United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) (“UMC”), a global semiconductor foundry, today announced that the company has satisfied all closing conditions, including final approval from all relevant government agencies, for the full acquisition of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (MIFS), the former 300mm wafer foundry joint venture between UMC and Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (FSL). The completion of the acquisition is scheduled for October 1, 2019.
Semiconductors
Iridium ‘Loses Its Identity’ When Interfaced With Nickel
Iridium “loses its identity” and its electrons act oddly in an ultra-thin film when interfaced with nickel-based layers, which have an unexpectedly strong impact on iridium ions, according to Rutgers University-New Brunswick physicist Jak Chakhalian, senior author of a Rutgers-led study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Revolutionizing Wafer Testing to Bring New Technologies to Market
Nearly every new technology breakthrough in the semiconductor industry targets high volume manufacturing and comes with its unique specificities. This results in challenges for engineers to manufacture and test new integrated circuits (ICs) on the wafer.
Tachyum Joins Intel, AMD, and nVidia With New Headquarters in Santa Clara
Tachyum, a semiconductor startup and developer of the world’s first Universal Processor platform, today announced the opening of its new, larger corporate headquarters in Santa Clara to better accommodate the rapidly growing number of customers, partners, vendors and its growing personnel ranks. The new offices are located at 2520 Mission College Blvd, Suite 201, Santa Clara CA 95054. Tachyum’s new facilities will better enable the company to finish development, start marketing and selling its disruptive products that tackle the most pressing global issues in data centers, AI, telecommunications, edge computing and mobility today.
Erik Pederson Joins Semiconductor Industry Association as Government Affairs Director
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced Erik Pederson has joined the association as government affairs director. In this role, Pederson will work with Congress, the White House, and federal agencies to advance the semiconductor industry’s policy priorities, particularly those related to trade, export control, and tax. SIA represents U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research.Pederson most recently served as director of government relations at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a bipartisan think tank.
Cree Announces Update to Capacity Expansion Plan
Cree, Inc. today announced plans to establish a silicon carbide corridor on the East Coast of the United States with the creation of the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility. The company will build a brand new automotive-qualified 200mm power and RF wafer fabrication facility in Marcy, New York, complemented by its mega materials factory expansion currently underway at its Durham headquarters.The new fabrication facility, part of a previously announced project to dramatically increase capacity for its Wolfspeed silicon carbide and GaN business, will be a bigger, highly-automated factory with greater output capability.
A New Way to Turn Heat Into Energy
An international team of scientists has figured out how to capture heat and turn it into electricity. The discovery is based on tiny particles called paramagnons–bits that are not quite magnets, but that carry some magnetic flux. This is important, because magnets, when heated, lose their magnetic force and become what is called paramagnetic. A flux of magnetism–what scientists call “spins”–creates a type of energy called magnon-drag thermoelectricity, something that, until this discovery, could not be used to collect energy at room temperature.
SEMI, SUNY Poly Awarded $6 Million National Science Foundation Grant for Pilot Program to Grow Electronics Industry Talent Pipeline
SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute today announced that they have been awarded a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund workforce development initiatives for the microelectronics manufacturing industry. The funding, to be provided over three years, will support the development and implementation of a semiconductor workforce certification program designed to meet the industry’s most pressing needs.
Toshiba Memory Holdings Corporation Appoints Lorenzo A. Flores as Vice Chairman
Toshiba Memory Holdings Corporation, which will officially rebrand as Kioxia Holdings Corporation on October 1, 2019, today announced the appointment of Lorenzo A. Flores as Vice Chairman, effective in November, 2019.Mr. Flores brings a proven track record of strong executive leadership to the company with extensive financial experience in the technology industry. Mr. Flores will work closely with the executive management team to help lead global business expansion.
Clarification Of a New Synthesis Mechanism Of Semiconductor Atomic Sheet
In Japan Science and Technology Agency’s Strategic Basic Research Programs, Associate Professor Toshiaki Kato and Professor Toshiro Kaneko of the Department of Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University succeeded in clarifying a new synthesis mechanism regarding transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD)1), which are semiconductor atomic sheets having thickness in atomic order.
