Progress In Wafer And Package Level Defect Inspection


The technology to enable sampling and the need for more metrology and inspection data in a production setting have aligned just in time to address the semiconductor industry’s newest and most complex manufacturing processes. In both wafer and assembly manufacturing, engineering teams have long relied on imaging tools to measure critical features and to inspect for defects after specific pr... » read more

New Strategies For Interpreting Data Variability


Every measurement counts at the nanoscopic scale of modern semiconductor processes, but with each new process node the number of measurements and the need for accuracy escalate dramatically. Petabytes of new data are being generated and used in every aspect of the manufacturing process for informed decision-making, process optimization, and the continuous pursuit of quality and yield. Most f... » read more

Quantum Computing Challenged By Security, Error Correction


The number and volume of warnings about a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) world are rising, as governments, banks, and other entities prepare for a rash of compromised data and untrustworthy digital signatures. Exactly when this will become a genuine threat is still somewhat fuzzy, because it depends on progress in developing robust qubits. A report by McKinsey & Co. estimates that by 20... » read more

Data Center Security Issues Widen


The total amount of data will swell to about 200 zettabytes of data next year, much of it stored in massive data centers scattered across the globe that are increasingly vulnerable to attacks of all sorts. The stakes for securing data have been rising steadily as the value of that data increases, making it far more attractive to hackers. This is evident in the scope of the attack targets —... » read more

AI Takes Aim At Chip Industry Workforce Training


When all the planned fabs become operational, the semiconductor industry is likely to face a worker shortage of 100,000 each in the U.S. and Europe, and more than 200,000 in Asia-Pacific, according to a McKinsey report. Since the dawn of technology, people have worried that robots, automation, and AI will steal their jobs, but these tools also can be put to use to help fill the chip industry ta... » read more

NoCs In 3D Space


A network on chip (NoC) has become an essential piece of technology that enables the complexity of chips to keep growing, but when designs go 3D, or when third-party chiplets become pervasive, it's not clear how NoCs will evolve or what the impact will be on chiplet architectures. A NoC enables data to move between heterogeneous computing elements, while at the same time minimizing the resou... » read more

The Challenges Of Working With Photonics


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about where photonics is most useful — and most vulnerable — with James Pond, fellow at Ansys; Gilles Lamant, distinguished engineer at Cadence; and Mitch Heins, business development manager for photonic solutions at Synopsys. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. To view part one of this discussion, click here. ... » read more

What’s Missing In 2.5D EDA Tools


Gaps in EDA tool chains for 2.5D designs are limiting the adoption of this advanced packaging approach, which so far has been largely confined to high-performance computing. But as the rest of the chip industry begins migrating toward advanced packaging and chiplets, the EDA industry is starting to change direction. There are learning periods with all new technologies, and 2.5D advanced pack... » read more

Interconnects Essential To Heterogeneous Integration


Designing and manufacturing interconnects is becoming more complex, and more critical to device reliability, as the chip industry shifts from monolithic planar dies to collections of chips and chiplets in a package. What was once as simple as laying down a copper trace has evolved into tens of thousands of microbumps, hybrid bonds, through-silicon vias (TSVs), and even junctions for optical ... » read more

Engineers Or Their Tools: Which Is Responsible For Finding Bugs?


Experts at the table: Finding and eliminating bugs at the source can be painstaking work, but it can prevent bigger problems later in the design flow, when they are more difficult and expensive to fix.  Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss these issues with Ashish Darbari, CEO at Axiomise; Ziyad Hanna, corporate vice president R&D at Cadence; Jim Henson, ASIC verification software... » read more

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