Karen Heyman

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Karen Heyman is a technology editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 09 Dec, 2022 - Comments: 2

The more than 1,400 attendees at this week’s IEDM, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the transistor, were clearly focused on making the next 75 years of semiconductors even more remarkable than the last. Intel, Samsung, TSMC, STMicroelectronics, GlobalFoundries and imec announced breakthrough devices, materials, and even integration approaches. These included: Intel showcased adva... » read more

High Voltage Testing Races Ahead
By Karen Heyman - 06 Dec, 2022 - Comments: 1

Voltage requirements are increasing, especially for the EV market. Even devices that might be considered relatively low voltage, such as display drivers, are now pushing past established baselines. While working with high voltages is nothing new — many engineers can recall yellow caution tape in their workplaces — the sheer number and variety of new requirements have made testing at high... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 02 Dec, 2022 - Comments: 0

With the European Council’s adoption of its negotiating mandate for the European Chips Act, member states and the Czech Presidency of the Council have reached a critical milestone in supporting Europe’s efforts to advance manufacturing and supply of critical components, while bolstering R&D capacities for development of next-generation semiconductor innovations, according to SEMI. Ch... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 18 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 0

Chinese memory chip maker YMTC and dozens of other Chinese entities are "at risk" of being added to a trade blacklist as soon as Dec. 6, a U.S. Commerce Department official said in prepared remarks seen by Reuters. SMIC co-CEO Zhao Haijun said on an earnings call that recent export controls from the United States will have an "adverse impact" on the company's production. The U.K. has rule... » read more

Hot Trends In Semiconductor Thermal Management
By Karen Heyman - 17 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 1

Increasing thermal challenges, as the industry moves into 3D packaging and continues to scale digital logic, are pushing the limits of R&D. The basic physics of having too much heat trapped in too small a space is leading to tangible problems, like consumer products that are too hot to hold. Far worse, however, is the loss of power and reliability, as overheated DRAM has to continually r... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 11 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 0

U.S. President Joe Biden appears ready to increase pressure on Japan and the Netherlands to help block the flow of advanced chip technology to China, where it can be used to develop cutting-edge weapons. "You will see Japan and Netherlands follow our lead," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CNBC. Japan plans to budget ¥350 billion ($2.38 billion) in a research collaboration with th... » read more

Balancing Power And Heat In Advanced Chip Designs
By Karen Heyman - 10 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 1

Power and heat use to be someone else's problem. That's no longer the case, and the issues are spreading as more designs migrate to more advanced process nodes and different types of advanced packaging. There are a number of reasons for this shift. To begin with, there are shrinking wire diameters, thinner dielectrics, and thinner substrates. The scaling of wires requires more energy to driv... » read more

Legacy Tools, New Tricks: Optical 3D Inspection
By Karen Heyman - 08 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 0

Stacking chips is making it far more difficult to find existing and latent defects, and to check for things like die shift, leftover particles from other processes, co-planarity of bumps, and adhesion of different materials such as dielectrics. There are several main problems: Not everything is visible from a single angle, particularly when vertical structures are used; Various struc... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 04 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 0

Nikkei Asia reports the U.S. is urging allies, including Japan, to restrict exports of advanced semiconductors and related technology to China. The U.S. holds 12% of the global semiconductor market, Japan has a 15% share, while Taiwan and South Korea each have about a 20% share. Some U.S. companies have called for other countries to adopt U.S.-style export curbs, arguing it is unfair for only A... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 28 Oct, 2022 - Comments: 0

This week saw more fallout from U.S. export controls: SK hynix may consider selling its memory chip production facilities in China if recently imposed controls make it too difficult to continue operations there, according to Nikkei Asia. "As a contingency plan, we are considering selling the fab, selling the equipment or transferring the equipment to South Korea," said Kevin Noh, SK hynix ... » read more

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