Park Systems, world-leading manufacturer of Atomic Force Microscopes, announces a $1 Million Dollar Nano Research Grant Fund to support researchers who are starting new nanoscience labs in North America. The Park Systems Nano Research Grant Fund provides up to twenty grants of $50,000 towards the purchase of any AFM system and accessories manufactured by Park Systems.
Packaging

Transistor Count Trends Continue to Track with Moore’s Law
Though growth rates in some product categories have slowed, doubling of transistors per chip every two years remains a guideline that the industry continues to follow.
SkyWater Chosen by Applied Novel Devices (AND) to Produce New High-Performance Si Power MOSFETs
SkyWater Technology, the innovator’s trusted foundry partner, and Applied Novel Devices Inc, a designer, developer and supplier of novel semiconductor device technologies (“AND”), today announced the companies have entered into a licensing and manufacturing agreement to offer an improved standard process flow for Si power MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors).
Si2 Compact Model Coalition to Support CEA-Leti SPICE Simulation Model
The Si2 Compact Model Coalition has announced the approval and financial support of L-UTSOI, a new ultra-thin, silicon-on-insulator transistor simulation model developed by CEA-Leti, a France-based research institute for electronics and information technologies. L-UTSOI was selected for support by CMC, a coalition of 30 semiconductor companies that standardizes semiconductor models used in a class of circuit simulation tools called SPICE, or Simulation Program with Integration Circuit Emphasis.
Due to Concerns Over Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak, the 2020 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium Will Be Presented Online as a Virtual Conference
Due to concerns over the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the management committee and board of directors of the 2020 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), the industry’s premier technical conference for engineers and scientists to present the latest original research in microelectronics reliability, has decided to hold IRPS 2020 as a virtual conference.

CyberOptics Launches 3D MX3000 Final Vision Inspection (FVI) System for Memory Modules
CyberOptics Corporation (NASDAQ: CYBE), a global developer and manufacturer of high-precision 3D sensing technology solutions, launches the Multi-Reflection Suppression (MRS)-enabled 3D MX3000 Final Vision Inspection (FVI) system for memory modules. The launch extends the memory module inspection system portfolio from 2D to 3D.
Western Digital Announces Appointment of David Goeckeler as Chief Executive Officer
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced that David Goeckeler has been appointed chief executive officer and a member of the Western Digital Board of Directors (“the Board”), effective March 9, 2020. Mr. Goeckeler currently serves as executive vice president and general manager of Cisco’s $34 billion Networking and Security Business. Mr. Goeckeler succeeds Steve Milligan, who previously announced his intended retirement.
Inphi Announces Third Generation, Low-Power Porrima PAM4 Platform for Hyperscale Data Center Networks
Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI), a leader in high-speed data movement interconnects, today announced its new Porrima™ Gen3 Single-Lambda PAM4 platform, the third generation of its industry-leading PAM4 platform solution optimized for hyperscale data center networks. The Porrima Gen3 platform reduces the total module power consumption, lowers total cost of ownership and enables a wider range of lasers, enriching the ecosystem with the next generation of innovation.
Global Fab Equipment Spending Poised for 2021 Record High
Global fab equipment spending promises to rebound from its 2019 downturn and see a modest recovery this year before a sharp uptick drives record investments in 2021, SEMI reported today in the latest update of its World Fab Forecast report. The report shows a slow recovery in 2020 – 3% year-over-year (YoY) growth to US$57.8 billion – owing in large part to an 18% expected slump in the first half of 2020 from the second half of 2019. The picture should brighten in the second half of this year as a recovery starts to take hold.
Xilinx Launches Industry’s First SmartNIC Platform Bringing Turnkey Network, Storage and Compute Acceleration to Cloud Data Centers
Xilinx, Inc. announced the industry’s first SmartNIC platform delivering true convergence of network, storage and compute acceleration functions on a single device. The Alveo™ U25 SmartNIC is designed to bring the greater efficiency and lower TCO benefits of SmartNICs to cloud service providers, telcos, and private cloud data center operators struggling with increasing networking demands and rising costs.