nova Measuring Instruments has said that it expects multiple installations of its Nova T500 stand-alone optical CD metrology tool, which are expected to total seven different customers by the end of the third quarter of 2010. The company also noted that 5 of these are new stand-alone metrology customers. The T500 is a high throughput high accuracy stand-alone optical CD platform. Read more >>

Revenue at the major semiconductor foundries is set to boom for the next four-years as consumer demand for electronics has returned with a vengeance, according to revised forecasting from iSuppli Corp. Revenue is now expected to top U$29.8 billion, up 42.3% from 2009’s US$22.1 billion. iSuppli previously predicted revenue would rise 39.5 percent this year. By 2014, total pure-play foundry revenue will reach U$45.9 billion, managing a CAGR of 9.4% from US$26.8 billion in 2008, iSuppli said. Read more >>

The fifth straight month of equipment bookings above US$1 billion has been reported by SEMI. North America-based semiconductor equipment suplliers posted US$1.48 billion in orders in May 2010 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.12. The bookings figure is up 2.8 percent from the final April 2010 level of US$1.44 billion, and is 415.3 percent above the US$287.8 million in orders posted in May 2009. Orders have increased now for 14 consecutive months. Read more >>

The ‘Bof W’ Award finalists, not as was orginally reported, which is an award system used by market research firm VLSI Research, have been revealed for this years SEMICON West. New products are measured by semiconductor manufacturing experts and industry trade journalist based on their financial impact on the industry, engineering or scientific achievement, and/or societal impact. The Best of West Award winner will be announced during a special ceremony on Wednesday, July 14, 2009 at 1:00pm (TechSITE North, North Hall, Moscone Center). Read more >>