NIST Studies How New Helium Ion Microscope Measures Up
US Fed News, 9/3/2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are probing the newest microscope technology to improve nanoscale measurement accuracy, which is critical for setting standards and improving production in the semiconductor and nanomanufacturing industries. The new technology uses helium ions to generate the signal used to image objects, a technique analogous to the traditional SEM. Although helium ions are far larger than electrons, they can provide higher-resolution images with higher contrast. The depth of field is much better too, so more of the image is in focus. More

Researchers Measure Nanomaterials' Trek Through Food Chain
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 9/16/2008

A NIST study shows that although engineered nanomaterials can climb from the food chain's lowest rungs -- from single-celled organisms to multicelled ones -- the actual quantity of nanoparticles measured being transferred is relatively small, and there is no indication that nanomaterials concentrate in the higher organisms, progressively accumulating. More

Spin Transistors and OLEDs Draw Closer
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 9/15/2008

University of Utah physicists John Lupton and Christoph Boehme have successfully used electron spin resonance spectroscopy of organic semiconductors to control an electrical current, an important step toward an organic spin transistor for ultrafast computing and other electronics applications. The experimentation merged organic semiconductor electronics and spintronics, believed to be the first time that fundamental, hands-on quantum mechanics has been done with organic LEDs. More

Brazilian 'Photonic Beetle' Points Way to Ultrafast Computing
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 9/8/2008

Using an electron microscope and tomography, scientists at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University have discovered that their research to build photonic crystals was redundant, because Mother Nature has already produced them with the ideal, long sought-after diamond-like structure, to decorate a beetle's carapace. More

Hard X-Ray Microscope Opens New Vistas
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 9/4/2008

The newly operational Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe, at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratories, is one of the most powerful in its class. It provides unprecedented capabilities for the study of nanoscale materials because the weak interaction of hard X-rays with matter allows researchers to penetrate into materials, see through process gases, and non-destructively study embedded phenomena. Applications range from researching novel nanoscale materials for more efficient photovoltaic cells and providing more efficient lighting, to enabling advanced computing. More

German Government Funds 32 nm Mask Litho Project
Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 9/4/2008

To give the Dresden region a competitive edge in advanced photomask development and manufacturing, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research announced it is funding a cooperative project called the "Critical Dimension and Registration for 32-nm Mask Lithography." During the next two and a half years, this joint venture of Advanced Micro Devices, Qimonda and Toppan Photomasks, Advanced Mask Technology Center in Dresden; Vistec Semiconductor Systems GmbH in Weilburg; and the German Metrology Institute (PTB) in Braunschweig and Berlin will cooperate to develop technologies and measurement processes for highly integrated electronics. More

SUSS MicroTec Announces ProbeShield System Order
Business Wire, 9/4/2008

SUSS MicroTec Test Systems received an order for its PA300PS wafer-level probe system for device characterization and reliability test from a major Asian semiconductor memory manufacturer. More

Teradyne to Acquire Eagle Test Systems
Business Wire, 9/2/2008

Teradyne Inc. and Eagle Test Systems Inc. announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Teradyne will acquire Eagle Test, a provider of analog, mixed-signal and RF semiconductor test products. The aggregate purchase price is expected to be $250M. More

Mask-Level Measurements Predict Imaging Performance for Flash Designs
E. van Setten, O. Wismans, K. Grim and J. Finders, ASML Netherlands BV, Veldhoven, Netherlands; M. Dusa, ASML TDC, Santa Clara, Calif.; R. Birkner, R. Richter and T. Scherübl, Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH, Jena, Germany --Semiconductor International, 9/1/2008

Flash memory is accelerating the push for continued scaling, and hyper-NA immersion lithography has brought 45 nm and below imaging within reach. Several mask parameters are important for imaging performance, and mask-level aerial imaging is useful for characterizing that performance before exposure. More

Fine-Tuning CMP
Ruth DeJule, Contributing Editor -- Semiconductor International, 9/1/2008

The consumables market is developing ways to improve planarity and defectivity while maintaining removal rates and lowering costs -- all in the face of evolving applications. Integrated scatterometry systems are used to measure the within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer thickness profiles with angstrom-level accuracy, allowing for next-wafer tuning of the process. More

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Sept. 25-26, 2008: Manufacturing and Reliability Challenges for 3D IC

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