AmberWave Acquires Caltech Spinout Aonex
AmberWave Systems has acquired Aonex Technologies Inc. and its suite of materials-integration technologies originating from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Silicon Wafer Shipments Flatten in First Quarter 2008
Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments remained essentially stable in the first quarter of 2008, marginally declining 1% when compared to fourth quarter 2007 area shipments, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group.

Wacker Searching for New Polysilicon Site
Wacker Chemie is studying locations for a new polysilicon manufacturing facility, dubbed Poly 9, Chemical Week has learned.

LDK Solar Signs Wafer Supply Agreement With Qimonda
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. announced that it has signed a five-year contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to Germany-based Qimonda AG.

Intel, Samsung Electronics, TSMC Reach Agreement for 450 mm Transition
Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics and TSMC today announced they have reached agreement on the need for industry-wide collaboration to target a transition to larger, 450 mm-sized wafers starting in 2012.

Qimonda and Centrosolar Group to Jointly Manufacture Solar Cells
Qimonda AG and Centrosolar Group AG, a German solar company, today signed a contract to jointly build, equip and operate a solar cell manufacturing plant.

HP Labs Claims "Memristor" as Basic Circuit Element
HP announced that researchers from HP Labs, the company's central research facility, have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering.

MEMC Provides Status Update on Pasadena Facility
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. provided an update on the status of its facility in Pasadena, Texas, which experienced a raw material release last week.

Innovative Silicon Appoints Koldyaev as Fellow
Innovative Silicon Inc. named Dr. Victor Koldyaev an Innovative Silicon Fellow.

Sino-American Silicon Products Announces Public Offering
Sino-American Silicon Products, Inc., a manufacturer of silicon wafers, has agreed to issue 10 million common shares with a par value of TWD10 (USD$0.33) per share through a public offering.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Develops Quadrangular Photomask Blank Substrate
According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A quadrangular photomask blank substrate has a length on each side of at least 6 inches."

MEMC's Texas Plant Shut Temporarily by Gas Leak
A gas leak Thursday at MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.'s facility near Houston sent 18 people to nearby hospitals for evaluation and treatment.

MEMC Reports First Quarter Results
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.  The company reported first quarter net sales of $501.4M versus fourth quarter 2007 net sales of $535.9M and first quarter 2007 net sales of $440.4M.

Japanese Inventor Develops Substrate Manufacturing Method
According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention provides to a substrate for a semiconductor device, in which electric characteristics to high-speed signals are enhanced by facilitating the mounting of a circuit component, such as a decoupling capacitor, fabricated separately from the substrate."

Polycrystalline Silicon Price Predicted to go Down from 2009
The price of polycrystalline silicon, a key raw material for producing semiconductor devices and solar cells, is likely to reach its peak level in 2009 and then move downwards for oversupply, predict analysts with Greatwall Securities.

YLL K.K. Develops Solar Cell Manufacturing Method
Sataro Yamaguchi of Aichi, Japan, has developed an ingot cutting method.

Sematech Demonstrates High-k Metal Gates for 22 nm Node
Sematech researchers are presenting trend-setting research results in extending CMOS logic and memory technologies at the International Symposium on VLSI Technology, System and Applications (VLSI-TSA) in Taiwan this week.

Ibis Technology Receives Nasdaq Notice Due to Late Filing of Form 10-K
Ibis Technology Corp. has received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market advising that it had not received the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, as required by Marketplace Rule 4310(c)(14).

JA Solar Signs Wafer Supply Agreement With GCL Silicon
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. announced today that it has signed a new long-term silicon wafer supply agreement with Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co., Ltd.

Nanosys Develops Nanomaterial Production Method
According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention is directed to methods to produce, process, and exploit nanomaterials, and particularly elongated nanowire materials."