Mark LaPedus

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Mark LaPedus is Executive Editor for manufacturing at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 9

By Mark LaPedus - 09 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 0

Two-photon lithography Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has extended the capabilities of a high-resolution 3D printing technique called two-photon lithography (TPL). TPL enables the development of 3D-printed objects. LLNL’s technology could enable 3D-printed embedded structures inside the body, such as stents, joint replacements or bone scaffolds. It could also one day be ... » read more

Packaging Challenges For 2018

By Mark LaPedus - 08 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 0

The IC packaging market is projected to see steady growth this year, amid ongoing changes in the landscape. The outsourced semiconductor assembly and test ([getkc id="83" kc_name="OSAT"]) industry, which provides third-party packaging and test services, has been consolidating for some time. So while sales rising, the number of companies is falling. In late 2017, for example, [getentity id="2... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing

By Mark LaPedus - 05 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers Semiconductor IP startup eVaderis has demonstrated a design platform through an ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) in Beyond Semiconductor’s BA2X product line. The software, system and memory IP developed by eVaderis make Beyond Semiconductor’s new MCU ideally suited for battery-powered applications in IoT and wearable electronics. By incorporating the latest STT-MRAM tec... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 2

By Mark LaPedus - 02 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 0

World’s coldest chip Using a network of nuclear refrigerators, the University of Basel and others claim to have set the record for the world’s coldest chip. Researchers have cooled a chip to a temperature lower than 3 millikelvin. A millikelvin is one thousandth of a kelvin. Absolute zero is 0 kelvin or minus 273.15 °C. In the experiment, researchers used a chip that includes a Coulomb... » read more

A New Memory Contender?

By Mark LaPedus - 02 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 1

Momentum is building for a new class of ferroelectric memories that could alter the next-generation memory landscape. Generally, ferroelectrics are associated with a memory type called ferroelectric RAMs (FRAMs). Rolled out by several vendors in the late 1990s, FRAMs are low-power, nonvolatile devices, but they are also limited to niche applications and unable to scale beyond 130nm. While... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing

By Mark LaPedus - 29 Dec, 2017 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers Christopher Rolland, an analyst at Susquehanna International, expects to see more merger and acquisition activity in the IC industry heading into 2018. “M&A activity slowed in 2017, but the year is going out with a bang!” Rolland said in a recent research note. Towards the end of 2017, for example, Broadcom made a bid for Qualcomm, while Marvell announced intent to buy Cavium. ... » read more

Foundry Challenges in 2018

By Mark LaPedus - 27 Dec, 2017 - Comments: 6

The silicon foundry business is expected to see steady growth in 2018, but that growth will come with several challenges. On the leading edge, GlobalFoundries, Intel, Samsung and TSMC are migrating from the 16nm/14nm to the 10nm/7nm logic nodes. Intel already has encountered some difficulties, as the chip giant recently pushed out the volume ramp of its new 10nm process from the second half ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing

By Mark LaPedus - 22 Dec, 2017 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers, LCD suppliers United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) has announced the availability of the company’s 40nm process platform that incorporates Silicon Storage Technology’s (SST) embedded SuperFlash non-volatile memory. The 40nm SST process features a >20% reduction in eFlash cell size and 20-30% macro area over UMC’s 55nm SST technology. Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage has s... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 19

By Mark LaPedus - 19 Dec, 2017 - Comments: 0

Superconducting magnet record The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) has broken another world record for magnets. With a superconducting magnet, MagLab reached a magnetic field of 32 teslas. This is a third stronger than the previous record and more than 3,000 times stronger than a refrigerator magnet, according to MagLab. Tesla, or T, is the measurement of magnetic field ... » read more

What’s Next With Computing?

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Dec, 2017 - Comments: 1

At the recent IEDM conference, Jeff Welser, vice president and lab director at IBM Research Almaden, sat down to discuss artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing and supercomputing with Semiconductor Engineering. Here are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where is high-end computing going? Welser: We are seeing lots of different systems start to come up. First of all,... » read more

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