Thermo Fisher Scientific, Portland, Oregon, announces the Thermo Scientific Metrios AX, the world’s first commercially released scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) to use machine learning to automate high-quality data collection.

Murata Electronics North America, Smyrna, Ga., announces that the company has developed the world’s first multi-layer ceramic capacitor, with 0.1μF dimensions of 0.25×0.125 mm.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), Washington, reports that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $36.6 billion for the month of October 2019, an increase of 2.9 percent from the previous month’s total of $35.6 billion.

SEMI, Milpitas, Calif., in its Year-End Total Equipment Forecast, predicts that global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will drop by 10.5 percent to $57.6 billion in 2019 from 2018, but will recover in 2020 and set a new high in 2021.

Rigaku Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif., announces the installation, in the recently-expanded Covalent Metrology Sunnyvale service lab, of two of its newest analytical instruments: the Rigaku AZX400 sequential wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer, and the CT Lab HX system.

Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., announces the opening of the Materials Engineering Technology Accelerator (META Center), a first-of-its-kind facility aimed at speeding customer prototyping of new materials, process technologies, and devices.

IBM Japan Ltd. and Panasonic Smart Factory Solutions Co. Ltd., announce that the companies have agreed to collaborate to develop and market a new high-value-added system to optimize the overall equipment effectiveness of semiconductor manufacturing processes and to achieve high-quality manufacturing.

Park Systems NanoScience Center at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, N.Y., announces that the second symposium on scanning probe microscopy will be presented November 19 – 20 at the Center.

Researchers from JEOL Ltd., Japan, and JEOL USA, Peabody, Mass., will present a discussion about voltage contrast (VC) observation using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) at the ISTFA 2019 conference in November in Portland, Oregon.

Bruker Corp., Billerica, Mass., has released the D8 Discover Plus x-ray diffraction (XRD) solutions, featuring the new non-coplanar arm and the Montel Plus x-ray optics.

Zeiss, Pleasanton, Calif., introduces the Zeiss Xradia 620 Versa RepScan, a submicron-resolution, 3D nondestructive imaging solution for inspection and measurement that accelerates time to market for advanced IC packages.

Imec, Belgium, has developed a dual-damascene 21nm-pitch test vehicle relevant for manufacturing the 3nm logic technology node.

Semi, Milpitas. Calif., reports in its World Fab Forecast that investments in new fab projects starting construction in 2020 are expected to reach nearly $50 billion, up about $12 billion from 2019.

Cerebras Systems, Los Altos, Calif., a startup dedicated to accelerating artificial intelligence computing, announces that it has developed the largest chip ever built: a WSE chip with 71.6 square inches of area.

Bruker, Billerica, Mass., introduces the Hysitron TS 77 Select automated benchtop nanomechanical and nanotribological test system, which is built around Bruker’s TriboScope capacitive transducer technology.

Ametek Edax Inc., Mahwah, N.J., introduces the OIM Matrix software package, which brings dynamic diffraction-based electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) pattern simulations and dictionary indexing capabilities to the EBSD market.

SEMI Americas, Milpitas, Calif., and Semiconductor Digest announce that Advantest, Tokyo, was a finalist in the Best of West awards for its V93000 Wave Scale Millimeter Solution, which has been extended to support multi-band testing at the fast interface speeds used by 5G devices.

Optomec, Albuquerque, N.M., announces that Samsung Electronics has commissioned an Aerosol Jet 5X System in its Printed Electronics Lab to enable next-generation electronics production.

CyberOptics Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., announces that it has won the 2019 Best of West award for the new NanoResolution MRS (Multi-Reflection Suppression) sensor, which “meticulously identifies and rejects multiple reflections caused by shiny components and mirror-like surfaces.”

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), jointly announce plans to establish a Center for Secured Microelectronics Ecosystem.

Innovative Micro Technology Inc. (IMT), Santa Barbara, Calif., announces that it is now offering eight-inch (200 mm) wafer fabrication capabilities, thereby improving the economics of MEMS production by yielding roughly twice the number of devices per wafer.