Cypress Semiconductor Selects Electroglas as Its Prober Source San Jose-Cypress Semiconductor's Minnesota wafer fab has selected Electroglas Inc. as its sole wafer prober supplier. The selection includes a multi-million-dollar order for wafer probers, to be delivered over the next year. Over a recent six-month period, according to Electroglas, the prober maker has worked with Cypress to develop advanced technology for accurately and reliably testing memory chips. Electroglas also announced that it has formed a partnership with PPT Vision, Minneapolis, Minn., to develop high-precision, high-speed semiconductor inspection systems. The vision systems company will design and manufacture a custom SpeedScan 3D sensor for use with Electroglas' QuickSilver 2D and 3D wafer inspection systems. [electroglas.com] U.K. Institute Buys Unit from Intelligent Micro Patterning St. Petersburg, Fla.-Intelligent Micro Patterning has sold an SF-100 maskless photolithography system to the Univer-sity of Manchester (U.K.) Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). The unit employs "smart filter technology" licensed from the University of South Florida. The technology incorporates micro-optical techniques to project master images directly onto substrates such as quartz and polymers without photo-masks. The vendor says the unit is suitable for advanced packaging and optoelectronic applications. [intelligentmp.com]
Presenting the Real Al Muranaga We misspelled Al Muranaga's family name in our March-April issue. In our May-June issue, in attempting to correct our earlier error, we substituted an incorrect first name for the Yamaichi Electronics USA executive. [yeu.com]
STATS Offers XDPBGA to Replace PBGA Package Singapore-ST Assembly Services Ltd. (STATS), has introduced an enhanced version of its PBGA package, the XDPBGA (Exposed Drop-in Heat Spreader Plastic Ball Grid Array) with a 20 percent improvement in thermal performance. Featuring an exposed drop-in heat spreader, the XDPBGA is available in the same size range of 19 mm x 19 mm to 40 mm x 40 mm as the PBGA package. To support the launch of XDPBGA, STATS has licensed the semiconductor heat dissipation technology patented by the Taiwanese Government's ITRI in Hsinchu, Taiwan. [stts.com] SPM Opens Tape/Reel Co. Penang, Malaysia-SEMX/SPM recently opened a new subsidiary company to manufacture tape and reel equipment. [semx.com]
100 Million SiGe ICs for IBM Yorktown Heights, N.Y.-IBM announced that it recently shipped the 100 millionth IC made with SiGe, a technology that the company pioneered. The record setter was produced at IBM's Burlington, Vermont facility. [ibm.com]
New Charles Harper Book Covers 'Electronic Assembly' New York-A new book in McGraw-Hill's Professional Engineering series, edited by industry expert Charles A. Harper, is titled Electronic Assembly Fabrication. Contributors to the 672+ page book include such well-known authorities as Joe Fjelstad, Dr. Ken Gilleo, Dr. Jennie Hwang, Martin Jawitz and Jerry Sergent. [books.mcgraw-hill.com] August Technology Will Buy Semiconductor Technologies Minneapolis-August Technology Corp. says that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Semiconductor Technologies and Instruments Inc. (STI), Plano, Texas, for $26.1 million. STI, owned by ASTI Holdings Ltd., Singapore, is an August competitor in the automated micro defect inspection equipment market. The purchase price will consist of $12 million cash, a $3 million six-month note and $11.1 million in August stock (Nasdaq:AUGT).
"We are particularly interested in STI's strengths related to 2D and 3D inspection on the probe floor, an area of increasing importance as the industry drives toward KGD strategies for wafer-level packaging and SiP applications," according to Jeff O'Dell, August's CEO. The acquisition will also give August an integrated tool that combines die sorting with advanced automated inspection-a key final step in the trend toward fully automated final wafer manufacturing, the company says. Rajiv Roy, STI's president, will remain with the merged organization as leader of the Plano operation. Pending shareholder approval, August Technology expects the deal to close this quarter. [augusttech.com] Micron Technology Abandons Hynix Semiconductor Talks Boise, Idaho-Micron Technology Inc. has withdrawn from talks with Hynix Semicon-ductor Inc., (formerly Hyundai's semiconductor operation), aimed at acquiring the S. Korean company's memory operations and assets. Steve Appleton, Micron's chairman/CEO said, "Despite considerable efforts, the parties could not reach a preliminary agreement." [micron.com] Amkor Technology Orders Fine-Pitch Bonders from ASM, K&S Boise, Idaho-Amkor Technology took delivery of 100 fine-pitch wire bonders from ASM Pacific and Kulicke & Soffa Inc. Amkor bought K&S' model 8028 PPS bonders and ASM's Eagle bonders. The competing models are both rated at 50-micron pitch bond pad capability to support ICs fabricated to 0.18 micron and tighter design rules. The packaging foundry has installed the bonders in its factories in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They will support a range of end-market applications, including game systems, printer ASICs, cellular phones, disk controllers, DVD- and optical controllers. [amkor.com]
IBM Creates 'Highest Performing' Carbon Nanotube Transistors Yorktown Heights, N.Y.-IBM has created the highest performing carbon nanotube transistors (CNTs) to date and has proven that they can outperform the leading silicon transistor prototypes currently available. CNTs are tube-shaped molecules fashioned from carbon atoms and are some 50,000x thinner than a human hair. "With this announcement," IBM said, the company "is taking carbon nano-tubes, the strongest and most conductive fibers known, another step closer to becoming a viable option for replacing silicon transistors in future devices." [ibm.com]
STATS' Executive Vice President for Operations Exits Company Singapore-Chan Kok Yong, STATS' executive vice president for operations, has resigned citing personal reasons. Han Tiang Fong, the company's vice president for test, will become interim operations chief until STATS finds a replacement for Yong. Yong joined STATS in February 2001 in his present post. Earlier he was managing director at Unitrode Electronics, a semiconductor test and assembly subsidiary of Texas Instruments. Prior to Unitrode he worked for Fairchild Singapore in various capacities. STATS also announced that June Chia Lihan, executive vice president and a STATS co-founder, has taken a two-year leave of absence. She plans to return mid-April 2004. [stts.com] Universal Instruments Corp. Opens $1M Technology Center in China Binghamton, N.Y.-Universal Instruments Corp. has opened a $1 million, 557 meters2 Technology Excellence Center in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The Center, which is equipped with many of the company's most advanced assembly machines, will serve as a customer laboratory and applications engineering facility. [uic.com] |
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