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INDUSTRY NEWS

NIST offers Y2K help

NIST has opened an advice center to help small businesses and manufacturers cope with the Y2K bug. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. It will offer technical support for users of "Conversion 2000: Y2K Self-Help Tool," which was developed by NIST's manufacturing extension partnership (MEP).

The center's goal is to help prevent the loss of both profits and customers. The self-help software comes in both Microsoft Access and Excel. It helps small businesses perform an equipment inventory of hardware, software, and embedded systems; identify core business systems; rate their importance to survival of the business; and develop contingency plans. It also enables the business to plan remediation projects.

NIST developed the tool with MEP centers and KPMG. The center will also help businesses determine whether the computers and related equipment they use will have a Y2K problem. It will provide information on equipment manufacturers' databases containing Y2K compliance information. The self-help tool is available on the Y2K Help Center's Web site at http://y2khelp.nist.gov or by calling MEP at 800/MEP-4MFG.

IDEMA to offer classes

IDEMA has signed an agreement giving the trade association exclusive rights to sponsor a series of classes on data storage technologies. The agreement with KnowledgeTek grants IDEMA use of the company's instructors and course material. Sally Bryant, the trade association's education director, says the alliance "allows IDEMA to offer its members and the public high-quality classes at an affordable price."

Instructors will cover a range of data storage technologies. Among the classes offered will be an introduction to magnetoresistive technology, disk-drive basics, building a head, building a disk, and CD-ROM basics. Courses on head/disk interface and disk-drive interfaces are scheduled for September 1999. All classes will be taught at IDEMA's office in Santa Clara, CA, and at selected sites in Colorado, Minnesota, and overseas. The trade association says it can customize the courses for a specific audience or hold the classes at a company's location. Additional information and a class schedule are available at IDEMA's Web site, http://www.idema.org.

NSF backs maglev research

Research funded by the National Science Foundation could lead to breakthroughs in the use of magnetic levitation technology in wafer process equipment. SatCon Technology of Cambridge, MA, received an NSF award to develop a single magnetically levitated platen for steppers. The platen will provide all six degrees of motion for photolithography tools and require only small adjustments for focusing, alignment, and large planar motions for positioning across the substrate. The technology could also be used for planar position control in surface profilometers and scanning probe microscopes, according to SatCon. Magnetic levitation can also operate in harsh process conditions and cleanroom environments, the company says. NSF is providing initial funds of $100,000. An additional award of $900,000 could be forthcoming, according to SatCon.

Monitor used for resist R&D

International Sematech is using a 10-point total-molecular-base monitor from Extraction Systems (ESI) to develop 193-nm photoresists, the vendor says. The subsidiary of Sematech collaborated with ESI to develop an environmental stress chamber for correlating total amine concentration and 193-nm resist processing failure. The monitor operates in real time to quantitatively analyze the total airborne molecular base load at a sensitivity of 500 ppt. ESI lent the measurement instrument to International Sematech at no charge for a one-year period that began in December 1998 and is renewable.

Course tracks tech advances

Designed for professionals in the semiconductor industry, a new course describes how technological advances make it from the drafting board to the marketplace. Semiconductor Services of Redwood City, CA, is offering the course, called "Management of Technology," either in-house or at an outside facility. Farid Malik, a former Intel process engineering manager, developed the course. It is designed to give enrollees insight into how high-tech advancements are made and successfully managed. Topics include technology resource components, capabilities, tech transfer, infrastructure, and forecasting. The program runs from 30 to 40 hours, costs $20,000 plus expenses, and accommodates up to 20 participants. Information: 650/369-7890.

VLSI IC book published

VLSI Custom Microelectronics: Digital, Analog, and Mixed-Signal has been published by Marcel Dekker. The 288-page book has 12 chapters, 1627 references, and 309 illustrations. The author is Stanley L. Hurst of the Open University, Milton Keynes, England. The price is $155 for a single copy or $65 on orders of five or more copies for classroom use. Information: 212/696-9000; fax, 212/685-4540; http://www.dekker.com.

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