News Briefs

Spire Corp. was awarded a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project from the Department of Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a terahertz-based standoff detection imager. The imager will emit terahertz "light" that, when deflected off individuals, can capture images of hidden weapons or explosives in clothing or nonmetal containers. Spire, a Bedford, Mass., maker of biomedical devices, solar energy manufacturing equipment and optoelectric components, said it will develop the imager in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Lowell Submillimeter Wave Technology Laboratory. . . . Newport News, Va.-based Dilon Technologies LLC, a manufacturer of high-resolution molecular imaging systems, announced that the first European installation of the Dilon 6800 gamma camera, used primarily as an adjunct to mammography, will be this month in the Royal Free Hospital in London. The company also announced that Medical Imaging Systems Inc., headquartered in Ontario, will lead sales of Dilon's products across Canada, while AG Medical Group will be its Pan-European distributor. . . . Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), a supplier of semiconductor production equipment, has extended its collaboration into advanced lithography technologies research with Imec, a nanoelectronics and nanotechnology independent research center headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. TEL will install two 300-mm Clean Track systems at Imec in 2006; the coater/developers will be used for research into EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography and hyper NA 193-nm immersion lithography over the next three years. EUV lithography is widely expected to become the successor to 193-nm immersion lithography in advanced patterning techniques, potentially to be introduced for the 32-nm node, according to the companies.