News Briefs

Tucson, Ariz.-based Lasertel, a supplier of high-power semiconductor laser diode products, has signed a 15-year contract to be the primary and preferred supplier of laser diode arrays for military applications to Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems, a defense electronics company based in Europe. Lasertel says the agreement will be worth more than $15 million over its term. The contract formalizes the strategic alliance between the two companies that was announced in July. . . . Sabeus Inc. of Freeport, Pa., a developer of fiber optic sensing technology for military undersea surveillance and security applications, has been awarded a $1.6 million contract by the Naval Sea Systems Command to develop an all-optical embedded fiber bragg grating sensor array for littoral applications. Sabeus officials said the company will work at its new production and research and development facility in Freeport with Navy fiber optic experts from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., to ensure the components meet Navy requirements. The system will be built and tested at the Navy's deep-water acoustic testing facility at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. . . . Tokyo-based dynamic random access memory maker Elpida Memory Inc. announced the completion of its new 300-mm production line at its 300-mm wafer fabrication facility in Hiroshima, Japan. According to the company, the monthly 300-mm wafer production volume is expected to reach a capacity of 54,000 by the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, making Elpida's Hiroshima fab the largest semiconductor wafer processing facility in Japan. . . . The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2), an organization of companies in the semiconductor, electronic systems and electronic design automation tool industries, and industry association Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) will be hosting an all-day design for manufacturability (DFM) workshop on Dec. 13 at SEMI headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Speakers at the workshop will include representatives from Cadency Design Systems, IBM, ILS Technology, LSI Logic and Ponte Solutions, among others, who will focus on DFM topics within the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, including: yield, statistical design, data security and IP protection. The cost is $100 for SEMI and Si2 members; $125 for non-members. For more information or registration, visit: www.semi.org or www.si2.org