The Dutch High Tech Systems (HTS) industry is a major global contributor to the development in fields of technology such as mechatronics, precision engineering, embedded systems, microsystems and nanotechnology. Technology already in use worldwide today, and innovative solutions for tomorrow. Dutch HTS provides the
latest news, company profiles, jobs, events, who is who in the Dutch high tech
industry, and what is happening worldwide.
01/27/12 TULiPPS reveals test results on 500Wp PV prototype [TULiPPS]
Prototype solar modules demonstrate exceptional break resistance in exploratory testing
TULiPPS Solar today revealed the findings of exploratory testing on their 120-cell/500-Wp prototype COSMOS solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Independent solar-module testing and certification organization Kiwa conducted exploratory testing of two 120-cell/500-Wp prototype modules. The TULiPPS prototype PV modules differ from typical commercially used modules, not only for their unusual size and design features, but moreover because of the use of ultra-thin, ultra-clear toughened solar glass. Read more
01/27/12 Printed electronics startup plans pilot production line
PragmatIC Printing Ltd., (Cambridge, England), a developer of printed electronic technology, has announced plans to begin pilot-scale production the government-backed Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in Redcar, Northern England. PragmatIC is introducing a pilot production program there – called P4 – that can be used by licensees, processing equipment makers, complementary technology providers, systems integrators such as converters and labelers, and end users including major brand owners. The pilot line is intended to commence operation by the fourth quarter of 2012. Read more
01/26/12 TSMC returns fire over 28-nm process issues
Foundry TSMC has hit back at analysts who have said it has yield problems with its 28-nm CMOS manufacturing processes. Maria Marced, president of TSMC Europe, repeated what has been said before by herself and other TSMC executives in the past; that defect density reduction is on track for the 28-nm node and ahead of where TSMC was with 40/45-nm process technology at an equivalent stage in its roll out. Marced did acknowledge that each process node roll out has problems but said TSMC engineers rise to the challenges. "Everything is getting more difficult. We have learned the lessons on 40-nm. Read more
01/26/12 New global survey reveals increasing acceptance of Chinese PV inverters
A new survey of more than 400 buyers of PV inverters has revealed a growing acceptance of Chinese products, with close to 30% of respondents indicating they were of acceptable quality, according to IMS Research. The recent survey, conducted in Q4 last year also revealed however that customers also wanted increased reliability, functionality and yields, with more than half prepared to pay a premium for a 1% yield gain. IMS’report reveals a number of interesting trends for PV inverters in the future as well as reasons behind their buyers’ choice of supplier and product. Read more
01/25/12 Apple top chip buyer 2011
Driven by the ongoing success of its iPhones, iPads and MacBook Air, Apple was the leading customer of semiconductor chip vendors in 2011, buying $17.3 billion worth of chips and accounting for 5.7 percent of chips purchased on a design total available market (TAM) basis, according to market research firm Gartner Inc. According to Gartner Apple ascended to the No. 1 position from the No. 3 ranking in 2010, leapfrogging Hewlett-Packard, and Samsung. Read more
01/25/12 Imec and Genalyte realize disposable biosensor chips
Imec and Genalyte announce that they have successfully developed and produced a set of disposable silicon photonics biosensor chips to be used in Genalyte diagnostic and molecular detection equipment. The chips combine imec’s standard silicon photonic waveguide devices with bio-compatible modifications jointly developed by imec and Genalyte. These chips allow for high levels of multiplexed biosensing due to the high integration level of Si photonics. Read more
01/25/12 Israel gives Intel ultimatum on fab grant
The Israeli government is attempting to force Intel Corp.’s hand on a decision to potentially build a new fab in the north of the country in exchange for a 1 billion shekel ($264.37 million) grant, according to media reports. Intel has been putting off the decision of where to build its new fab, and reports in the Israeli media say the country’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor are losing patience with the chip maker. Read more
01/25/12 Frencken acquires US Motion [Frencken]
Frencken Group today announced that its subsidiary Frencken Europe B.V. has entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement to acquire 80% equity interests in US Motion for US$ 2,636,000. The acquisition aims to provide a valuable platform for Frencken’s Mechatronics Division to enlarge its business opportunities in the USA and gain a portfolio of proprietary products. The acquisition is in line with Frencken’s strategy to further strengthen the industry position of its Mechatronics Division as a global player in the high-technology capital equipment sector. Read more
01/24/12 BMW shows hands-free driving on Autobahn
Move over, Google, or better still, stay off the Autobahn, best not to interfere with the main show, which now stars BMW and its technology feats with self-driving cars. BMW has been drawing press interest in its recent show of what will be possible in self-driving cars 10 to 15 years from now. BMW had announced in August its “ConnectedDrive Connect (CDC) system. This week, a video was released showing a BMW on CDC realtime. BMW put it on the Autobahn, along with a human driver who nonetheless kept hands off the wheel of the car, a BMW 5 series model. Read more
01/24/12 Hexagon Metrology enhances white light offering with CoreView 6.0 [Hexagon]
Hexagon Metrology today announced the availability of CoreView 6.0 for the Cognitens WLS400 automated and manual white light measurement systems. The new version includes an offline programming module for the robotic measuring system Cognitens WLS400A. All CoreView modules now use the full memory and CPU resources by running on native 64-bit architecture. This supports larger CAD files, dense point cloud visualization and accelerated result computation. New flush and gap capabilities support measurement of matching parts in their actual assembled position. Read more
01/24/12 Researchers cool semi membrane by laser interaction
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a new method for laser cooling semiconductor membranes- by heating the membrane. Researchers were able to experimentaly cool membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C. In the experiment a gallium arsenide semiconductor membrane with a thickness of 160 nanometers and a surface area of 1 x 1 mm was made to interact with the laser light in such a way that its mechanical movements affected the light that hit it. The experiment consisted of shining the laser light onto the nanomembrane in a vacuum chamber. When the laser light hits the semiconductor membrane, some of the light is reflected and the light is reflected back again via a mirror in the experiment so that the light flies back and forth in this space and forms an optical resonator. Read more
01/24/12 European startup attempts many-core revolution
Kalray, a company led by STMicroelectronics former vice president R&D, is on a mission to launch a relatively general-purpose many-core processor. The France based company claims it can combine the hardware with necessary software to break through the many-core barrier with a 256 processor array integrated on a 28-nm CMOS chip. Kalray has dubbed its approach MPPA for Multi Purpose Processor Array and claims that its architecture allows 256 processors, organized as 16 clusters of 16, to work in parallel and communicate via a network-on-chip just as clusters of computers do on the internet.
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01/24/12 Intel, Samsung, TSMC semiconductor capex in 2012 signal market dominance
Intel had a record 2011, and plans high semiconductor capital expeditures in 2012 ($12.5 billion). Samsung plans a record spend in 2012 ($12.2 billion for semiconductor capex). There is, and will be, wide and growing separation between these two companies and their competition, says IC Insights. For Samsung, Intel and TSMC, the time has come to "put the hammer down" and position themselves as the strongest and most dominant IC suppliers in the industry. Read more
01/20/12 Future Technology Today (Dutch Article)
Op donderdag 2 februari aanstaande wordt het Future Technology Today event in Leusden gehouden. Deze middag staat in het teken van matchmaking en netwerken, een initiatief van ontwikkelbedrijven aangesloten bij de Development Club van FHI. Tijdens het event tonen ontwikkelbedrijven in elevatorpitches de ontwikkeling van een innovatief product, dienst of ontwerp. Future Technology Today biedt hiermee een platform voor bedrijven die zoekende zijn naar ontwikkelcapaciteit en innovatiepartners. Lees meer
01/20/12 Europe, a unitary patent: not if, but when [Nederlandsch Octrooibureau]
A unitary system providing patent protection throughout all EU member states has been the dream of many in the IP world for more than 50 years. Today, after many false starts and numerous changes, this goal appears to be within touching distance. Will it be realised, or is it a case of too little, too late? This article looks at past efforts to predict the consequences of change and at the implications that the arrival of a truly unified system would have on established systems and procedures. Read more
01/20/12 Philips and BASF first to develop OLED lighting for use as a transparent car roof
Philips and BASF today announced to have achieved a practical breakthrough in the development of OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology that allows it to be integrated in car roofs. The OLEDs are transparent when switched off, allowing for a clear view outside the vehicle, yet providing light only within the vehicle when switched on. This OLED lighting concept for car roofs is the result of a longstanding cooperation between BASF and Philips in the research and development of OLED modules. Read more
01/19/12 Dutch industry could miss out on support from Brussels (Dutch article) [NRG Subsidy]
De Europese Commissie stelt tot en met 2020 in totaal 80 miljard euro beschikbaar voor de financiering van Europese innovatieprojecten. Boegbeelden van de verschillende Nederlandse topsectoren zeggen dat het nieuwe topsectorenbeleid inhoudelijk uitstekend voldoet aan de innovatieverplichtingen. De topsectoren waarschuwen echter voor het mislopen van Europese gelden, omdat de financiële middelen van de topsectoren ontoereikend zijn. De topsectoren hebben naar eigen zeggen te weinig financiële slagkracht om aan de cofinancieringseis van de Europese Commissie te voldoen. Om steun uit Brussel te ontvangen, moet een lidstaat immers zelf ook voldoende middelen ter beschikking stellen. Lees meer
01/18/12 ASML makes bold promises with EUV
ASML will hit another milestone in the next-generation lithography race: It will ship its first production extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tool in 2012 and has made some bold promises in the process. At present, ASML is shipping the NXE:3100, a pre-production EUV machine. The company is expected to ship the NXE:3300B, a full-blown, 13.5nm EUV production tool, to undisclosed customers this year. The company is still working with three vendors - Cymer, Gigaphoton and Ushio - to boost the EUV power source. Read more
01/18/12 TSMC sees 3G chip orders boom
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has seen orders from the wireless communications sector boom recently, according to industry sources, adding that the contract chipmaker is likely to make positive comments on its business and industry outlook during the company's upcoming investor meeting. Wireless chip vendors including Broadcom, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Spreadtrum Communications have increased their orders to TSMC to build up inventory in anticipation of fast growing demand for 3G- and LTE-compatible handsets in the China market, the sources indicated. Read more
01/18/12 ASML Q4 2011 and full year results interview [ASML]
Record 2011 sales and sees continued strength in H1 2012
01/18/12 Intel: $100 Billion required for IC manufacturing
The semiconductor industry must continue to invest in new fabs, technologies and processes to keep up with current and future IC demand. But only the chip makers with deep pockets and strong technology can play in the leading-edge and high stakes IC game. For example, to keep up with the insatiable demand for transistors, a leading-edge chip maker may have to spend more than a staggering $100 billion on IC manufacturing and R&D costs alone over a ten-year period in the future, said William Holt, senior vice president and general manager for the Technology and Manufacturing Group at Intel Corp.
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01/17/12 Holst Centre and imec launch research program on flexible OLED displays [Holst Centre]
Holst Centre and imec today announced launch a new research program on next-generation flexible OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays. It builds on their technology track record and solid base of existing research partners in related fields such as Organic and Oxide Transistors and Flexible OLED Lighting. The primary objective of the new program is to develop an economically scalable route to high-volume manufacturing of flexible active-matrix OLED displays. The shared program will bring together partners from across the value chain to tackle challenges such as high resolution, low power consumption, large area, outdoor readability, flexibility and light weight. Read more
01/16/12 The world's leading chip maker is Taiwan
Taiwan had the most installed wafer production capacity of any country in the world for the first time ever in 2011, surpassing Japan and South Korea, according to US-based semiconductor research firm IC Insights. As of July 2011 Taiwan held 21 percent of the world's installed wafer fabrication capacity, taking the top spot for the first time. Japan held 19.7 percent and Korea 16.8 percent, the Americas region has 14.7 percent of the IC manufacturing capacity and China, with 8.9 percent now accounts for more wafer capacity than Europe (8,2%). Read more
01/16/12 Globalfoundries appoints former NXP'er as sales boss
Struggling foundry chipmaker Globalfoundries has appointed Michael Noonen as senior vice president responsible for sales and marketing, reporting to CEO Ajit Manocha. Noonen will also be responsible for customer engineering and quality, an area Globalfoundries seemed to have some problems with in 2011, with rumors of yield problems and deteriorating relations with first customer and parent Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Read more
12/19/11 New techniques take control beyond rigidity in high-precision systems [Philips Innovation Services]
During the 2011 edition of the Precision fair, Philips Innovation Services unveiled promising improvements on motion control techniques that could enable a big step forward in the performance of high-precision systems (HPS). The world of high-precision systems is undergoing a fundamental change. System owners are demanding ever higher productivities and accuracy. To make that possible while keeping power consumption and heat dissipation at acceptable levels, system designers are moving away from the traditional paradigm of rigid moving parts and learning to factor in flexibility. Read more
