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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (4017)	7/15/2002 4:26:04 PM
From: The Ox	Respond to of 95442

siliconstrategies.com Not keeping up with Moore's Law Other ATE veterans agreed. “Everything is keeping up with Moore's Law--except for test,” said Phil Burlison, chief technical officer of Inovys Corp. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based startup is developing a “structural” tester for SoC applications. In an interview with SBN, Burlison said that there is still a need for the traditional and expensive functional testers. But the market is moving away from big-ticket ATE and embracing lower-cost solutions, according to Burlison. “You may need a functional tester to validate a design,” he said. “But [a functional tester] is only good for one year. It's not scalable for Moore's Law.” Inovys itself has not officially announced its new chip tester, but it has leaked some preliminary details about its new product. The startup is developing a “structural tester” that promises to lower chip-testing costs for SoC and related complex devices. Its tester also consists of up to 1,536 digital pins and supports up to 32 test sites in parallel, according to the company's Web site. One of the company's investors is Japanese ATE giant Advantest Corp., which will sell the tester in Asia (see May 3 story ). Structural test makes use of built-in-self-test (BIST), boundry scan and related technologies to reduce the cost of test. “Structural tester will take a known device and test it at low costs,” Burlison said. “It also addresses Moore's Law. It will support next-generation devices and next-generation devices after that.” Also: KLA-Tencor combats yield losses with inspection option Semiconductor Business News (07/15/02 13:04 p.m. EST) SAN JOSE, Calif. -- KLA-Tencor Inc. here today introduced a new option for its reticle inspection tool designed to combat chip yield losses at the 130-nm (0.13-micron) node. The option, dubbed TeraFlux, is geared for the company's TeraStar reticle inspection system. TeraFlux enables the detection of defects on contact- and via-layer reticles prior to the first exposure-tool process at the wafer fab. By capturing these critical defects during reticle inspection and qualification, TeraFlux enables chip makers to ramp their lithography processes into full production, while minimizing the costs associated with scrapped wafers, according to San Jose-based KLA-Tencor. TeraFlux measures the energy that passes through the contact hole and compares it to another reference--either die or database--in order to look for unexpected energy variations. TeraFlux can detect energy flux differences in contact holes as small as 5.5%. The option is geared for the 130-nm node, said Lance Glasser, vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Reticle and Photomask Inspection Division. "TeraFlux helps our TeraStar customers tighten reticle CD specifications on contacts and vias by as much as half, resulting in high-yielding reticles in wafers using 248-nm and 193-nm lithography," he said in a statement.

To: Sam Citron who wrote (4017)	7/15/2002 4:43:44 PM
From: Softechie	Respond to of 95442

They're all FACKING CROOKS!!! They've been calling bottom since 2001...CNBC is part of the crooks!

To: Sam Citron who wrote (4017)	7/15/2002 5:46:44 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95442

I don't think this is the "BOTTOM" either, but I think we are ready for a little reprieve the next 2 to 3 weeks in terms of furthering bottom activity now. For this "reprieve" to come true, the upcoming earnings announcements must, in an overall sense, be accepted by the market as a positive. I'm banking on that positive to be true and not selling in the expected morning "ramp up". We won't have long to find out how the market will respond after tomorrow evening's earnings announcements. By the way - I liked that call on the DOW closing you made. That's a tough act to follow!<gg> Don