Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

ALD Market Heats Up
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 1

Amid the shift to 3D NAND, finFETs and other device architectures, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) market is heating up on several fronts. Applied Materials, for example, recently moved to shakeup the landscape by rolling out a new, high-throughput ALD tool. Generally, [getkc id="250" kc_name="ALD"] is a process that deposits materials layer-by-layer at the atomic level, enabling thin and ... » read more

Memory Hierarchy Shakeup
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

It’s no secret that today’s memory chips and storage devices are struggling to keep up with the growing demands in data processing. To solve the problem, chipmakers have been working on several next-generation memory types. But most technologies have been delayed or fallen short of their promises. But after numerous delays, a new wave of next-generation, nonvolatile memories are finally ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 15
By Mark LaPedus - 15 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

Lasersabers and laser swords In 2013, the California Institute of Technology, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found a way to bind two photons, thereby forming photonic molecules. To accomplish this feat, Caltech, Harvard and MIT pumped rubidium atoms into a vacuum chamber. They used lasers to cool the atoms. Then, they fired photons into a cloud of atoms. This, ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 11 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

KKR, an investment firm, announced that it is leading a $42 million growth equity investment in Optimal+, a provider of manufacturing intelligence software solutions for adaptive IC test applications. In case you missed it, Apple rolled out its latest iPhones and other products. The latest iPhone 6 is using chips based on finFETs, according to AnandTech, a hi-tech site. Samsung is the main... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 8
By Mark LaPedus - 08 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

World’s pressure record The University of Bayreuth and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) have set another world’s record for the highest static pressure ever achieved in a lab. Researchers were able to demonstrate metal osmium at pressures of up to 770 Gigapascals (GPa). Osmium is one of the world’s most incompressible metals. The 770 GPa figure is about 130 GPa higher than ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 04 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

GlobalFoundries has partnered with Catena, a supplier of radio frequency (RF) communication IPs, to offer complete Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions for system-on-chip (SoC) designers targeting mobile, Internet-of-Things (IoT), RF connectivity markets. In addition, GlobalFoundries and QEOS are partnering to co-develop the industry’s first mmW CMOS platform. Samsung Electronics said that its 20... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 1
By Mark LaPedus - 01 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

Free-electron laser EUV consortium Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is delayed. Chipmakers hope to insert EUV at the 7nm node, but that’s not a given. As before, the big problem is the EUV light source. So far, the source can’t generate enough power to enable the required throughput for EUV in high-volume production. ASML’s current EUV source is operating at 80 Watts, up from 10 ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 28 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

NuFlare Technology wants to enter a new market. The e-beam giant and NGR are jointly collaborating on a development program for next-generation electron-beam wafer inspection and metrology. It’s unclear if NuFlare is developing a single- or multi-beam tool, however. Don’t look now, but a fab tool downturn could be on the horizon. This comes amid a slowdown in PCs, tablets and smartphone... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: August 25
By Mark LaPedus - 25 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

South Pole neutrinos A group of researchers using an instrument buried deep in the ice at the South Pole have announced a new observation of high-energy neutrinos from beyond our solar system and the galaxy. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic-kilometer-sized detector sunk into the ice sheet at the South Pole, allows researchers to see the byproducts of neutrino interactions with the ... » read more

Advanced IC Packaging Biz Heats Up
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

After a number of false starts and lackluster adoption, the advanced IC packaging market is finally heating up. On one front, for example, a new wave of chips based on advanced [getkc id="82" kc_name="2.5D"]/[getkc id="42" kc_name="3D"] stacked-die is entering the market. And on another front, the momentum is building for new and advanced 2D packages, such as embedded package-on-package (PoP... » read more

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