Imec, Belgium, celebrates its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization, it has enabled notable advancements in global semiconductor chip manufacturing in the three decades since its founding.
Asylum Research, Santa Barbara, Calif., an Oxford Instruments company, has developed Scanning Microwave Impedance Microscopy (sMIM), an atomic force microscopy technique that enables nanoscale mapping of permittivity and conductivity.
Lasertec U.S.A., San Jose, Calif., introduces the WASAVI Series BGM300. This instrument measures silicon wafer thicknesses and TSV depths prior to back grinding 3D semiconductor devices.