SET, Smart Equipment Technology, the leading supplier in high accuracy die-to-die and die-to-wafer bonders, announced the release of NEO HB, an automatic flip-chip bonderdesigned for± 1 µm 3σ post-bonding accuracy, in stand-alone or full automatic mode (EFEM).NEO HB is suitable for direct hybrid bonding processes.
DesignCon Expands Into Artificial Intelligence, Automotive, 5G, IoT, and More For 2020 Edition
DesignCon, the nation’s largest event for chip, board, and systems design engineers, today announced new areas of focus for the 2020 edition highlighting advances in the fields of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), automotive, and IoT, producing the most in-demand electronics emerging today. Topics will be examined through a 14-track conference schedule spanning technical sessions, boot camps, tutorials, and more to fit the needs of the hardware design engineering community. DesignCon returns to Silicon Valley for its 25th year, taking place from January 28-30, 2020 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Presto Adds New Executives to the Leadership Team
Presto Engineering, an outsourced operations provider to semiconductor and Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers, announces the hire of two new executives: Sophie Vaucher, vice president Finance, and Alexandra Moulin, vice president Human Resources. Sophie Vaucher brings ten years of experience in corporate finance and strategy in international industrial companies. Most recently, she held a global finance business partner role at Sibelco where she served in various senior positions for eight years. She was positioned in Asia for four years, where she integrated a new acquisition in the group and set up local teams.
ETEL’s Newly Optimized IL+ Motors For Electronics & Semiconductor Manufacturing
ETEL, a direct drive motor manufacturer of the HEIDENHAIN Group, now offers updated ironless linear motors optimized for electronics and semiconductor manufacturing. Called the IL+ product lines, these motors are offered in the same profile as ETEL’s previously established ironless linear motors but now specially re-designed to allow for increased performance to benefit these two industries. Unique to the IL+, a change in material selection now allows the ETEL ironless motors to operate up to 600VDC and reach a temperature limit up to 130°C, as opposed to the previous market standard of 300VDC and 80°C. This allows an increase in overall speed along with a greater force operating range. Track sizes are available in increments of 128, 256, and 512mm.
Industry’s Only Worldwide OSAT Manufacturing Sites Database Now Tracks 360 Facilities, Expands Test Site Coverage
SEMI and TechSearch International today announced a new edition of the Worldwide OSAT Manufacturing Sites Database – the only outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) supplier database available in the market. The report, an essential business tool for anyone interested in device packaging, tracks facilities that provide packaging and testing services to the semiconductor industry. The new edition includes more than 80 updates spanning packaging technology offerings, product specialization and ownership/shareholder updates. Adding more than 30 new test facility additions to bring the total number of facilities tracked to 360, the database helps semiconductor manufacturers identify service offerings around the globe, an increasingly important task in supply chain management.
Accenture, Airbus, GE and Hitachi Join Intel Neuromorphic Research Community
Today, Intel announced the first corporate members — Accenture, Airbus, GE and Hitachi — to the fast-growing Intel Neuromorphic Research Community (INRC). The INRC has tripled in size over the past year and now has more than 75 organizations, spanning leading universities around the world, government labs, neuromorphic start-up companies, and now several Fortune Global 500 members.
North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts October 2019 Billings
“Monthly billings of North American equipment manufacturers registered their first year-over-year increase since October 2018 and are at their highest level since December of last year,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Equipment billings are accelerating on the strength of memory inventory drawdowns and foundry investments in leading-edge equipment.”
Cree and STMicroelectronics Expand and Extend Existing Silicon Carbide Wafer Supply Agreement
Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications,announced today the expansion and extension of an existing multi-year, long-term silicon carbide (SiC) wafer supply agreement to more than $500 million. The extended agreement is a doubling in value of the original agreement for the supply of Cree’s advanced 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers to STMicroelectronics over the next several years. The increased wafer supply enables the semiconductor leaders to address the rapidly growing demand for silicon carbide power devices globally, particularly in automotive and industrial applications.
SEMI, Partners Launch Largest Microelectronics Education Initiative Co-Funded by Erasmus+ Program
SEMI and 19 partners from 14 countries today launched an initiative to fill the skills gap and boost workforce diversity by tightening collaboration between the microelectronics industry and education providers. The project, dubbed METIS – Microelectronics Training, Industry and Skills – will focus on the skills and related training needed to support emerging verticals such as artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving and Industry 4.0. A Sector Skills Alliance co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program, METIS is designed to overcome the skills shortage in the electronic components and systems value chain. Under METIS, SEMI and the partner organizations will establish a Microelectronics Observatory and Skills Council consisting of representatives from industry, academia, NGOs, think tanks and government.
Clean Carbon Nanotubes with Superb Properties
Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) have found many uses in electronics and new touch screen devices. Carbon nanotubes are sheets of one atom-thick layer of graphene rolled up seamlessly into different sizes and shapes. To be able to use them in commercial products like transparent transistors for phone screens, researchers need to be able to easily test nanotubes for their materials properties, and the new method helps with this. Professor Esko I. Kauppinen’s group at Aalto has years of experience in making carbon nanotubes for electronic applications. The team’s unique method uses aerosols of metal catalysts and gasses containing carbon. This aerosol-based method allows the researchers to carefully control the nanotube structure directly.
