SUSS MicroTec, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Sematech announce that SUSS MicroTec’s photomask equipment division has partnered with Sematech to investigate and develop extreme ultraviolet lithography substrate and blank cleaning technologies that will accelerate process availability for extreme ultraviolet pilot line manufacturing.
Continue readingIHEA announces 2013-2014 board and officers
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association, Taylor Mill, Ky., recently announced its 2013-14 Board of Directors and Officers. Serving as president (shown in the photo) is Tim Lee of Maxon, a division of Honeywell. Bob Green of Bloom Engineering was named IHEA Vice-President, and B.J. Bernard of Surface Combustion was elected Treasurer. Outgoing president Mike Shay of Elster Kromschröder, assumes the role of Past President.
Continue readingNew POL converter module series introduced
Allegro MicroSystems LLC, Worcester, Mass., released a new POL converter module series. The BR200 series are thin POL converter modules with an industry standard exterior shape and footprint that are responsive to very high speed loads and compatible with ceramic capacitors. These POL converter modules have been designed with higher efficiency, increased power density and are offered in a thinner package that most competitive solutions on the market today.
Continue readingUniversal batch intensive quenching furnace produces strong martensite case
AFC-Holcroft, Wixom, Mich., offers its Universal Batch Intensive Quenching (UBIQ) furnace, developed for the growing IntensiQuench market. Intensive quenching is a very rapid and uniform cooling of steel parts that causes the simultaneous formation of martensite throughout the whole part surface, creating a firm shell. The strong martensite case or shell minimizes part distortion. Metallurgical processes include neutral hardening, carburizing, carbonitriding, normalizing, and annealing.
Continue readingTEM DualBeam systems enable analysis and fabrication of nanoscale devices
FEI Co., Hillsboro, Ore., introduces two DualBeam systems that feature high-quality imaging and fast analysis over the broadest range of samples. The Helios NanoLab 660 DualBeam adds capabilities for specialized applications, such as the fabrication of prototypes for nanometer-scale devices. As shown in the photo, EasyLift’s low-drift, high-precision movements allow simple and consistent creation of traditional TEM lamellae or ultra-thin lamellae via the inverted thinning technique.
Continue readingAFM/SEM/FIB system receives Innovation Award
Nanonics Imaging Ltd. (Jerusalem, Israel) announced that its triple beam integrated AFM/SEM/FIB system, the Nanonics 3TB4000, was judged one of the ten best microscopy innovations in 2013 and is the recipient of the prestigious 2013 Microscopy Today Innovation Award.
Continue readingResearchers explore the microworld using haptic optical tweezers
What if you could reach through a microscope to touch and feel the microscopic structures under the lens? In a breakthrough that may usher in a new era in the exploration of the worlds that are a million times smaller than human beings, researchers at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France have unveiled a new technique that allows microscope users to manipulate samples using a technology known as “haptic optical tweezers.
Continue readingTin-silver plating chemistry designed for lead-free solder bump plating
Dow Electronic Materials, Marlborough, Mass., announces availability of its Solderon BP TS 6000 tin-silver plating chemistry for lead-free solder bump plating applications. In copper pillar capping applications, it forms a smooth, micro-void free interface post reflow. It features enhanced plating performance, bath stability, and ease of use, thereby enabling the industry’s widest process window with the most robust process flexibility and a competitive cost of ownership.
Continue readingNew medical alloy features higher x-ray visibility
Scientists and engineers from the Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI) at the University of Limerick, Ireland, invented a new metal that will make medical devices inside the body more visible under x-ray. Many medical devices, such as stents and valves, are placed in the body through minimally invasive surgical procedures that are usually performed with the help of medical imaging such as x-ray fluoroscopy. Current materials used to make these devices do not show up well under x-ray.
Continue readingPeacock-colored polymer is flexible and thin
A synthetic material that mimics the brightest and most vivid colors in nature and changes color when twisted or stretched was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK. It could have important applications in the security, textile, and sensing industries. Instead of through pigments, these “polymer opals” get their color from their internal structure alone, resulting in pure color which does not run or fade.
Continue readingTSS Members Named ASM Fellow
In 1969, ASM established the honor of Fellow of the Society to provide recognition to members for their distinguished contributions to materials science and engineering and to develop a broad based forum of technical and professional leaders to serve as advisors to the Society. We are pleased to announce the following TSS members will be among the 2013 inductees. Mr. Timothy McKechnie, President, Plasma Processes, Inc.
Continue readingIBM acquires SoftLayer cloud computing company
IBM, Armonk, N.Y., has completed the acquisition of SoftLayer Technologies Inc., Dallas, Texas. SoftLayer joins IBM’s new cloud services division, which combines SoftLayer with IBM SmartCloud into a global platform. The new division, led by General Manager James Comfort, will provide a broad range of choices to both IBM and SoftLayer clients, ISVs, and channel and technology partners.
Continue readingTesting system for wind power
SAKOR Technologies, Inc., Okemos, Mich., launched AccuDyne AC Dynamometer system for wind power testing applications. The system can be used by multiple engineering groups to test and verify designs, as well as for quality control testing after manufacturing. It can be used to test both active and passive wind power driveline components- turbines and their associated blade pitch control motors, generators, and wind-sensing devices and motors, and transmissions.
Continue readingBubble lens bends light beams
Using a few tiny liquid bubbles to bend light beams could open the doors for next-generation, high-speed circuits and displays, according to new research at Penn State, State College. To combine the speed of optical communication with the portability of electronic circuitry, researchers use nanoplasmonics-devices that use short electromagnetic waves to modulate light on the nanometer scale, where conventional optics do not work.
Continue readingEAG launches electronics system failure analysis service
Evans Analytical Group (EAG), Santa Clara, Calif., has launched a comprehensive electronics system failure analysis service. It is now one of the only companies to focus on the entire system, from electronics to materials, all the way down to failure mechanisms at the IC transistor level. The service includes both electrical testing and materials characterization, using the latest high-resolution imaging and electrical localization tools.
Continue readingShape-memory polymer repeatedly reverses deformation
Researchers from the Institute of Biomaterial Science of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Germany, have developed shape-memory polymers that can repeatedly change from one shape to another and then back again when temperatures fluctuate within a selected range. This enables their use as actuators. Until now, polymers with temperature-controlled shape memory could change form only once.
Continue readingSteel Tube Institute launches new website
The Steel Tube Institute (STI), Chicago, launched a newly remodeled website to encourage more visitors to learn more about steel tubular products and its member producers who are featured on the main STI site, as well as individual product sites. Still active at its original domain, the updated website features all the products that STI represents including Drawn Over Mandrel (DOM), Hollow Structural Sections (HSS), Mechanical Tubing, Standard Pipe, and Steel Conduit.
Continue readingNo pilot, no problem for 3D printed parts
Stratasys Ltd., Minneapolis, a leading manufacturer of 3D printers and production systems for prototyping and manufacturing, announced that remote control systems manufacturer, Survey Copter, is successfully using its 3D printing technology to produce prototype and short-run component parts for mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, also known as drones. France-based Survey Copter, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V.
Continue readingWater graphite to ‘grow’ better batteries
Materials made from graphite, such as lithium-ion batteries, dislike water-or so researchers have assumed for decades. But a team of engineers from the University of Pittsburgh show that those materials are actually intrinsically attracted to water, or “hydrophilic.” It appears that past samples of graphite were likely contaminated by air, causing the samples to appear hydrophobic, according to the study.
Continue readingFEI introduces three transmission electron microscopy systems for semiconductors and materials
FEI Co., Hillsboro, Ore., has launched the new Metrios TEM (transmission electron microscope) for advanced semiconductor manufacturing metrology; the Talos TEM that provides high-speed imaging and analysis for materials science; and the Titan Themis TEM for enhanced atomic-scale measurements of material properties.
Continue readingPolymers replace platinum in fuel cells
A new type of polymer membrane could replace expensive platinum in alkaline batteries and fuel cells. “We have tried to break this paradigm of tradeoffs in materials (by improving) both the stability and the conductivity of this membrane at the same time, and that is what we were able to do with this unique polymeric materials design,” says Michael Hickner, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State University, University Park.
Continue readingTata Steel opens French plant to heat treat 108-meter train rail
Tata Steel Europe, France, has built a new $16.5 million heat-treatment facility in Lorraine for the production of new harder-wearing 108-meter rail. An induction furnace heats the rails to 950°C, and compressed air then cools them quickly. The facility will allow the company to manufacture longer lengths of “super-hardened” rail for the first time.
Continue readingSulzer Metco plasma spray gun features cascading arc technology
Sulzer Metco, Switzerland, has released a new plasma spray gun, the SinplexPro, with cascading arc technology. It typically boosts process efficiency by 60% to 170% over conventional spray guns, based on testing to date. It eliminates the interdependence of the plasma arc with processing gases and flows, which results in a more idealized state of the plasma jet that provides more uniform heating of feedstock particles.
Continue readingTest gauge measures very high pressure
Responding to the need for high-pressure products, Crystal Engineering, San Luis Obispo, Calif., a leader in high-end portable pressure calibrators and digital test gauges, introduced a 15,000 psi version of its popular XP2i test gauge. The ultra-rugged, intrinsically safe, easy-to-use test gauge joins the recently released GaugeCalHP Pressure Comparator and nVision Reference Recorder among other instruments offered by the company. The one-year XP2i accuracy specification is 0.
Continue readingVolume rendering on mobile devices
Bruker microCT (Kontich, Belgium) introduces a newly developed volume rendering application for mobile devices operating under iOS, such as iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. It is now available as a free download on the App Store. Any 3D results obtained using SkyScan scanners can be sent to a mobile device for realistic visualization by real-time volume rendering with the possibility of 3D object manipulation, virtual cut, adjustments of object’s opacity and colors, etc.
Continue readingCritical Materials Survey
The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency is requesting assistance on identifying materials critical to military and essential civilian needs. To ensure consideration of all materials important to the U.S. Department of Defense, the agency is seeking survey responses to be received before the end of July from organizations and experts who are concerned with availability of critical materials.
Continue readingAzzurro sets volume production for GaN-on-Si high-voltage wafers
Azzurro Semiconductors, Germany, has successfully achieved superior electrical performance and established a volume production track record for large size high-voltage GaN-on-Si high-voltage wafers. Unlike silicon, which has inherent limitations for fast switching at high voltage, GaN can meet these performance requirements with its excellent breakdown voltage and low leakage characteristics. At present, the availability in the industry is still limited for production-suitable 6 in.
Continue readingUsing 3D to make materials stronger
Aided by funding from NASA and using methods similar to 3D printing, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, are running computer simulations of processes that could lead to stronger, more durable materials for the space agency. The researchers plan to fabricate some of these new materials soon, says Frank Liou, director of the Laser Aided Manufacturing Process (LAMP) Laboratory and the Michael and Joyce Bytnar professor of product innovation and creativity.
Continue readingHVAF tungsten carbide is studied as alternative to hard chromium coating
Tungsten Carbide Deposition Processes for Hard Chrome Alternative: Preliminary Study of HVAF vs. HVOF Thermal Spray Processes C. Lyphout, University West, Production Technology West; J. Kitamura, K. Sato, J. Yamada, Fujimi Incorporated; S.
Continue readingNitinol Devices & Components provides Nitinol components in a wide range of forms
Nitinol Devices & Components Inc., Fremont, Calif., produces an expansive array of components for the medical device and industrial markets. Products range from simple and delicate wire forms, to complex and unique laser cut designs. Materials are available in wire, strip, sheet, tubing, and bar for development, testing, and high-volume production needs.
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