Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Manufacturing Bits: May 5
By Mark LaPedus - 05 May, 2020 - Comments: 0

Spiking neural network radar chip Imec has developed what the R&D organization says is the world’s first chip that processes radar signals using a spiking recurrent neural network. Initially, the chip from Imec is designed for low-power, anti-collision radar systems in drones. Neural networks are used in the field of machine learning. A subset of AI, machine learning utilizes a neu... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 01 May, 2020 - Comments: 0

Fab tools The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced new export control actions to prevent China, Russia, and Venezuela from obtaining U.S. technology for military purposes. This expands the “Military End Use/User Controls (MEU)” license requirement controls on China, Russia, and Venezuela, covering military end-users, as well as semiconductor equipment, sensors and other technologies. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 28
By Mark LaPedus - 28 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 1

Gate-all-around reliability The 2020 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) will kick off this week, this time as a virtual event. IRPS is a conference that focuses on the latest research in microelectronics reliability. The event starts off with keynotes from Infineon, Intel and Texas Instruments. IRPS also involves a multitude of papers and presentations. On the logi... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers Select foundries are beginning to ramp up their new 5nm processes with 3nm in R&D. There are already signs that the foundries have pushed out their 3nm production schedules. So, expect 7nm and 5nm to become long-running nodes. At 3nm, Samsung and TSMC are going in different directions. Samsung is developing a gate-all-around (GAA) technology called nanosheet FETs. TSMC will e... » read more

What’s Next With AI In Fabs?
By Mark LaPedus - 22 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the issues and challenges with machine learning in semiconductor manufacturing with Kurt Ronse, director of the advanced lithography program at Imec; Yudong Hao, senior director of marketing at Onto Innovation; Romain Roux, data scientist at Mycronic; and Aki Fujimura, chief executive of D2S. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. Part one ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 21
By Mark LaPedus - 21 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Memristors reappear The University of Massachusetts Amherst has taken a step towards of the realization of neuromorphic computing--it has devised bio-voltage memristors based on protein nanowires. In neuromorphic computing, the idea is to bring the memory closer to the processing tasks to speed up a system. For this, the industry is attempting to replicate the brain in silicon. The goal is ... » read more

Scaling CMOS Image Sensors
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 5

After a period of record growth, the CMOS image sensor market is beginning to face some new and unforeseen challenges. CMOS image sensors provide the camera functions in smartphones and other products, but now they are facing scaling and related manufacturing issues in the fab. And like all chip products, image sensors are seeing slower growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. Manufactured a... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers TSMC posted mixed results for the quarter, although there was a capital spending surprise. “It maintained its 2020 capex at $15B-$16B despite smartphone softness, primarily to support a strong 5nm ramp, led by demand from 5G and HPC customers,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst at KeyBanc, in a research note. “Despite lowering its industry outlook, TSMC still expects to grow its o... » read more

Taking A Pulse On The IC Biz
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

It’s been a difficult period for the semiconductor industry. The coronavirus outbreak has put a damper on what was supposed to be a strong year in the semiconductor industry in 2020. Many are holding out hopes for a rebound in the second half of the year. That’s still a big unknown. The forecasts are gloomy. For example, VLSI Research has three different scenarios for the semiconduc... » read more

Metrology Challenges For Gate-All-Around
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 3

Metrology is proving to be a major challenge for those foundries working on processes for gate-all-around FETs at 3nm and beyond. Metrology is the art of measuring and characterizing structures in devices. Measuring and characterizing structures in devices has become more difficult and expensive at each new node, and the introduction of new types of transistors is making this even harder. Ev... » read more

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