November 2016 - Semiconductor Engineering

Sustainability Saves Water, Too
By Katherine Derbyshire - 30 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

After energy (discussed in Part 2 of this series), water is the largest fab input and the largest contributor to fab waste. Yet tools for analyzing a fab’s water footprint are generally less mature than tools for analyzing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. In part, this may be because water consumption is primarily a local issue, while greenhouse gas emissions are a global c... » read more

Formal’s Roadmap
By Brian Bailey - 30 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Formal verification has come a long way in the past five years as it focused on narrow tasks within the verification flow. Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss that progress, and the future of formal technologies, with [getperson id="11306" comment="Raik Brinkmann"], president and CEO of [getentity id="22395" e_name="OneSpin Solutions"]; Harry Foster, chief verification scientist at [g... » read more

Blog Review: Nov. 30
By Jesse Allen - 30 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Cadence's Paul McLellan presents a three-part series on the future of EDA, with insights from both academia and industry. Mentor's Harry Foster focuses on power management trends in ASIC design, in the latest installment of the 2016 Wilson Research Group verification study. Plus, what aspects of power are verified and how designers describe power intent. Synopsys' Robert Vamosi reports th... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 29
By Mark LaPedus - 29 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Supersonic kinetic spraying Low-cost flexible electronics could enable a new class of products, such as roll-up displays, wearable electronics, flexible solar cells and electronic skin. There is a major barrier to enable these technologies, however. The problem is to make flexible transparent conducting films that are scalable and economical. The University of Illinois at Chicago and Kor... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 29
By Ann Mutschler - 29 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Qubit device fabbed in standard CMOS In a major step toward commercialization of quantum computing, Leti, an institute of CEA Tech, along with Inac, a fundamental research division of CEA, and the University of Grenoble Alpes have achieved the first demonstration of a quantum-dot-based spin qubit using a device fabricated on a 300-mm CMOS fab line. Maud Vinet, Leti’s advanced CMOS manager... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 29
By Jesse Allen - 29 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

PV technology comparison Joshua J. Romero at the IEEE Spectrum put together an overview of photovoltaic technologies, including the world records for each type of cell, grouped into five broad categories. There is a brief overview of each cell type and some of its trade-offs. He also looks at how fast each technology has made efficiency gains. The most rapid progress is being seen in high... » read more

7nm Design Success Starts With Multi-Domain Multi-Physics Analysis
By Arvind Vel - 28 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 1

Companies can benefit from advancements in the latest semiconductor process technology by delivering smaller, faster and lower power products, especially for those servicing mobile, high performance computing and automotive ADAS applications. By using 7nm processes, design teams are able to add a lot more functionality onto a single chip and lower the power consumption by scaling operating volt... » read more

Multi-Patterning Issues At 7nm, 5nm
By Ed Sperling - 28 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 13

Continuing to rely on 193nm immersion lithography with multiple patterning is becoming much more difficult at 7nm and 5nm. With the help of various resolution enhancement techniques, optical lithography using a deep ultraviolet excimer laser has been the workhorse patterning technology in the fab since the early 1980s. It is so closely tied with the continuation of [getkc id="74" comment="Mo... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 25 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

R&D Amid budget cuts in the U.S. government, federal funding for R&D at higher education institutions in the United States declined for a fourth straight year, according to a new report from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). Overall, universities reported $68.8 billion in R&D expenditures in 2015, a 2.2% increase from 2014, according to the NCSES, part of t... » read more

The Week In Review: IoT
By Jeff Dorsch - 25 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Analysis The Internet of Things may be entering the infamous “Trough of Disillusionment” in the Gartner Hype Cycle, according to some observers. “There’s a general malaise growing around IoT. Where is this shiny, artificially intelligent, fully connected future of things we were promised?” iobeam CEO Ajay Kulkarni writes in this analysis. Others are more sanguine about the IoT. Clear... » read more

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