Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

One-On-One: Dave Hemker
By Mark LaPedus - 19 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss process technology, transistor trends and other topics with Dave Hemker, senior vice president and chief technology officer at [getentity id="22820" comment="LAM Research"]. SE: On the technology front, the IC industry is undergoing some new and dramatic changes. What are some of those changes? Hemker: We focus on what we call the inflections.... » read more

Searching For Rare Earths Again
By Mark LaPedus - 19 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Rare earths are back in the spotlight again. Rare earths are chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust. They are used in cars, consumer electronics, computers, communications, clean energy and defense systems. The big market for rare earths is magnets. In semiconductor production, rare earths are used in high-k dielectrics, CMP slurries and other applications. Last year, the World Tr... » read more

Still Waiting For III-V Chips
By Mark LaPedus - 19 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

For years, chipmakers have been searching for an alternative material to replace traditional silicon in the channel for advanced CMOS devices at 7nm and beyond. There’s a good reason, too: At 7nm, silicon will likely run out of steam in the channel. Until recently, chipmakers were counting on III-V materials for the channels, at least for NFET. Compared to silicon, III-V materials provide ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 17
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Swedish nano Sweden’s Lund University plans to build a pilot production facility for startups in the field of nanotechnology. The facility would be used for Swedish companies and researchers to build products. This is for companies who do not have the funds to build their own facilities or buy expensive equipment. The project originates from the successful research into nanowires at Lund ... » read more

Maglen: Multi-Beam E-Beam Inspection
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 1

Wafer inspection, the science of finding defects on a wafer, is becoming more challenging and costly at each node. In fact, the ability to detect sub-30nm defects is challenging with today’s inspection tools, which are primarily based on two separate technologies—optical and e-beam. In the inspection flow, chipmakers first use e-beam inspection, mainly for engineering analysis. E-beam is... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 13 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

First Solar announced that Apple has committed $848 million for clean energy from First Solar’s California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County, Calif. Apple will receive electricity from 130 megawatts (MW) AC of the solar project under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA), the largest agreement in the industry to provide clean energy to a commercial end user. Applied Materials repor... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 10
By Mark LaPedus - 10 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Deadweight machines The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is in the process of cleaning, restoring and recalibrating its 4.45-million Newton deadweight machine. NIST’s deadweight machine, the largest of its kind in the world, is equivalent to one million pounds-force. Built in 1965, the deadweight system consists of a stack of 20 stainless steel discs about three meter... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 06 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

IBM continues to cut jobs, according to IEEE Spectrum and an IBM employee organization. Meanwhile, IBM and SUNY Polytechnic Institute announced that more than 220 engineers and scientists who lead IBM's advanced chip R&D efforts at SUNY Poly's Albany Nanotech campus will become part of IBM Research. While military applications continue to experience strong growth in RF gallium-nitride (GaN)... » read more

What Happened To GaN And SiC?
By Mark LaPedus - 03 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 6

About five years ago, some chipmakers claimed that traditional silicon-based power MOSFETs had hit the wall, prompting the need for a new power transistor technology. At the time, some thought that two wide-bandgap technologies—gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon and silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs—would displace the ubiquitous power MOSFET. In addition, GaN and SiC were supposed to pose a t... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 3
By Mark LaPedus - 03 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Robotic plants In 2012, the European Commission launched the so-called Plantoid project. In the project, researchers hope to devise synthetic robotic plants. Inspired by plant roots, the robots could be used for soil monitoring and other applications. The group is devising so-called artifacts. These components resemble plants and plant roots. The new technologies expected to result from the... » read more

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