SPTS Technologies

Home Wafer Processing Lithography Device Architecture Metrology
In this issue: • Process Watch: Increasing process steps and the tyranny of numbers • Tackling advanced litho challenges on the path to node 5 • GLOBALFOUNDRIES completes acquisition of IBM Microelectronics business • Building a better semiconductor • What chipmakers will need to address growing complexity, cost of IC design and yield ramps • Graphene flexes its electronic muscles • New method can make cheaper solar energy storage • Biodegradable, flexible silicon transistors • Opening a new route to photonics • Ambiq Micro appoints Mike Noonen as interim CEO • SPP Technologies to acquire SPTS Technologies • Taiwan tops fab spending - Driving anticipation for SEMICON Taiwan 2015 • SMIC receives "2014 Foundry Supplier of the Year" award from Qualcomm	Share:
Top stories Process Watch: Increasing process steps and the tyranny of numbersMoving to the next design rule can be stressful for the inspection and metrology engineer. Like everything else in the fab, process control generally doesn't get any easier as design rules shrink and new processes are introduced.Share:    Tackling advanced litho challenges on the path to node 5If you attended just about any mask making conference in the last five to seven years, you would have heard the lament about exploding data volumes and their impact on mask writing time and, by extension, mask costs. Share:    GLOBALFOUNDRIES completes acquisition of IBM Microelectronics businessGLOBALFOUNDRIES announced that it has completed its acquisition of IBM's Microelectronics business.Share:    Building a better semiconductorResearch led by Michigan State University could someday lead to the development of new and improved semiconductors.Share:    What chipmakers will need to address growing complexity, cost of IC design and yield rampsAs these early days of the Internet of Things show the network's promise and reveal technological challenges that could threaten its ability to meet user expectations in the years ahead, technology providers will be charged with supplying the solutions that will meet those challenges.Share:
Tech News Graphene flexes its electronic musclesFlexing graphene may be the most basic way to control its electrical properties, according to calculations by theoretical physicists at Rice University and in Russia.Share:    New method can make cheaper solar energy storageEPFL scientists have now developed a simple, unconventional method to fabricate high-quality, efficient solar panels for direct solar hydrogen production with low cost. Share:    Biodegradable, flexible silicon transistorsWisconsin researchers have developed a new biodegradable silicon transistor based on a material derived from wood, opening the door for green, flexible, low-cost portable electronics in future.Share:    Opening a new route to photonicsA new route to ultrahigh density, ultracompact integrated photonic circuitry has been discovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley.Share:
Business News Ambiq Micro appoints Mike Noonen as interim CEOAmbiq Micro, a developer of ultra-low power integrated circuits for power-sensitive applications, announced the appointment Mike Noonen as interim Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.Share:    SPP Technologies to acquire SPTS TechnologiesORBOTECH LTD. announced that SPTS Technologies Group Ltd. (SPTS), an Orbotech company and supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions, has sold its Thermal Products business to SPP Technologies Co, Ltd.Share:    Taiwan tops fab spending - Driving anticipation for SEMICON Taiwan 2015In 2015, Taiwan is projected to have the highest capex for semiconductor manufacturing worldwide. Share:    SMIC receives "2014 Foundry Supplier of the Year" award from QualcommSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry, announced its receipt of the "2014 Foundry Supplier of the Year" award from customer Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.Share:
Web Editor Shannon Davis 603-547-5309 sdavis@extensionmedia.com Subscription InformationSST invites you to forward this newsletter to colleagues or associates who might be interested in our weekly news summaries. You may also contact us to by clicking here or you can write to us at: Extension Media 1786 18th Street San Francisco, CA 94107 USA