Praxair's joint venture in Taiwan has opened the country's first transfill plant for silane. The plant is operated by Praxair Chemax Semiconductor Materials, a partnership between the Connecticut-based industrial gases manufacturer and China Petrochemical Development of Taiwan. The automated facility will provide high-purity 6.0-grade silane for TFT-LCD and semiconductor customers in Taiwan. The venture has its headquarters in Jubei and a warehouse in Toufen.

Anticipating a surge in demand for silicon germanium–based ICs, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has teamed with IMEC of Leuven, Belgium, to offer 180-nm SiGe BiCMOS manufacturing capabilities. The Singapore-based foundry has joined IMEC's Industrial Affiliation Program to add the silicon germanium technology to capabilities that include mixed-signal and RF CMOS processes. Chartered will use the integrated technology to manufacture chips for low-power, low-noise RF use in the 2–5 GHz range. IMEC will also lease its test-chip structures and bipolar model to Chartered. The non-exclusive agreement marks IMEC's expansion into the foundry market. Chartered expects to begin manufacturing devices with the technology by the second half of 2003.

Veeco Instruments has set up a nanotechnology research center in Beijing. The facility is equipped with the vendor's atomic-force and scanning tunneling microscopes. Chinese scientists and engineers will work in the center, which Veeco will operate in conjunction with the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

SEMI has created a relief fund to help victims of this past summer's heavy flooding in central Europe, particularly in and around Dresden, Germany. SEMI is encouraging global staff, member companies, corporate donors, and individual donors to make contributions. SEMI will transfer the donations to the International Red Cross for Dresden flood victims. Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, says the trade association established the fund in recognition of "the bond between participants in the global semiconductor equipment and materials industry and the people in the semiconductor-producing region near Dresden." Citing Red Cross estimates, Myers says damage in Germany exceeds $10 billion.

Checks made out to the American Red Cross should be sent to SEMI, c/o American Red Cross Relief Fund, 3081 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA 95134.