Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

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SAN JOSE - Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached $9.4 billion in the first quarter, according to the industry trade group SEMI, up 2.3% from a year ago and 6.5% sequentially. Bookings ($7.25 billion) were down 21% from a year ago and 12% from the fourth quarter.

The data, collected in concert with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan, come from more than 150 equipment companies.

"The first quarter billings showed some positive momentum over the fourth quarter of last year, while worldwide bookings for semiconductor manufacturing equipment are down for the same period," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.

Billings in Korea were up significantly sequentially, Myers said.

HERNDON, VA - The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is sponsoring a workshop on tin whiskers as part of IEEE's Electronic Components and Technology Conference on May 31-June 3, in Lake Buena Vista, FL. iNEMI will present the results of its third set of whisker experiments, , which provide additional insight into tin whisker formation and growth.

Presentations will also cover the latest theories regarding the cause and effect of stress formation in tin film, the mechanism by which material moves through the structure, and the causes of whisker growth. In addition, a recently discovered factor in tin whisker generation will be discussed - heavy oxidation or "corrosion" of the tin in humid environments. Data on testing and the impact of oxidation on whisker growth will be covered.

Dr. Henning Leidecker, NASA, will serve as moderator for the workshop. The event is chaired by Ron Gedney, iNEMI consultant, and Maureen Williams, NIST. For a complete agenda:
http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/tin_whisker_workshop.html.

In addition to the iNEMI workshop, the ECTC technical program includes a session on solder and tin whiskers (Session #10, Materials & Processing Committee) on June 1.
Online registration is available at
https://www.ec-central.org/conference/ectc/55/doorregistrationform.cfm.

Rochester, NY - EMA Design Automation, a provider of electronic design automation (EDA) solutions, and PartMiner Inc., a provider of electronic components and information services for the electronics industry, announced a partnership to bring together Cadence Design System Inc.'s design technology and PartMiner's CAPS electronic component database.

PartMiner provides a range of services for researching, selecting, locating and procuring electronic components. As part of the partnership, these capabilities are integrated into OrCAD Capture CIS, giving users access to over 47 million components from over 1,900 manufacturers for parametric searching and part validation. This enables part validation at the initial stages of the design cycle and allows life cycle status, such as product change notifications, end of life and RoHS status issues, to be solved at the database level.

"We have a unique method of integrating OrCAD Capture CIS with PartMiner, giving the design engineer immediate access to a content rich environment," said Manny Marcano, president of EMA. "This electronic interface provides instant productivity by the addition of relevant component data into the OrCAD Component Information System (CIS) at the engineer's desktop - RoHS data at the design point. This provides information to the right person at the right time to make the best decision possible."