Dutch export restrictions; Foxconn fined by Taiwan; Lithuanian ambitions, SEMI elects Mary Puma; foundry revenue slows.
Dutch tech industry group FME called for the European Commission to draft a position on whether and how to restrict computer chip technology exports to China, saying “more unified and powerful action” was needed from Europe, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he saw gradual progress in talks with the U.S. over potential new restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China. The Dutch government is now expected to impose new limits on ASML sales to China
Taiwan fined Foxconn T$10 million (U.S> $329,088) for making an unauthorized investment in a Chinese chip firm, but said the Taiwanese iPhone assembler had cooperated in the case and so received a lesser punishment.
Lithuanian tech firm Teltonika aims to launch domestic semiconductor production in 2027 using Taiwanese technology, according to Reuters. “This partnership with Taiwan will help Lithuania to move forward rapidly, match the world’s strongest players and realize its ambitious goals,” Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite said.
An op-ed from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute argues that the time is right for Australia to have its own semiconductor fabrication moonshot.
Samsung introduced its latest 200-megapixel (MP) image sensor, the ISOCELL HP2, with improved pixel technology and full-well capacity for stunning mobile images in tomorrow’s premium smartphones.
Siemens announced the opening of eXplore Live at The Smart Factory @ Wichita. Located on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus, The Smart Factory includes a fully operational production line and experiential labs for developing and exploring innovative capabilities of Smart manufacturing.
ASE’s bumping factory in Kaohsiung has been inducted into the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network (GLN), a community of manufacturing sites and value chains that are leaders in the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) cutting edge technologies.
SEMI elected Mary Puma, president and CEO of Axcelis Technologies, as its new chairperson. She will lead the SEMI International Board of Directors in evolving the association’s operations, programs and services worldwide to support the growth of member companies throughout the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain.
Foundry revenue is forecast to drop by 4% YoY for 2023 due to slow inventory consumption and falling wafer input from customers, according to TrendForce. In the second half of this year, orders likely will pick up for some components that underwent an inventory correction.
MIT researchers developed a method that could enable chip manufacturers to fabricate ever-smaller transistors from 2D materials by growing them on existing wafers of silicon and other materials. The new method is a form of “nonepitaxial, single-crystalline growth,” which the team used for the first time to grow pure, defect-free 2D materials (WSe2 on SiO2 trenches) using 2-inch silicon wafers.
The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign’s new Center for Aggressive Scaling by Advanced Processes for Electronics and Photonics (ASAP) is dedicated to tackling microprocessors’ energy efficiency problems head-on, with the goal of a hundred-fold reduction in energy consumption. To cover the full stack, the work will be structured across three themes: materials discovery for electrical and optical interconnects, heterogeneous 3D integration, and highly energy-efficient circuits and architectures.
University of Oregon chemists found a way to make carbon-based molecules with a unique structural feature: interlocking rings. Like other nanomaterials, these linked-together molecules have interesting properties that can be “tuned” by changing their size and chemical makeup. That makes them potentially useful for an array of applications, such as specialized sensors and new kinds of electronics.
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