|
August 29th, 2005
According to the Star, one of Malaysia’s newspapers, Infineon
Technologies, one of Europe’s largest memory and semiconductor producers, will invest approximately $1 billion in its
manufacturing facility at Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP). That facility plans to produce power and logic chips in May.
The report also indicted that company officials did not have a problem
filling new positions at the facility. According to Tan Soo Hee, the managing director of the facility, over 10,000 people
applied for the few hundred positions available. At full operation, the new facility is expected to employ 1,700.
August 26th, 2005
As part of a flash chip manufacturing agreement with Hynix, M-Systems,
a fabless flash chip company, has agreed to purchase $100 million in manufacturing equipment to enable Hynix to produce processed
semiconductor wafers for M-Systems. According to Dov Moran, CEO of M-Systems, "These agreements are important to support our
continued growth and commitments to our customers. Hynix becoming an additional source for DiskOnChip further validates our
leadership within the EFD category."
M-Systems and Hynix are currently developing a DiskOnChip embedded
flash drive (EFD) for the high stakes mobile handset market.
The deal may give Hynix, which is one of the world’s leading
suppliers of DRAM memory, an increased market share position in the flash chip market.
August 22nd, 2005
Chartered Semiconductor (Nasdaq:CHRT)(SGX-ST:CHARTERED) has completed
a private placement of $300 Million of Units. The company reported that it plans to use the proceeds mainly for the repayment
of debt and for working capital and other corporate expense. Chartered Semiconductor is a major chip foundry with operations
in Singapore.
August 17th, 2005
Luxtera
Carries Light for the Optical Age – Schedules Integrated CMOS Photonic Chips for 2006, 10 Gbps to
1 Tbps Silicon Systems Possible
Luxtera Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, has announced
what it calls the first 10 Gbit CMOS Optical Ring Modulator. The company with the announcement indicated that it can now integrate
optical modulators into standard CMOS production processes in volume for the mass market.
Alex Dickinson, CEO of Luxtera, addressed today’s system designers
in a statement accompanying the announcement. He indicated that system designers who forsake optical interconnect for copper
interconnects face the prospect of losing out to the competition, "This development of the world's first ring modulator in
CMOS is a fantastic milestone for Luxtera and for our partners. We have reached a point that was considered impossible --
where optical interfaces can be faster and much smaller than their electrical counterparts while preserving the economy of
silicon. At speeds of 10Gbit/s or higher, system designers must now focus on optical interconnect or risk falling behind the
competition by limiting their interconnect choice to copper." The process Luxtera used to build its photonic chips is the
same CMOS process Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL, FSLB), Luxtera’s partner, uses for its PowerPC based microprocessors.
Ashok Krishnamoorthy, distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems,
a major producer of servers with its own chip design unit, also commented on Luxtera’s technology, "The ability to link
components with huge bandwidth and low latency has always been a grand challenge for computer designers," says "With Luxtera's
CMOS Photonics technology, we are now starting to envision performance levels that were unimaginable a couple of years ago.
There are some exciting possibilities for future systems design."
Luxtera says its will ship product in 2006, but will announce
product details in 2005. However the company did report that its transceivers can operate at distances of 2 kilometers and
with DWDM techniques the modulator would allow devices to be built that can scale to 100 Gbps and 1 Terabit. The ring modulator
also has an area of 30 microns, which the company says is 1000 times smaller that a previous front-running CMOS 10 Gbps /
MZI modulator. The company indicates that the small size will result in an electrical interface that is 100 times smaller
than what is now available. Added advantages though are significantly less power consumption with no loss in bandwidth.
August 16th, 2005
Spansion LLC, the joint venture of AMD (NYSE:AMD) and Fujitsu Limited
(TSE:6702), has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM).
The agreement with Spansion will require TSMC to produce Spansion’s flash memory chips based on the company’s
110 nanometer MirrorBit technology. Chip families covered under the agreement include Spansion’s GL, PL and WS for the
wireless markets and GL chips for the embedded market.
The chips will be manufactured with Spansion’s 110 nanometer
process, which will be incorporated into Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) wafer fabrication production
lines. The 256 Mbit WS and GL-N chips were specifically referred to as chips that would be manufactured at TSMC. Those chips
are currently manufactured at Spansion’s JV-3 factory in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan. Production ramp for the flash memory
chips has been scheduled for the second quarter of 2006.
August 16th, 2005
Triant Technology Increases Revenue – Focused on Chip
Equipment Health Monitoring
Triant Technologies Inc. (TSX: TNT), a company that provides Advanced
Process Control software solutions used to monitor the performance of semiconductor equipment so as to lower manufacturing
costs and improve productivity, announced an increase in revenue for its latest quarter ended June 30, 2005. The company reported
that revenue for the latest quarter, expressed in Canadian dollars, was $872,563 compared to the same quarter last year results
of $779,480. For its latest six month period, also expressed in Canadian dollars, the company’s revenue was $ 2,397,076
compared to $ 1,841,669 for the six month period a year ago.
One of Triant’s products is called ModelWare. That product
is defined by the company as a real time, multivariate equipment health monitoring and advanced fault detection software solution
to the semiconductor industry.
August 15th, 2005
Nano Cluster Devices, Inc. (NCD) has reported that it has developed
and patented two new processes for the production on integrated circuits. The first process is said to eliminate one of the
steps currently used in lithography, which is a necessary step for converting an image of an integrated circuit to a set of
masks for the volume production of semiconductors. According to the company, their new process can also generate patterns
of any shape. The other process is a new way to stencil. The company indicates that its stencil process eliminates clogging.
Most importantly however, according to the company, the new process
allows for the production of features 1000 times smaller than a human hair. A human hair, although not standarized, is
generally considered between 20 and 50 microns thick, implying that the new process could have a feature length in the order
of 0.02 micron or 20 nanometers. The company, as an example of the resolution of its technology, reported that the technology
could fit 100,000 maps of New Zealand on the head of a pin. For the most part, today’s integrated circuit technology
is limited to the production of square or rectangular devices that have a feature length, for commercial production, at 90
nanometers, with current technology transitioning to 65 nanometers.
Giving a good reason for a clog-free stencil process was Dr Jim
Partridge, the lead researcher, “It’s a bit like spray painting through a stencil, except that we are spraying
clusters and not paint. By controlling the conditions so that the clusters do not stick to the stencil, we have shown that
we can eliminate clogging and make very narrow wires.”
Dr. Brown also said that the developments were significant, “These are really significant developments.
These new technologies allow faster and easier patterning of nanodevices, and may provide significant economic and technical
advantages over existing technologies used by the semiconductor industry.”
NCD’s nanowire process, known as atomic cluster deposition,
is based on self-assembling clusters that can be used to form a variety of shapes or nanowires. Considered central to the
production of low-cost nanowires, the technology is the fact that the nanowires will self-assemble between electrical contracts
without any extensive process manipulation. It could be inferred that that the process developed, given any two electrical
contacts, or endpoints, results in the self-alignment of conductive atoms between the two contacts forming an electrical path.
With this as the postulate, it would follow that the step to develop the mask step for wires (interconnects) would not be
needed.
The self-assembly wires are believed to be central to enabling the production of low cost nanowires. NCD in June
of 2005 signed a letter of intent with SiliconPipe, Inc, (San Jose, CA). That letter was for the two companies to develop
conducting structures for use in high-speed chip packages and metallic based interconnects. At that time, Kevin Grundy, CEO
of SiliconPipe said "We have identified key application areas where we can use the methods developed by Nano Cluster Devices
to create circuit elements from self-assembled atomic clusters which will significantly improve high-speed metallic circuit
performance. ” As well, Dr. Simon Brown, Executive Director-Science and Technology for Nano Cluster Devices, Ltd. indicated
that their technology was central to the creation of nanowires, "The combination of SiliconPipe's electronic design expertise
and atomic cluster deposition techniques from Nano Cluster Devices will enable the creation of unique structures that are
impossible to create economically by other techniques."
Nano Cluster Devices, Inc. based down-under, in ChristChurch, New Zealand, is also affiliated with Nano Dynamics,
Inc., of Buffalo, New York. Dr. Alan Rae, VP of Market & Business Development at Nano Dynamics, Inc., also in June revealed
that the combination of Nano Cluster’s and SiliconPipe’s technology could result in a technology competitive with
optical technologies, "SiliconPipe is one of the most creative companies we know in the interconnect business and they have
already developed designs that have pushed the performance of high-speed interconnection to a point where their technology
is competitive with optical methods. We feel confident that a combination of Nano Cluster Device’s technology and SiliconPipe’s
will result in even higher performance and cost-effective packaging and based-based interconnect structures that will have
widespread applications."
Others that have worked on NCD’s nanowire technology include Jim Partridge, Rene Reichel and David Mackenzie.
Those three are in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury.
August 15th, 2005
Ziptronix, known for its three-dimensional integrated circuit vertical
interconnect technology, has raised $7.2 million in a Series C round. The round’s investors included Alliance Technology
Ventures, Grotech Capital, Intersouth Partners, NC IDEA, Research Technology Ventures, and RTI International. Ziptronix indicates
that the funds will be used for the further expansion of its sales and marketing efforts as well as to add new partners.
The company's 3D IC technology permits the vertical stacking of
integrated circuits, enable smaller footprints, lower electronic system power and faster system speeds. The company also indicates
that vertical integration also lowers the costs of integrated circuits.
August 15th, 2005
RoseStreet Labs has opened a 3D Research and Development laboratory
in Phoenix, Arizona focused on the development of advanced semiconductor packaging technology. At the facility, RoseStreet
and its subsidiary FlipChip International will develop new materials and processes for the packaging of wireless devices.
As well, through an alliance with SUSS MicroTec, the facility is expected to be equipped with a full range of lithography
and 3D packaging equipment from SUSS. The laboratory offers R&D contract services for polymer, metal deposition, lithography,
3D packaging, System-in-Package, MEMS packaging and interconnect development. Summing up the five year plan was Bob Forcier,
CEO of RoseStreet Labs, "This opening of our new R&D lab and our alliance with our close partner, SUSS MicroTec, is part
of our five year technology roadmap to provide next generation solutions to our valued customers in the areas of wafer level
MEMs, sensor, System-In-Package and advanced 3D packaging. We are very excited by this milestone and will continue to invest
in advanced technology."
RoseStreet Labs, LLC, bills provides its services and products
for applications in the life sciences, wireless and renewable energy markets. RoseStreet in April of this year entered
into a solar cell commercialization agreement with Cornell University.
August 12th, 2005
GreenShift Invests in Ovation’s Clean Water Appliance – Cost Reduction Applications in Semiconductor and Residential Water Purity
Ovation Products Corporation, which has invested
over $9 million in its water purification technology, a technology that is said to decontaminate water at a price of $0.004
per gallon, has entered into an agreement with GreenShift Corporation (OTC:GSHF) (BULLETIN BOARD: GSHF) whereby GreenShift
will purchase 200,000 shares of Ovation's outstanding stock for approximately $1 million. Also as part of the agreement GreenShift
has the option to acquire an additional 400,000 shares of Ovation common stock at $6.00 per share. Ovation is expected to
commence trading later this year.
Ovation’s Clean Water Appliance, a fire hydrant
sized appliance, is said to be able to produce 25 gallons of pure water per hour for contaminated and polluted water. The
device is based on a process called vapor compression distillation. This process, which Ovation has obtained 11 patents on,
is expected to be available on the fourth quarter of 2005, at a price that the company indicates will be a fraction of the
price of other commercial distillation systems.
Bill Zebuhr, Ovation's chief technology officer,
and the inventor, explained the difference it Ovation’s technology and the 100 fold cost savings, "Most distillation
methods lose a lot of energy in the form of heat. It takes 1,000 BTUs to vaporize a pound of water, which is equal to about
a pint. Purifying water accordingly costs about $0.35 per gallon with a conventional home distiller. Vapor compression distillation
enables the iterative recovery and reuse of the heat of vaporization to evaporate successive batches of water while dirty
concentrate is continuously discharged from the system." Accordingly, it was indicated in the announcement that Ovation’s
technology had reduced the energy loss in the distillation process by over 98 percent can distill water for about 1.2 percent
of the cost of traditional methods. Furthermore, unlike other water purification methods, it was reported that Ovation’s
method does not require a filter or cartridge, thus eliminating the need to change or purchase filters or cartridges.
The semiconductor industry, was pointed to as a
potential market. According to the announcement, the semiconductor industry requires 2,800 to 3,200 gallons of water to produce
just one eight inch wafer. A typical wafer fabrication facility produces 10,000 to 30,000 eight inch wafers per month and
a number are transitioning to 12 inch wafers manufacturing.
Not only is clean water important for water intensive
industries such as the semiconductor industry, but it is also important for the general health of the world population. The
announcement indicated that several million people die every year from water based pollutants. Furthermore, although not specifically
noted, bacteria spread through the water supply are also responsible for the spread of disease and even death. The announcement
also noted that the World Health Organization estimates that 3.5 billion people in the world are without potable water, which
results in problems, which according to the World Health Organization will cost $11.3 billion a year by 2015.
Ovation’s technology has also been developed
for the residential market, although it was indicated that the company won’t directly sell stand-alone products or a
stand-alone appliance to the public, but will instead integrate the technology into appliances from other Original Equipment
Manufacturers as requested by corporate customers. According to Bob MacDonald, Ovation's chief executive officer, "We
have successfully developed our technology to the point where it is cost-effective at the residential scale. We believe that
this is a tremendous achievement that can have profound implications on how we use our water resources today."
Kevin Kreisler, CEO at GreenShift, with the announcement
noted the alignment of Ovation with its company, "The philosophy underlying Ovation's technology is perfectly aligned with
GreenShift's focus today. We believe that we can enable substantial environmental gains by developing and supporting practical
solutions that make it easy and cost-effective for residential and commercial consumers to reduce waste and increase recycling
and reuse. It is our view that these solutions must profitably and seamlessly integrate with our daily lives and existing
infrastructure in order to gain acceptance and bring to pass compelling environmental gains. Ovation's technology achieves
this and I am personally thrilled to include this important company in our portfolio."
GreenShift reports that it hopes to add renewable
energy and mining interest to its portfolio in 2005 and 2006. The company currently has investments in what it calls following
environmentally proactive companies. These include Veridium Corporation (OTC:VRDM)(BULLETIN BOARD: VRDM), INSEQ Corporation
(OTC:INSQ) (BULLETIN BOARD: INSQ), GreenWorks Corporation, GreenShift Industrial Design Corporation, Coriolis Energy Corporation,
TDS (Telemedicine), Inc., Ethanol Oil Recovery Systems, Inc.; Sterling Planet, Inc. and Ovation Products Corporation.
August 12th, 2005
Camtek Receives $5 Million
Investment from FIMI Israel Opportunity Fund
Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) has reported that FIMI Opportunity Fund
L.P. and FIMI Israel Opportunity Fund limited partnership (FIMI), have invested $5,000,000 into Camtek through a five year
convertible loan. Camtek designs and makes optical inspection systems used in the printed circuit board, semiconductor manufacturing
and semiconductor packaging industries. The company indicates that its products enhance the yields for these industries.
With the announcement, Ishay Davidi, CEO of FIMI stressed Camtek’s
products for the semiconductor market, "We are excited about this opportunity to share Camtek's future prosperity, as we have
strong belief in Camtek's management team and in the outstanding opportunity presented by Camtek's new systems for the semiconductor
manufacturing and packaging industries. We believe that these systems are becoming strong growth engines for Camtek".
August 12th, 2005
Innovative Robotics Receives
More Funding
Silicon Valley-based investor David S. Lake has contributed more funding
to Innovative Robotic Systems, Inc. (IRSI). Concurrent with the investment, it was also announced, that Mr. Lake has become
the company’s major shareholder and has been elected by the Board of Directors to the position of Chairman and Chief
Financial Officer. Mr. Lake with the investment commented on the IRSI’s alliances and customer and market opportunities,
"IRSI's wafer-handling robots and robotic systems are industry leaders in quality, reliability, accuracy and cleanliness.
This has led to alliances with some of the largest manufacturers of semiconductor processing equipment in the world. As an
investor in IRSI for a number of years, I have seen firsthand the company's solid strides. I have decided to increase my investment
and involvement in the company in light of IRSI's near-term opportunities to enlarge its customer base and expand its presence
in multiple industries."
August 10th, 2005
IBM Offers 130 nm SiGe Foundry Process for High Frequency Wireless Applications
IBM has announced the availability of its fourth generation silicon
germanium (SiGe) bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) foundry technology. The new process, according to
IBM will allow for a wide range of new applications in the areas of wireless local area network technology, cellular handsets,
Global Position Satellite and advanced automotive safety systems such as on-board radar, collision warning systems and blind
side detection. In addition, IBM noted that the SiGe process will permit lower cost consumer products and longer battery life.
Specifically, IBM reported that the new 130 nanometer process would permit 24 GHz automotive radar systems, 77 GHz collision
warning systems and 60 GHz Wi-Fi chips.
IBM offers two new SiGe processes. One is called 8HP, and the other
8WL, which is a lower cost version. The 8WL variant has been designed for wireless applications that need longer battery life
such as cellular handsets, wireless local area networks and global positioning satellite technologies.
With the announcement, IBM reported SiGe process NPN transistor specifications.
These include an emitter width of 120 nanometers, a cutoff frequency of 200 GHz (8HP) and 100 GHz (8WL). The process also
includes passive resistors, varactors, MOS and MIM capacitors and high Q inductors, all necessary components for the construction
of on-chip wireless RF circuitry.
Sierra Monolithics, a customer, already has commented on its selection
of the process, "Sierra Monolithics has selected IBM's SiGe8HP technology for demanding applications such as highly-integrated
ultra-high-speed fiber optic components, high performance data converters and 60 GHz broadband wireless transceivers," said
Charles Harper, Sierra’s chairman.
AUGUST 10th, 2005
Ciclon Semiconductor Device Corporation, located in the Ben Franklin
Business Incubator on the Lehigh University campus in Pennsylvania has been approved for an investment of $150,000.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP) board approved the investment in Ciclon, which designs
and markets Laterally-Diffuse MOSFETS (LDMOS) chips for use in power applications that range from computer to wireless equipment.
Ciclon indicates that it will use the funds to further study the reliability properties of its recently developed power
semiconductor package.
Ciclon, which acquired the Radio Frequency LDMOS product line from
Agere Systems in April of 2005, has developed a new package concept that has the potential to significantly improve semiconductor
package technology. The patent pending technology was designed to optimize a number of package design specifications. These
include the package cost, profile, thermal dissipation and parasitics. Ciclon has aimed to develop a package that is beyond
what is currently available on the market for all these critical package parameters. The company anticipates that the new
package along with its current proprietary silicon technology will offer the company a leading market position in the electronic
power package market. The Ciclon staff is comprised mainly of former members of Agere Systems. Ciclon retained both management
and technology specialists in the acquisition.
August 8th, 2005
SemEquip Secures $26 Million for Ion Implantation and Advanced Semiconductor
Materials Technology
SemEquip, an ion implantation system and advanced semiconductor
materials company, has reported that it completed $26 million in an oversubscribed round led by LightSpeed Venture Partners.
Other investors included Sierra Ventures.
SemEquip has developed ion implant equipment and a complimentary
advanced implant material to assist semiconductor companies in the production of logic and memory chips with smaller geometries,
lower power, and higher operating speeds. Central to the patented technology is the capability to deliver high dose, low energy
boron implants needed to implement transistor features cost-effectively with better process control.
According to SemEquip’s CEO Brian Cohen the funding would
be used for product development and commercialization, "This significant funding will enable us to achieve our aggressive
product development and commercialization roadmap, deepen our client relationships and continue to build a world class organization."
SemEquip in their announcement indicated that the company’s
ClusterBoron technology has already been adopted by a major semiconductor equipment supplier.
August 8th, 2005
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE:SMI)(SEHK:981),
a;sp known as SMIC, reported its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The company reported sales of
$279.5 million, up 12.3 percent from the first quarter of 2005.
Along with the improved revenue, SMIC reported that it increased
its capacity to 139,025 eight inch wafer equivalents per month and had a wafer fabrication utilization rate of 87 percent
for the second quarter.
Dr. Richard Chang, CEO at SMIC indicated in a lengthy summary that
the semiconductor down cycle had bottomed, and consequently increased projections for capital equipment expenditures,
"The second quarter of 2005 marked what we believe to be the trough of this current semiconductor cycle. During this period,
our financial performance was consistent with our expectations. Despite the general weakness in the semiconductor industry
as a whole at the beginning of the year and in particular the foundry sector, we continued to increase our revenues during
the second quarter of 2005. Based on the demand forecasts provided by our customers, we believe that the second half of 2005
will be a period of financial growth and improvement and have increased our projected capital expenditure budget to $1.1 billion
for 2005. With the semiconductor industry gearing up for a rebound in the second half of the year, we have secured an additional
$600 million in financing that will be more than sufficient to cover our funding requirements for 2005.”
He also commented on SMIC’s new customers from China and the
new semiconductor process milestones the company had reached, “ During the quarter we added 20 new customers, over half
of which came from Mainland China. We are pleased to see continuous progress from our customers in China. On the technology
front, our first customer products at 90nm are currently under qualification and remain on-schedule. Further along the technology
roadmap, we are now developing our 65nm technology process flow in our 300mm fabs.”
Dr. Chang also commented on the company’s diversification
efforts into the flash memory and solar markets, “Today we are pleased to announce two separate projects. The first
relates to a partnership which SMIC has formed with Saifun Semiconductors, Ltd. to license Saifun's NROM technology for the
production of flash memory-based products. Our new flash-memory strategy will enable us to meet the increasing demand for
flash-based products in the consumer electronics and telecommunication sectors.
The second project relates to the wafer reclamation project in Shanghai
to produce solar power modules. We will start facility installation in the third quarter and anticipate equipment move-in
during the fourth quarter.”
Average selling price of SMIC wafers has continued to decline despite
increases in revenue and capacity. The company’s blended wafer ASP for the second quarter of 2005 was $807 compared
to $829 in the first quarter of 2005, representing a 2.7 percent decline sequentially. The drop in ASP was 22 percent when
compared to the second quarter of 2004. In that quarter the blended ASP was $1,035. Logic wafer ASPs have also dropped, but
not as sharply. For the second quarter of 2005, the Logic wafer ASP was $938 compared to $967 in the first quarter of 2005,
down 3 percent, and $1089 in the second quarter of 2004, down 13.9 percent.
For the second quarter, SMIC obtained
42.2 percent of its revenue from fabless companies, 55.2 percent from IDMs, and 2.6 percent from system companies and others.
In the second quarter of 2004, SMIC obtained 9.1 percent of its revenue from the systems and other segment.
In regards to process technology, SMIC in the second quarter obtained
the majority of its revenue from its 0.18 micron process. The company also obtained revenue from its 0.13 micron and 0.15
micron process.
August 4th, 2005
Micrel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRL), a wafer fabrication based semiconductor
company that produces high bandwidth, mixed signal integrated circuits for Ethernet applications, has installed and activated
a Volatile Organic Compound abatement system that is said to reduce the fabrication facility’s energy cost by
an estimated 25 percent. The company said it worked on the project with PG&E, local agencies and the City of San Jose
(located in the heart of Silicon Valley).
Commenting on the project was Guy Gandenberger, vice president of
wafer fab and foundry operations at Micrel, "All fabs have a variety of process material waste and by-products that must be
disposed of in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. However, this can end up costing a semiconductor company
a great deal of money in terms of energy costs. By working closely with PG&E, the City of San Jose and the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District during the qualification, installation, test and permit processes, we were able to qualify for
a substantial rebate from PG&E, cut our long term energy costs by at least 25 percent and continue to dispose of waste
using the most environmentally sound techniques available."
Alan Richter, manager, account services at PG&E, indicated that
the success at Micrel opens the doors up for other wafer fabrication based chip companies, "We are pleased to see corporations
like Micrel attain these environmentally sound goals. This accomplishment paves the way for other Corporations, showing them
how PG&E's programs support the on-going pursuit of environmentally sound business practices. In addition, Micrel's 'green'
leadership shows companies how these efforts can result in significant, long-term cost savings as well as substantial financial
reimbursements through our various rebate programs."
JULY 26th, 2005
Micronbonds, Inc., a company that has developed a new integrated
circuit wire bonding technology, a process necessary for the packaging of silicon chips, has completed a $7 million (Canadian)
financing round. The funding was led by Whitecastle Equity Partners.
Microbonds' calls its new interconnect technology the X-Wire Technology, a technology the company indicates permits
the actual bonding wires to physical touch, but without shorting. The company’s wire bonding technology is based on
new wire materials, which provides an effective insulation shied over the wire. The technology is critical in reducing the
packaging requirements in that it, unlike bare wire bonding, the X-Wire doesn’t require any minimum spacing. In fact,
the X-Wire technology can be criss-crossed over other wires with no concern about short circuits. This gives package and silicon
designers a great deal more flexibility for the routing of package wires, offering them the capability to more precisely match
the silicon area to the smallest package. The company says that the technology permits new geometries through area array and
multi-row wire bonding and direct to ball bonding, which offers reduced substrate layers.
Besides a reduction in the size of the package, the new technology
also offers a number of other benefits that integrated circuit companies need to compete. These include the lower package
cost that comes along with a reduced package size and improved electrical characteristics. Because X-Wire maximizes routing
options, package design engineers are able to route bonding wires with shorter lengths. This in turn reduces the delay and
power consumption associated with the IO bonding wires, which have been traditional major source of delay and power in a
silicon chip – not to mention a source of large transients - which often plague the reliability of a design.
Microbonds also has recently entered into a strategic alliance with
Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K., a supplier of bare gold bonding wire. Under that agreement, the two companies plan to market a line
of insulated gold bonding wires targeted at the array wire bonding, stacked die and rapid prototyping markets.
Shinji Shirakawa, General Manager, Technical Development Division
of Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K. also listed the benefits of the insulated X-Wire technology, "Tanaka is delighted to
work with Microbonds to introduce this exciting new development in wire bonding technology, which we believe will significantly
extend and expand the dominance of the wire bond industry. The X-Wire Technology leverages existing dominant wire-bonding
infrastructure and expertise and can be integrated with minimal disruption; yet the unique, insulated approach permits wires
to touch and cross, enabling significant increases in interconnect densities for a wide array of new chip and package designs.
For users, this technology is easy to use and delivers powerful benefits such as yield improvements, performance enhancements
and cost savings."
JULY 26th, 2005
Entrepix Inc., a company involved in the Chemical Metal Polishing
(CMP) segment of the IC foundry business, has obtained another line of credit from Irwin Union Bank, F.S.B. The funds are
planned to further expand the companies CMP foundry capacity.
Noting that the funding would provide fabless and IDM (fab based)
companies a more flexible manufacturing model was Entrepix CEO Tim Tobin, "With this latest round of funding, Entrepix is
accelerating expansion of foundry capacity to address our customers' growing production demands. This incremental funding
is a perfect complement to last year's advanced CMP applications expansion for leading IDMs and materials developers. The
additional foundry capacity provides our IDM and fabless customers a flexible manufacturing model which improves their market
competitiveness and financial performance."
Entrepix Inc. formerly known as Total Fab Solutions Inc., provides
both Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) outsourcing and equipment services from the development stage to the production
stage.
JULY 19th, 2005
IRMA America has entered into a license agreement with the University
of Michigan for technology incorporated into IMRA’s laser based micromachining station. The technology revolves around
United States patents RE37,585 and 5,656,186, "Method for controlling configuration of laser induced breakdown and ablation,"
that have been assigned to the University of Michigan.
The IMRA station can be used for applications such as mask repair,
glass repair, semiconductors and microfluidics. Takashi Omitsu, President of IMRA, emphasized that the agreement, two years
in the works, protection for its customers, "We are making available the best product, best protection, and best value for
femtosecond micromachining by extending this license to our worldwide customers. I really appreciate the work of the University
of Michigan Technology Transfer Office and their cooperation."
Hermetic Switch Offers Zero-Power Reed Switch Replacement
for MEMS Device
Hermetic Switch, Inc. reports that its Reed Switch devices are
an alternative to solid state switches, such as MEMS switches, used in defibrillators. The company indicates that its PRX+2450
overmolded Reed Switch is about the same size as the tiny MEMS magnetic switches that have been vying for market position
in the medical device market.
Hermetic states that its Reed Switches have been used in implantable
pacemakers and defibrillators for over 30 years. Besides reliability, the company also notes that Reed Switches don’t
consume power and are not sensitive to Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). According to the company, solid-state switches, such
as MEMS based switches consume power, which affects the overall life of battery powered medical devices. MEMS switches, because
they are a relatively new technology, may be prone to reliability problems. In its announcement, Hermetic Switch points out
that its Reed Switch can be used as a replacement for medical devices based on MEMs devices. Hermetic notes that a medical
device based on a MEMS device was recently recalled. Hermetic Switch offers its Reed Switch as a drop-in replacement for that
MEMs device.
Integral Vision, Inc. (OTC:INVI) (BULLETIN BOARD: INVI) has received
an order from QUALCOMM, one of the worlds largest supplier of cellular phone chips, for its SharpEye inspection system. QUALCOMM
plans to use the system for production testing of its iMoD MEMS Display.
Charles J. Drake, CEO at Integral Vision, was confident that the
system would be an effective system to test QUALCOMM’s MEMS based devices, "We are very pleased to have QUALCOMM as
a customer. We believe our SharpEye inspection system is well suited to do quality testing of the MEMS technology. "
With the announcement that it had received a follow-on order for
multiple 6540 advanced etch systems form an European Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) to produce high K decoupling capacitors,
Tegal Corporation (NASDAQ:TGAL), also announced that it had installed a second process module to a 6500 advanced plasma etch
system at the Instituto Trentino di Cultura (ITC) -- Instituto per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (IRST). That organization
is an Italian R&D institute that is focused on the development of micro electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) devices.
The added system will be used for both R&D work and to produce prototype devices.
|
