Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) collects and reports market size information for key sectors of the semiconductor ecosystem. It recently issued figures for the materials market, which in 2008 totaled $42.7 billion, essentially flat with the prior year. According to SEMI, rapidly slowing economic conditions in the fourth quarter squelched prospects for year-over-year growth […]

Applied Materials and Disco announced a joint effort to develop wafer thinning processes for fabricating through-silicon vias (TSV) for future 3D IC stacks. The two companies, world leaders in thin-films and thinning (respectively) for silicon wafers, will be working together to develop integrated, high-performance process flows intended to lower the cost, reduce the risk and […]

JSR announced today that it has entered into several joint development partnerships (JDP) with IBM to develop low-k dielectrics for 32nm and 22nm nodes of semiconductor technology. The companies will work on next generation materials JSR has had in development and commercial production, including low-k dielectrics and a broad range of photoresists. “This larger scale […]