Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 28


Cryogenic microscopes The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) has developed and commissioned a new cryo-electron microscope. A form of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is used to study a sample at cryogenic temperatures. A gas is assumed to be cryogenic if it can be liquefied at or below −150 °C. Cyro-EM is often used in structural ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 4


Open-source tomography software The University of Michigan, Cornell University and Kitware have developed an open-source software platform that enables three-dimensional imaging of nanomaterials. The open-source platform, dubbed Tomviz 1.0, enables researchers to image and process nanomaterials using electron tomography. Researchers can download the software. Using tomography, the software... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Fab tools Thermo Fisher Scientific and FEI have announced that their boards of directors have unanimously approved Thermo Fisher’s acquisition of FEI for $107.50 per share in cash. The transaction represents a purchase price of approximately $4.2 billion. In a video, Aki Fujimura, chief executive of D2S, recaps the emerging mask and lithography trends presented at the recent Photomask Ja... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 19


Hot videos The University of Minnesota has recorded videos that show how heat travels through materials, a move that could give researchers insight into the behavior of atoms and other structures. It could also pave the way towards the development of more efficient materials for use in electronics and other applications. In the lab, researchers used FEI’s transmission electron microsc... » read more

Waiting For Next-Gen Metrology


Chipmakers continue to march down the various process nodes, but the industry will require new breakthroughs to extend IC scaling at 10nm and beyond. In fact, the industry will require innovations in at least two main areas—patterning and the [getkc id="36" comment="Interconnect"]. There are other areas of concern, but one technology is quickly rising near the top of the list—metrology.... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test


This is no surprise, but it could be the end of an era. IBM is exploring a sale of its semiconductor business, according to FT.com. A survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Crucial.com, revealed that when asked to choose between these two specific types of men, 84% of women who prefer to be involved with men prefer their male love interest to be "super handy" with computers an... » read more