Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

What Happened To Next-Gen Lithography?
By Mark LaPedus - 03 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 2

Chipmakers continue to march down the process technology curve. Using today’s optical lithography and multiple patterning, the semiconductor industry is scaling its leading-edge devices far beyond what was once considered possible. The question is how far can the industry extend 193nm immersion [getkc id="80" comment="lithography"] and multiple patterning before these technologies become t... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 2
By Mark LaPedus - 02 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

Looking at space dust The first analysis of space dust, collected by a special collector onboard NASA's Stardust mission and sent back to Earth for study in 2006, is more complex in composition and structure than previously thought. Researchers examined the dust using synchrotron light sources from three groups--the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 29 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Intel announced two new technologies for foundry customers. One technology, dubbed Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), is available to 14nm foundry customers. Instead of an expensive silicon interposer with TSVs, a small silicon bridge chip is embedded in the package, enabling high density die-to-die connections only where needed. EMIB eliminates the need for TSVs and specialized int... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 26
By Mark LaPedus - 26 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Smokestack metrology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has nearly completed the construction of one of the world's more unusual measurement systems. The organization is devising a 50-meter horizontal smokestack at its campus in Gaithersburg, Md. The new facility will accurately determine the amount of gases discharged from smokestacks at coal-fired power plants and o... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 22 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Gartner has released a chart, which tracks the “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies in 2014.” According to the chart, here’s some of the technologies that are still a number of years away from reaching the marketplace: virtual personal assistants; human augmentation; brain-computer interface; quantum computing; smart robots; biochips; smart advisors; autonomous vehicles; and natural-lang... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 19
By Mark LaPedus - 19 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

28nm brain chips DARPA-funded researchers have developed a 28nm chip that mimics the brain. The low-power chip is inspired by the neuronal structure of the brain. Designed by researchers at IBM under DARPA’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) program, the chip consists of 5.4 billion transistors. Built on Samsung’s 28nm foundry process, the chip has ... » read more

Ion Implanter Market Heats Up
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

The ion implanter market has been a stable, if not a sleepy, business. The last big event took place in 2011, when Applied Materials re-entered the ion implanter market by acquiring Varian, the world’s leading supplier of these tools. The acquisition gave Applied Materials a commanding 80% share of the implanter business, with the other players fighting for the crumbs. But after year... » read more

What’s Next For Memory?
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 4

Apple, Samsung and others are developing the next wave of smartphones and tablets. OEMs want to integrate new memory schemes that provide more bandwidth at lower power. But there are some challenges in the arena that are prompting memory makers to rethink their mobile DRAM roadmaps. The conventional wisdom was that memory makers would ship mobile DRAMs based on the new LPDDR4 interface stand... » read more

Plotting IBM Micro’s Future
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 1

It’s been a wild ride for IBM’s Microelectronics Group. Neither IBM, nor the other parties involved, have made any public comments about the recent events concerning IBM Micro. Much of the drama has played out in the media. Based on those reports, here’s a rough outline of the events. Not long ago, IBM put its loss-ridden chip unit on the block to shore up the company’s bottom lin... » read more

Who’s Winning The FinFET Foundry Race?
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 5

The leading-edge foundry business is challenging. For starters, foundry vendors require vast resources, gigantic fabs and lots of know-how. And yet, it’s still difficult to make money in this business. That has certainly proven to be the case in the planar transistor era, but the challenges and costs are escalating as foundry vendors begin to ramp up finFET technologies at the 16nm/14nm no... » read more

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