Digital Instruments/Veeco Metrology Group has been chosen to provide key measurement tools to a state-backed initiative exploring advances in nanotechnology. A nanometer, one-billionth of a meter, is about one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. "The ability to engineer and control materials at the nanometer scale gives us the opportunity to create entirely new materials with properties that would uniquely suit them for specific applications," says Evelyn Hu, a UC Santa Barbara professor and codirector of the California NanoSystems Institute, a four-year program established to develop fields critical to the state's economic future. The institute's two core members, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, will receive $25 million annually in state funds. DI/Veeco joined an array of other corporate participants in the project that includes Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Digital Instruments has its headquarters in Santa Barbara, CA. Veeco is based in Plainview, NY. (A story on the California NanoSystems Institute appeared in 'Round the Circuit, March 2001.)

Anticipating a drop in its second-quarter revenues, PRI Automation plans to lay off approximately 370 of its worldwide workforce. The Billerica, MA­based manufacturer of automation tools and software says the downturn in the semiconductor industry is causing customers to request delays in equipment orders. In some cases, clients are canceling backlog orders, notes Mitch Tyson, president and CEO. The layoffs represent approximately 20% of the company's workforce. "As difficult as the cost-cutting measures are, they are necessary in order to bring our expenses in line with current business projections," Tyson explains. "These changes occurred late in the quarter, and we could not shift our system's build schedule quickly enough to replace them with other orders in our backlog." The executive emphasizes that PRI will continue to invest in critical tool development in areas such as 300-mm manufacturing. "The transition to 300-mm manufacturing is continuing during the downturn and represents a significantly larger revenue opportunity than 200-mm fabs."

The economic downturn is taking its toll on a host of other vendors and chipmakers. Applied Materials has cut some of its 2000 temporary workers and frozen salaries. Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor has announced layoffs of 350 employees, or 3% of its workforce internationally. And Motorola said it would axe 4000 people from its semiconductor products sector, representing 11% of its total workforce in that sector.

Researchers from two universities have received separate one-year grants from the ESD Association. Each of the $10,000 grants is renewable. Elyse Rosenbaum of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign was awarded a grant for research on "Models for Bipolar Transistors in ESD Protection Circuits." Rosenbaum is trying to develop circuit-level models to understand the behavior of bipolar devices and protection design. Discoveries in this area will help to protect emerging RF designs for wireless devices, the association says.

Albert Wang of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago received the second grant for his project, "An Investigation into the Vt1-tr Relationship in Transmission Line Pulse (TLP) Testing." TLP is being used increasingly to understand the behavior of device physics and develop protection circuit designs, according to the association. By simulating ESD stress and controlling the dynamics of the pulses, TLP can offer insight into ESD failures.

The researchers will begin their work this year and present results at the EOS/ESD Symposium in either 2002 or 2003. In September the association will announce a call for proposals for 2002 research grants.

In related news, the association and its Northeast chapter will cosponsor a regional educational program June 11­13 at Boston University's Corporate Education Center in Tyngsboro, MA. The program's four tutorial sessions cover ESD basics, standards and procedures, auditing measurements, and ESD engineering calculations. The program emphasizes education for persons who intend to take the professional certification exam. The association says the tutorials are also suitable for those who want to improve their knowledge of the field. ESDC technician and engineer exams will take place on June 13, following two days of tutorials. The open-book exam takes eight hours and covers fundamental ESD control topics such as program design, theory, standards, and specifications. Information: http://www.esda.org.

The second edition of a handbook on thin-film deposition contains completely new chapters on contamination control and metrology. The Handbook of Thin Film Deposition Processes and Techniques: Principles, Methods, Equipment, and Applications describes the development of thin-film deposition techniques and equipment. The book also covers physical vapor deposition, laser and e-beam­assisted deposition, MBE, and ion beam methods. The use of CMP techniques and interconnect dielectric materials are also addressed. The editor is Krishna Seshan of Intel. The 420-page book costs $145. The publisher is William Andrew/Noyes Publications. Information: http://www. williamandrew.com.