Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in Golden, CO, showed that silicon nanocrystals can produce two or three electrons per photon of high-energy sunlight. The effect, they say, could lead to a new type of solar cell that is both cheap and more than twice as efficient as today's typical photovoltaics.

Goldman Sachs forecast Tuesday that Samsung will post an 85% growth rate in its 2H operating profit compared with six months earlier thanks to the sales of flash memory and flat panel products.

"...This groundbreaking is in line with the company's publicly announced plans to complete construction and reach a production capacity of up to 6,000 metric tons of polysilicon by the end of 2008 and 15,000 metric tons by the end of 2009. The Company has also indicated that it plans to commence volume production by the end of 2008..."

According to news agency AFX, Intel is looking at getting into the solar wafer manufacturing game via an acquisition or two, though real details seem very slim. That said, Samsung is also said to be looking at doing the same and that also makes sense. Solar wafer or thin-film panel production would be a great cleanroom filler, which is also what Intel may need to do or close all of its 200mm fabs in the near future.

"...Micron said Litho has been behind NAND for the last couple of years...For example, Micron developed 50nm NAND devices -- even before the scanners were ready...Current 193nm immersion scanners are projected to run out of gas at the 45nm node."

Business is weak for Photronics in both semiconductors and flat panel, but the majority of the short fall can be traced to the flat panel display market.

A court order forcing Qualcomm to pay royalties for use of the technology would be inadequate because the companies are competing for the same customers...(However) Broadcom's licensing agreement with Verizon Wireless, which allows the carrier to sell phones with the infringing Qualcomm chips, shows there is a commercial solution to the patent dispute, Chesler said. "If the Verizon license is a real agreement that allows Verizon to have our chips, there can't be an irreparable injury," he said.

Seeking to expand its product portfolio, Texas Instruments (TI) has acquired Integrated Circuit Designs (ICD), a developer of radio-frequency chips. This acquisition is the latest move by TI to strengthen its low-power RF portfolio. It follows the acquisition of Chipcon, a provider of short-range, low-power RF transceivers for ZigBee-based, wireless systems.

Samsung is the world's largest memory chip maker possessing around 30% of the computer memory chip (DRAM) market and 40% of the NAND flash chip market. But the firm's profit fell by 41% in the second quarter of the year from a year earlier due to the falling price of memory chips. Alarm bells rang a week ago when six manufacturing lines were hit by a sudden power outage. Operations resumed after 22 hours but the accident damaged Samsung's reputation as one of the most stable and reliable firms in South Korea.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Strategic Marketing Associates (SMA) reports that Taiwanese companies will increase their semiconductor capital spending by $4 billion to $13 billion this year. "Industry wide, we're forecasting a capital spending growth of 5 percent this year," said George Burns, president of SMA, in a report. "Just about all the growth is in Taiwan."

"...There's talk that STM may bid 12.50 euros per share for Infineon, but I'm not so sure there's anything in it..."

"...70-65nm DRAMs conversion helps to boost productivity and lower costs by 30%...capital spending is likely to be kept down because only some equipment will require upgrades..."

Solar cells made from thin-film technologies could make up about one-third of the fast-growing solar photovoltaic market by 2015, a research firm predicted. NanoMarkets on Monday released a report that forecast a rapid uptake of thin-film photovoltaics with spending set to grow from US$1 billion this year to US$7.2 billion by 2015.

"...Qimonda said EEMS would dedicate a manufacturing site under construction in Suzhou, China, to making chips for Qimonda under a five-year renewable contract..."

"...Quoting SanDisk CEO Eli Harari, WSJ writes that the companies plan to invest jointly in the construction of a 300mm wafer fab for NAND flash products..."