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Alliances

Photronics and SIGMA-C plan to combine their respective technologies to strengthen Photronics' Integrated Lithography Plane (ILP) initiative.
Photronics and SIGMA-C plan to combine their respective technologies to strengthen Photronics' Integrated Lithography Plane (ILP) initiative. Photronics' aim is to provide design and mask integration support to semiconductor companies transitioning to the 65nm and 45nm technology nodes.

Photronics is to get preferred partner access to SIGMA-C's portfolio of lithography simulation software tools along with strategic input on software development objectives that advance the ILP program. Within ILP-related customer engagements, Photronics will deploy SIGMA-C tools to anticipate and understand the implications of the entire photomask process on advanced lithography integration options. In addition, Photronics will also have first access to early releases of new products, including SOLID-E, SIGMA-C's flagship platform introduced at SEMICON West 2004.

Dr Christopher J Progler, Photronics' chief technology officer, comments:
"Adoption of immersion lithography and 193nm extensions through the 45nm node will drive a new class of mask interactions in the chip design and lithography imaging processes."

The SOLID-C V6.5 suite offers accelerated mask topography simulation as well as a new, efficient approach to improving wafer topography simulation speed.

Eastman Kodak and IBM will collaborate on the development and manufacture of image sensors for mass-market consumer products, such as digital still cameras and camera phones. The multi-year agreement will be based on Kodak's image sensor technology and IBM's 0.18micron complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing. Kodak wants to commercialise a new family of CMOS image sensor (CIS) devices with improved photosensitivity and lower noise.

CIS devices currently on the market often fall short of the image quality customers have come to expect from traditional charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors. Kodak's CIS pixel technology includes a proprietary pinned photodiode and four-transistor (4T) cell architecture. These technologies have been licensed to IBM as part of the agreement. Kodak has also recently acquired additional CIS design resources and intellectual property from National Semiconductor.

The new image sensors will be produced at IBM's facility in Burlington, Vermont. The next generation CIS devices will enable capture of high-quality, multi-Mpixel still images as well as 30-frame per second videos under low light conditions.

Asyst Technologies will team with IBM Global Services to provide a full range of manufacturing automation solutions for the semiconductor industry. Asyst will supply its suite of distributed equipment connectivity solutions, such as the NexEDA and Equipment Information Bridge (EIB) software products, and IBM Global Services will provide systems integration services for semiconductor manufacturers in the USA, Asia and Europe.

Asyst reports that the arrangement also allows it to expedite the rollout of its new EIB technology. EIB software provides real-time access to active streams of distributed equipment information. These data-handling capabilities have a range of potential applications in many critical manufacturing and computing industries in which IBM has expertise. The agreement will also provide Asyst with a foot in the door for future growth in new industries.

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