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IN THIS ISSUE — APRIL 25, 2011
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MTPV Readying Micron-Gap Thermal Photovoltaics
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Glass factories and other industrial plants generating huge amounts of heat may be the first point of entry for
micron-gap thermal photovoltaics, which converts heat into electricity, MTPV president David Mather told a SEMI Austin audience.
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Foundries Flex with Customers Via Reserve Capacity
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| The semiconductor foundry industry is changing its strategy to
accommodate leading-edge customers. Today's markets are much harder to plan for than in the past. And foundries are taking a different tack with leading-edge processes compared with mature
technologies, analysts said.
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Applied Rolls Aristo Twin for Touch Displays
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| Applied Materials said its Aristo Twin system will enable higher-productivity manufacturing of
touch displays, which can require 15 or more PVD film layers. The tool is able to process substrate sizes up to 2.2m x 2.5m.
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Experts At The Table: Yield Issues
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| Second of three parts: Problems without solutions; tracking the causes of hot spots; defining
acceptable yield; economic considerations beyond yield.
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Experts At The Table: Yield Issues
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| Last of three parts: The growing importance of DFM; challenges in 3D stacking; trust and the
sharing of data; who owns the problem?
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TSMC Sees Double Patterning at 20nm Generation
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TSMC will move to double patterning for the 20nm node, which moves to pilot production
beginning in the third quarter of next year. The foundry also will add a local interconnect layer for improved contact resistance and easier routing. |
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IITC Moves to Dresden for 2011 Event
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| Interconnect technology in its many forms will be discussed at the 2011 IEEE International Interconnect
Technology Conference (IITC) in Dresden, Germany next month. Imec researchers will discuss an interconnect technology for resistive RAMs, while a Research Alliance team will discuss
double patterning for 64nm pitch interconnects.
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TI Buy Brings "Benefits of Scale" to National
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Texas Instruments will seek to boost revenue growth rates after its acquisition of National
Semiconductor is finalized, said TI CEO Richard Templeton. "We are not consolidating. We looked at (National's) revenue growth over the last two years, and realized that we could get
those rates growing faster."
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GlobalFoundries Joins Imec's Core CMOS Program
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| GlobalFoundries will join Imec's core CMOS program, attracted in part by the ability to
co-develop EUV lithography at the Belgium-based consortium. Also, Imec's proximity to the GlobalFoundries Dresden fab complex played a role in the decision.
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Cleaning Getting Tougher as Transistors Shrink
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Experts at the Sematech Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference (SPCC) described new
cleaning challenges, including contaminants outgassing from FOUPs to wafers, fluoride corrosion of bond pads, and environmental issues.
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More News Stories
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IHS iSuppli: Apple Faces Various iPad 2 Challenges
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While much of the iPad 2-related news has focused on how Apple would deal with the Japan quake, other issues may be
playing a larger role in constraining the supply, said IHS iSuppli.
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Celestica Acquiring Brooks Manufacturing Unit
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Celestica Inc. will acquire the equipment contract manufacturing operations of Brooks Automation, which manufactures
equipment front-end modules in Portland, Ore. and Wuxi, China.
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BSE Tech Aims at Front-End Secondary Equipment
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To serve the market for refurbished front-end equipment, BSE Group has acquired Asia Tech Corp. and will expand a
facility in Tempe, Ariz.
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O-S-D, 'New MEMS' Markets to Accelerate
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The optoelectronic, sensor/actuator, and discrete (O-S-D) sector will continue to show strong growth this year, after
a record 2010, said IC Insights. IHS iSuppli said a category called "New MEMS" will accelerate this year.
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Abu Dhabi to Increase Chip-Related Spending
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Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development, the majority owner of GlobalFoundries, is preparing a major investment in
semiconductors this year, reported The National, an English-language newspaper in the UAE.
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San Diego, Soitec Sign CPV Contracts
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As California's governor signed legislation calling for one-third of the state's power to come from renewable sources,
the San Diego utility and Soitec Solar signed three contracts for energy developed by concentrator photovoltaic modules provided by Soitec's Concentrix subsidiary. The concentrator
photovoltaic (CPV) modules will be manufactured in a Soitec factory to be built in the San Diego area.
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ASMC Planned for May 16-18 in Saratoga Springs
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The Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC 2011) will be held May 16-18 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,
featuring 65 presentations covering process technologies and fab productivity.
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InfiniScale, Leti to Tackle Variability in FD-SOI
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"Collaborating with Leti's design and technology teams will be decisive in the development of our next-generation
solution for the most aggressive sub-28nm technologies," said Firas Mohamed, founder and CEO of InfiniScale.
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More Top Stories/Features
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