A deal by Texas Instruments to open a new 300-mm analog stocked almost exclusively with used manufacturing equipment is not detrimental to capital equipment manufacturers, according to industry executives and analysts. Some suggested it may actually be a positive for

SiliconGate LDA (Porto, Portugal), a developer of power management intellectual property cores for use in system-on-chip ICs, has appointed Floriberto Lima as president and chief executive officer.

Here are the top five online stories for the week beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, as ranked by EE Times readers, up to and including Friday, Oct. 2. The ranking is based on the number of reader "views" or "hits" on

The eBeam Initiative, a forum for the promotion of chip manufacturing using e-beam lithography, has said that two of its leading members Direct2Silicon Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) and Advantest Corp. (Tokyo, Japan), have collaborated to enhance throughput.

The three-month average of global sales of semiconductors rose to $19.06 billion in August, July, up 5.0 percent from $18.15 billion in July and down 16.1 percent from $22.71 billion in August 2008, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The 2009 IC market, measured on a quarterly basis and especially with regard to unit volume shipments, has displayed a classic "V-shaped" recovery, according to market research organization IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.).

The semiconductor sales figures published by the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) show that the global chip market is continuing its recovery. But Europe continues to lag behind all other regions — and the gap is widening.

Brian Harrison, president and CEO of Numonyx BV made a spirited and forthright defense for the prospects of phase-change memory technology (PCM) at Future Horizons' International Electronics Forum, which takes place here this week.

Researchers have learned how to control the formation of carbon nanotubes so that they have either metallic or semiconducting properties.

Engineers are pouring over two 100-page reports on smart grid standards released late last week and rolling up their sleeves for the next round of more detailed work in areas ranging from Internet Protocol to energy pricing models.

The biggest challenge facing the IC industry is not the current downturn or a dearth of killer applications, but simple economics.

On Semiconductor Inc. has expanded its foundry capabilities with the launch of a new 0.18-micron CMOS process technology.

2009 is expected to be a down year. 2010 looks better.

Leading chip makers are more likely to have huge piles of cash that can be used to fund acquisitions, R&D and product development, our survey shows.

MRAM startup Crocus Technology Inc. (Grenoble, France) announced it has developed a Spin Transfer Torque (STT)-based MRAM technology.

Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, put out a $100 million down payment last week to train a new generation of engineers to help build and run tomorrow's smart electric grid.

The National Science Foundation has awarded $7 million to the Texas Advanced Computing Center to advance its "Longhorn" project to build a suite of remotely accessed graphics visualization and data analysis tools.

Through a collaborative effort with Intel and other industry partners, IPtronics A/S (Roskilde, Denmark) has developed silicon for Light Peak, a 10-Gbit/s optical interconnect system. Avago Technologies Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) has also developed an embedded "optical engine" for Light