OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
August 2012
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Samsung's Largest Ever Overseas Investment
Canada's Largest Microelectronics Centre Opens in Québec
Nanocomp Technologies Opens New Headquarters and Advanced Manufacturing Center
Iran Plans to Set Up 10 Specific Nanotech Labs for Students
New Center to Focus on Nanomaterials at UC Riverside
Masdar Institute to Commission Region’s First Cleanroom Lab
Air Products announced it has been awarded a major contract from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in support of its new fabs in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, western China. This investment marks Samsung Electronics' largest ever overseas investment and the most advanced fabs in China.
The contract reinforces Air Products' global leadership position in the electronics industry and also strengthens its leading role in China by further expanding into the emerging western China region.
Air Products will supply ultra-high purity nitrogen and other bulk gases, including oxygen, argon argon (är`gŏn) [Gr.,=inert], gaseous chemical element; symbol Ar; at. no. 18; at. wt. 39.948; m.p. −189.2°C;; b.p. −185.7°C;; density 1.784 grams per liter at STP; valence 0. , hydrogen, helium and compressed dry air, to Samsung Electronics' fabs in Xi'an High Tech Zone, where the first phase is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2013. In addition, liquid products will be supplied to the merchant market in the region. Under the contract, Air Products will build several large air separation plants.
The memory products produced from the fabs will be widely used in portable devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, digital cameras, USB drive, and other consumer electronics markets where China represents a major market.
Air Products has been accelerating its growth in western China. The company first entered Shaanxi Province in 2006 to serve the electronics industry and has recently won several major contracts for its Tonnage business. The company also recently announced the grand opening of its new office in Xi'an High Tech Zone, which includes engineering capabilities to support its fast business growth in China.
Air Products has been serving the global electronics industry for more than 40 years and gained leadership positions in semiconductor, TFT-LCD, and other emerging markets with its integrated gases and services solutions.
Air Products provides atmospheric, process and specialty gases; performance materials; equipment; and technology. For over 70 years, the company has enabled customers to become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. More than 18,000 employees in over 40 countries supply innovative solutions to the energy, environment and emerging markets.
The Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, and industrial partners, US-based CMOS developer, Teledyne DALSA, and IBM, have officially inaugurated Canada's largest microelectronics centre, the Centre de Collaboration MiQro Innovation (C2MI).
Located in Bromont, Quebec, the C2MI enables the development and production of prototypes for the health, automotive, aerospace, environmental, information technology, and telecommunications fields, and is dedicated to research in next-generation electronic products.
Bidding to become a world leader in the development and assembly of silicon chips and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), the C2MI serves as an interface between university and industrial research to accelerate the commercialization of electronic products.
In addition to IBM and Teledyne DALSA, more than 70 industrial partners contributed to the establishment of the centre.
“As a centre of collaboration, our role is to maintain a quality environment conducive to research and to develop synergy between complementary companies,” explains Normand Bourbonnais, president and chief executive of the C2MI. “Companies that become active members have access to a flexible infrastructure adapted to their needs, particularly for developing innovative materials, testing prototypes, or validating designs.”
“We also work to maintain the list of industrial equipment at the leading edge of technology, and we target companies that have a strong potential for collaboration with active members, in Quebec, Canada, and around the world,” he adds.
The C2MI has 15,000 m2 (161,400 sq. ft.) of space and provides companies with multiple clean rooms, specialized laboratories, technical services, and office space in two buildings that belong to the Université de Sherbrooke.
In addition to the $83 million construction of the facility, there is an array of highly sophisticated equipment worth $135 million.
The project benefited from financial support of $218.45 million from partners and from the federal and provincial governments under the Canada-Quebec Agreement of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (MIC2) is one of five new centers to be funded by the Government of Canada through the 2010 Centers of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) competition.
The CECR program is administered by the Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE) Secretariat, which supports successful research partnerships between universities, industry, not-for-profit organizations and government.
The commercialization of carbon nanotubes created significant advancements across several industries and attracted the attention of the Department of Defense, which has designated Nanocomp's materials as "critical for national defense." It also drew the interest of DuPont, who entered into a financial and strategic development relationship with Nanocomp earlier this year.
"This first in the nation advanced nanotube manufacturing facility enables us to meet accelerating market demand for high performance CNT-based sheet, tape, and conductor products for military and commercial industrial markets. We're delighted to be expanding our presence in southern New Hampshire. Being located in the greater Boston region provides us broader access to the talent and skills needed to enable our continued growth," said Peter Antoinette, President and CEO, Nanocomp Technologies.
Over the next year, the company intends to increase its employment base through the addition of over 50 manufacturing, sales, marketing and technical positions at both the Merrimack headquarters and its technology research center in Concord, NH.
With the availability of dramatically increased manufacturing capacity, Nanocomp's CNT sheet, tape and wire products will be able to address an unprecedented array of application categories including:
Structural materials: higher performance armor protection for military and police forces; structural components that reduce weight and vibration in aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics applications.
Electrically conductive materials: lightweight replacement for copper wires; shielding for electro-magnetic interference (EMI); non-metallic electrodes for lithium and other batteries.
Thermal management materials: heaters (Joule) for aerospace and automotive; thermal transfer solutions for space and aviation; de-icing for aerospace; and fire retardant materials.
Multi-functional materials: Combined solutions such as: a CNT-based airplane wing with an exterior layer that de-ices and manages LSP; a smart phone case that is strong and light that also contains an embedded antenna simultaneously serving as a thermal/electrical backplane as well as an EMI shield.
Dr. Sarkar made the remarks, addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Nano Olympiad in Iran.
"We hope to provide each province with at least one equipped nanotechnology research laboratory to exclusively serve the students as a motivation and to foster a culture of innovation and creativity for the young talents," Dr. Sarkar said, informing that 10 provinces in Iran have made investments for establishing Nanotech Labs for Students.
The secretary-general of the INIC also described the competencies and capabilities of each nation with regard to technologies and particularly the emerging technologies as a measure of modernity and power.
"In the future, success on an international scale will be achieved only by those countries which maintain a high level of expertise in the emerging technologies. Nanotechnology as a notable example of the latter, will impact all aspects of modern lives because of its wide range of service and our high degree of involvement in it," Dr. Sarkar said, emphasizing the importance of the national nanotechnology promotion programs.
"Students are our country's most valuable future resource. We need to provide them with theoretical as well as practical knowledge in different areas of nanotechnology to secure our nation's future success. Hopefully, the INIC has so far devoted a good deal of attention to this issue and we are observing the progress, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and diversity in our educational programs for the students," he added, highlighting the education of students as a top priority for the INIC.
"The INIC has the holding of three consecutive national student Olympiads on nanotechnology to its credit and recently there have been suggestions by a number of Asian countries for extension of these scientific competitions to an international level. We approve this idea and try for its materialization," Dr. Sarkar said, expressing his satisfaction with the worldwide attention paid to the INIC's Nano Olympiads.
CONSEPT formally opened this month. In weeks to come, it will be housed in the Materials Science and Engineering Building on campus.
"CONSEPT is envisioned to encompass such materials as graphene, carbon nanotubes, magnetic systems, and topological insulators as well as nanomechanical systems and chemical and biological sensing," said Jeanie (Chun Ning) Lau, the director of the center and a professor of physics and astronomy.
Lau noted that research and technological development based on nanoscale systems has become a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with heavy investment from federal and state governments and industries.
"Nanoscience has become one of the most active and dynamic areas of research," she said. "More than 80 percent of the universities included in the Association of American Universities have one or more centers focused on research of nanoscale systems."
CONSEPT is the second center at UCR to focus on nanoscience. The first center, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), was established in 2000.
"There will be many overlapping but complementary research interests between CONSEPT and CNSE, and the nanofabrication facilities of CNSE will be utterly critical," Lau said. "CNSE focuses more on application-driven technology based on nanoscale chemical and biological systems, whereas CONSEPT focuses on novel physical phenomena, processes and devices in nanomaterials. We expect there will be much synergy and cross-fertilization of ideas and talents between the two centers."
Like CNSE, CONSEPT will include researchers from both the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Bourns College of Engineering. Marc Bockrath, a professor of physics and astronomy, is the center's assistant director.
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, is gearing up to begin operations at the region’s first cleanroom laboratory by the end of this year. As part of the preparations, three faculty members and four students from Masdar Institute participated in the Second International Workshop on ‘Cleanroom Training for Critical and Sustainable Technologies’ program that was held from 25 June - 8 July in Ankara, Turkey.
Hosted by Ulusal Nanoteknoloji Arastirma Merkezi (UNAM - National Nanotechnology Research Center), the program was supported by the Turkish Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, Turkish International Cooperation & Coordination Agency (TIKA), Turkish Ministry of Development, and Statistical, and the Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC). A collaborative initiative of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNAM, the workshop focused on the nanotechnology application areas and the participants were trained on the fundamentals of cleanroom use and safety; micro/nano-scale process design and optimization as well as project and process-specific equipment training.
Dr Irfan Saadat, Dr Hasan M. Nayfeh, and Dr Marcus Dahlem, Professors of Microsystems Engineering program at Masdar Institute, with Omar Alnemer, Aamna Alshehhi, and Helmy Ally, students of Microsystems Engineering as well as Farsad Chowdhury, student of Materials Science and Engineering, participated in the workshop in Turkey.
Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, president, Masdar Institute, said: “Part of our mandate is to initiate measures that will pave way for the innovations in advanced technology and take the UAE to its next phase of growth as directed by the country’s leadership. The preparations for the region’s first cleanroom facility at Masdar Institute bear testimony to our commitment to contribute to knowledge building in high-technology areas.
Dr Irfan Saadat said: “The field of nanotechnology is rapidly evolving in the UAE as the country is launching itself into high-technology sectors. Participating in global workshops including the one at UNAM in Turkey helps us to expand our understanding of nanotechnology and operations inside a cleanroom laboratory. The high technology facilities at UNAM provided us with additional insights in Microsystems Engineering and we hope this knowledge will guide us in conducting research projects at Masdar Institute.”
Dr Hasan Nayfeh said: “The workshop at UNAM in Turkey proved beneficial prior to commissioning the first cleanroom laboratory at the Masdar Institute. We have purchased tools, and have hired staff that will support micro/nanoscale experimental research. Our plan is to have the cleanroom ready for our first wave of experiments by this year-end, in support of our research programs in microelectronics.
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