Faltering Memory Hurts Global Semiconductor Market
Staff — Semiconductor International, 3/19/2008

An unexpectedly weak memory market last quarter has thrown iSuppli Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.) for a loop, causing the analyst firm's global semiconductor market 2007 predictions to come up short. Memory was also largely to blame in September last year when iSuppli reduced its 2007 chip forecast from 6% to 3.5% growth over 2006. More

Profitless Prosperity Haunts IC Industry
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor — Semiconductor International, 1/17/2008

Profit levels in the semiconductor industry have dropped to alarmingly low levels, said Steve Newberry, CEO at Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, Calif.). For more than half of the top 40 semiconductor companies, current levels of profitability are "minimally sufficient" to fund new investments, he said in a presentation at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS 2008). More

Intel Honors 35 Companies With Preferred Quality Supplier Award
Business Wire, 3/17/2008

Intel Corp. announced the 35 companies that will receive Intel's Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) award for outstanding commitment to quality and performance excellence. These suppliers provided products and services deemed essential to Intel's business success in 2007. They excelled at meeting and exceeding high expectations and tough performance goals to distinguish themselves from the thousands of suppliers that work with Intel. More

Intel May Be Looking Into the Sun
Gail Kinsley Hill — The Oregonian, 2/1/2008

Intel appears hot to invest in solar cell manufacturing, a fast-growing field that last year saw SolarWorld of Germany announce plans to build the largest solar facility in the United States using an abandoned high-tech plant in Hillsboro, Ore. Documents recently filed with the Oregon Department of Energy link Intel to plans for a solar cell facility on a parcel of land in Hillsboro the company owns. More

3-D IC Integration: Rumors and Ruminations
Philip Garrou, Contributing Editor — Semiconductor International, 2/8/2008

Earlier in January In-Stat reported that the first product in the Intel Larrabee product family "...is targeting graphics, will bring together a new high-speed on-chip interconnect, LPIA processor core(s), graphics cores(s) and die stacking for cache memory, a first from Intel...." Some are interpreting this as Intel's commercialization of its 3-D integration technology using TSV. Blog

Toshiba Touts 43 nm CMOS 16 Gb NAND Flash
Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor — Electronic News, 2/7/2008

The Japanese semiconductor manufacturer will ship 16 and 32 Gb single-chip flash memory, fabricated on its 43 nm process technology codeveloped with SanDisk. More

Toshiba Plans Two Memory Fabs; Announces Flexible MoU
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 12/7/2007

At the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Intel Corp. (Hillsboro, Ore.) researchers discussed the company's 45 nm gate-last process flow, which includes trench contacts and a new level of thick "redistribution" interconnect. Intel discussed the high-k film dimensions, but not the material compositions. More

Samsung Q4 Better Than Expected
Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor — Electronic News, 1/15/2008

While the company was releasing its financial results, its offices were being raided by Seoul government officials in connection with bribery allegations, according to news reports. More

TI Pushes Junctions in 45 nm Transistors
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 2/7/2008

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI, Dallas) technology managers said improvements to junction engineering, supported by millisecond annealing techniques, play a key role in TI's 45 nm transistor technology, now winding its way toward mass production in the second half of this year. More

Toshiba Producing MLC NAND-Based Solid-State Drives
PR Newswire, 3/18/2008

Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. announced that Toshiba Corp.'s first multi-level cell (MLC) NAND-flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs) have started mass production. The initial models to begin shipping this month are 128 GB drives in a lightweight, 15 gram embedded module form factor. More

Sony Sells Fab to Toshiba for $833M
Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News — Electronic News, 2/20/2008

By March 31, Toshiba will acquire from Sony and SCK the 300 mm wafer line installed in SCK's Nagasaki Technology Center Fab 2, with the exception of some equipment, for ~$833M (90 billion yen). Toshiba said it plans to loan the fab to the joint venture at the start of operation. A joint venture is planned to focus on the Cell Broadband Engine processor, which is used in the PlayStation system and the RSX graphics engine. More

Mitsubishi to Take Ownership of Renesas Fab
Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News — Electronic News, 1/31/2008

The move will see Mitsubishi Electric increase production capability for 6 in. wafers while adding capability for 8 in. wafers. More

U of Florida, TI Announce Record-Setting High-Frequency Circuit
PR Newswire, 2/6/2008

Engineering researchers from the University of Florida and Texas Instruments (TI) have crafted the world's highest-frequency circuit made with a common type of semiconductor transistor, a step that could slash the price of detectors useful in medicine, environmental monitoring and military applications. The breakthrough was presented by University of Florida and TI engineers at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco. More

The Greening of the Semiconductor Industry
Peter Singer, Editor-in-Chief — Semiconductor International, 12/1/2007

As part of a new focus on sustainability, the semiconductor industry is building new fabs designed for LEED certification. There's also a push to reduce energy and water consumption while minimizing hazardous waste and emissions. More