Week In Review: Design, Low Power
By Jesse Allen - 18 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Alphawave IP will acquire the OpenFive business unit from SiFive. The $210 million cash deal will bring OpenFive’s high-speed connectivity SoC IP portfolio to Alphawave and nearly double its IPs currently available, including an expanded die-to-die connectivity portfolio as well as adding data center and networking custom silicon solutions. "When we completed our IPO in 2021, we committed to ... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing
By SE Staff - 18 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Automotive Supply chain issues and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will constrain automotive production in 2022 by 2.6mn units, predicts S&P Global Mobility (formerly known as the automotive team at I.H.S. Markit). Ukraine controls around half of high purity neon gas used to etch ICs — the low supply of which may continue to hurt the automotive industry — and the country makes a cable ... » read more

Extending Copper Interconnects To 2nm
By Laura Peters - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Transistor scaling is reaching a tipping point at 3nm, where nanosheet FETs will likely replace finFETs to meet performance, power, area, and cost (PPAC) goals. A significant architectural change is similarly being evaluated for copper interconnects at 2nm, a move that would reconfigure the way power is delivered to transistors. This approach relies on so-called buried power rails (BPRs) and... » read more

Wirebond IC Substrates: Challenges Ahead
By Prasad Dhond - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Substrate suppliers are slashing capacity allocated to wirebond IC substrates. We hear about "limited tenting capacity," "no support for EBS designs," and requests for "conversion to etchback" designs. What does all this mean? Let's start with "Line" and "Space." "Line" is the width of a trace on a substrate and "Space" is the distance between the two traces. For wirebond packages such a... » read more

Chiplets Enter The Supercomputer Race
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Several entities from various nations are racing each other to deliver and deploy chiplet-based exascale supercomputers, a new class of systems that are 1,000x faster than today’s supercomputers. The latest exascale supercomputer CPU and GPU designs mix and match complex dies in advanced packages, adding a new level of flexibility and customization for supercomputers. For years, various na... » read more

Accelerating Semiconductor Process Development Using Virtual Design Of Experiments
By Qingpeng Wang - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Design of Experiments (DOE) are a powerful concept in semiconductor engineering research and development. DOEs are sets of experiments used to explore the sensitivity of experimental variables and their effect on final device performance. A well-designed DOE can help an engineer achieve a targeted semiconductor device performance using a limited number of experimental wafer runs. However, in se... » read more

Precision Selective Etch And The Path To 3D
By Vahid Vahedi - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Scaling (the shrinking of the tiny devices in chips such as transistors and memory cells) has never been easy, but making the next generation of advanced logic and memory devices a reality requires creating new structures at the atomic scale. When working with dimensions this small, there is little room for variation. Compounding the problem is a need to remove material isotropically, or, un... » read more

GaN ICs Wanted for Power, EV Markets
By Katherine Derbyshire - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Circuits built with discrete GaN components may get the job done, but fully integrated GaN circuits remain the ultimate goal because they would offer many of the same advantages as integrated silicon circuits. These benefits include lower cost as the circuit footprint is scaled, and reduced parasitic resistance and capacitance with shorter interconnect runs. In addition, improved device perf... » read more

The Great Resignation And The Microelectronics Industry: Retaining A Skilled Workforce
By Michelle Williams-Vaden - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

"Now hiring" signs are replacing masks and bottles of hand sanitizer as the ubiquitous markers of COVID-19, as the Great Resignation continues, and the Omicron surge ebbs. Everywhere – at fast food restaurants, at top tech companies – there are job openings, offering cash just for showing up at an interview, or up to $100,000 in sign-on bonuses. Consumers across all industries are bein... » read more

The Challenge Doesn’t Stop At Certification: Post-B Corp Certification Reflections
By Jessica Albright - 17 Mar, 2022 - Comments: 0

Nearly one year after becoming the semiconductor industry’s first Certified B Corporation by meeting the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility, Brewer Science still finds itself faced with a number challenges associated with upholding the B Corp mission. Following are five main challenges we are working to tackle in our ongoing pursuit to fulfill the B Corp missi... » read more

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