Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Week In Review: Manufacturing And Design

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Wearable computing is one of the hottest topics being discussed today. Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, said digital health and fitness will be among the hottest segments in the arena. Don't look now, but ASML Holding has delayed its 450mm tool programs. "As for 450, ASML has paused the development of 450mm lithography systems, both EUV and 193, until customer demand and the ti... » read more

Chip Startup Shuts Its Doors

By Mark LaPedus - 19 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Calxeda, a high-profile developer of ARM-based chips for servers and other products, has shut its doors and effectively ceased operations. As part of the move, the startup has laid off nearly all of its 130 employees amid what it calls a restructuring period. Founded in 2008, Calxeda has raised around $103 million in funding, and has been selling ARM-based server chips in an emerging but inc... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 17

By Mark LaPedus - 17 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Implantable TFETs At the recent IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in Washington, D.C., a number of companies, R&D organizations and universities described new breakthroughs in perhaps the next big thing in semiconductors--the tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET). Aimed for the 5nm node, TFETs are steep sub-threshold slope transistors that can scale the supply voltages bel... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design

By Mark LaPedus - 13 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Tensions between the U.S. and China are growing. In a research report, Gus Richard, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said: “The technology sector is being impacted by U.S./Chinese tensions over cybersecurity. The combination of Huawei being blocked from doing business in the United States and the Snowden affair are impacting U.S. tech companies' prospects in China. China’s state-run media ident... » read more

Experts At The Table: MEMS Challenges

By Mark LaPedus - 13 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 1

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the challenges of MEMS with Rakesh Kumar, senior director of the MEMS program at GlobalFoundries; Tak Tanaka, managing director for Applied Global Services at Applied Materials; Paul Lindner, executive technology director at EV Group; and Alissa M. Fitzgerald, founder and managing member at A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates. SE: What’s happening... » read more

Can Intel Dethrone The Foundry Giants?

By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 3

The leading-edge foundry business isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires deep pockets and sound technology to keep pace in the chip-scaling race. And despite pouring billions of dollars into new fabs and processes, foundries are competing for fewer customers at each node. Given the difficult business conditions, only a handful of vendors can afford to compete in the high-end foundry bus... » read more

DSA, Multi-beam Make Steady Progress

By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss current and future lithography challenges with Laurent Pain, lithography lab manager at CEA-Leti. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: CEA-Leti has two major programs in lithography. One is in directed self-assembly (DSA) and the other is in multi-beam e-beam. Let’s start with multi-beam. What is Leti doing in multi-beam and what... » read more

Challenges Mount In Inspection And Metrology

By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are moving full speed ahead toward smaller process nodes, thereby driving up the costs and complexities in chip manufacturing. The migrations also are putting enormous stress on nearly all points of the fab flow, including a critical but unsung part of the business—process control. Process control involves 20 or so different segments in the inspection and metrology arena. Genera... » read more

Defective R&D Funding Models

By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

For years, the semiconductor equipment industry has been dealing with an R&D funding gap. Here’s the basic problem: Chipmakers demand certain tools for their next-generation processes, but they are not always willing to foot a large percentage of the R&D bill. And so, the equipment vendors develop the tools and assume a large part of R&D funding--and the risks. Fair or unf... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 10

By Mark LaPedus - 10 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Space Telescopes The James Webb Space Telescope, the follow-on mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. Slated for a launch date of 2018, Webb will find the first galaxies that were formed in the early Universe. Webb is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Webb’s measurements will ... » read more

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