1.   The U.S. studies have drawn attention to the use of glycol ethers - solvents used to etch circuits on to silicon wafers.

2.   And because of the reduced size, factories would be able to make a larger number of chips from each silicon wafer.

3.   A silicon wafer can be ruined by even a speck of dust.

4.   A solution containing the nanowires is squirted onto a silicon oxide wafer.

5.   A strong showing by affiliates such as its electronics unit, one of fewer than a dozen Japanese producers of silicon wafers for semiconductors, pushed up group profits.

6.   A worker removes silicon wafers from a bath at the Intel Corp. plant in Rio Rancho.

7.   Brittle says Sumitomo will release dangerous chemicals, specifically hydrofluoric acid, into the environment while manufacturing the shiny silicon wafers from which computer chips are made.

8.   But first appearances truly are deceiving in the case of MEMC, the leading supplier of silicon wafers to the U.S. chip industry.

9.   China already has six semiconductor foundries, factories that make the circuit-etched silicon wafers at the heart of computer chips.

10.   Chips are cut from silicon wafers.