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Research Bits: April 4


Wet-like plasma etching Researchers from Nagoya University and Hitachi developed a new etch method called wet-like plasma etching that combines the selectivity of wet etching with the controllability of dry etching. The researchers say the technique will make it possible to etch complex structures such as metal carbides consisting of titanium (Ti) and aluminum (Al), such as TiC or TiAlC, wh... » read more

Blog Review: March 29


Siemens' Heather George suggests adopting a shift-left strategy for complex designs that integrate multiple dies into a package and examines the challenges and opportunities for performing comprehensive tests on 2.5D and 3D IC designs. Synopsys' Shekhar Kapoor notes that when considering whether a system will perform as intended, techniques that work well for monolithic SoCs may not be as we... » read more

Blog Review: March 22


Siemens EDA's Dan Yu warns that the unavailability of verification data is slowing down the development of advanced machine learning for verification, with valuable data assets either siloed among different team members or projects or simply discarded due to the lack of analytic techniques to extract value from them. Synopsys' Richard Solomon and Dana Neustadter point to the need for hardwar... » read more

Research Bits: March 21


Micropatterning with sugar A scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discovered a transfer printing process that can deposit microcircuit patterns on curved and textured surfaces using sugar candy. Transfer printing methods, such as flexible tapes, are often used for surfaces that are difficult to directly print on. But they have difficulty with conforming to ... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


The UK government published its National Quantum Strategy, which outlines the plan to invest £2.5 billion (~$3.0 billion) over the next 10 years into quantum technology, including computing, sensing, timing, imaging, and networking. "We will develop UK strengths across different hardware platforms, software, and components, and reinforce our capabilities throughout the supply chains. Although ... » read more

Blog Review: March 15


Siemens EDA's Dan Yu finds that high-quality, well-connected mass data are crucial to the success of applying machine learning to verification and recommends teams pivot to a data-centric workflow. Synopsys' Shankar Krishnamoorthy suggests that deploying AI-driven chip design and verification can free teams from iterative work, letting them focus instead on product differentiation and PPA en... » read more

Research Bits: March 14


Shift register-in-memory architecture Researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design propose a new reconfigurable shift register-in-memory architecture for devices that can work both as a reconfigurable memory component and as a programmable shift register. The device is based on phase-change alloys, which can switch reversibly between the glassy amorphous state and the or... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Arm is expected to list solely on a U.S. stock exchange when it goes public again later this year, forgoing the London Stock Exchange for now, the BBC reports. Global investment banks expect the offering to value the company between $30 billion and $70 billion, according to Bloomberg. Disaggregating chips into specialized processors, memories, and architectures is becoming necessary for cont... » read more

Blog Review: March 8


Synopsys' Rahul Thukral and Bhavana Chaurasia find that embedded MRAM is undergoing an uplift in utilization for low-power, advanced-node SoCs thanks to its high capacity, high density, and ability to scale to lower geometries. Siemens EDA's Chris Spear dives into the UVM Factory with a look at the  SystemVerilog Object-Oriented Programming concepts behind the factory. Cadence's Veena Pa... » read more

Startup Funding: February 2023


The cost of borrowing is going up, but investors continued to pour money into the chip industry in February. Collectively, 132 companies raised more than $4.5 billion last month. One of the big beneficiaries was quantum computing, with nine companies drawing a total of more than $500 million. The bulk of that went to a quantum software and services company spun out of Alphabet, but plenty wa... » read more

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