How Do Machines Learn?


We depend, or hope to depend, on machines, especially computers, to do many things, from organizing our photos to parking our cars. Machines are becoming less and less "mechanical" and more and more "intelligent." Machine learning has become a familiar phrase to many people in advanced manufacturing. The next natural question people may ask is: How do machines learn? Recognizing diverse obje... » read more

Monitoring Chips On Many Levels


Monitoring is an important trend for optimizing yield, performance, and uptime in systems that use complex integrated circuits, but not all monitoring is the same. In fact, there are multiple levels of monitors. In many cases, they can be used together to help solve problems when something is amiss. They also can be used to help identify who in the supply chain owns the fix. “If the sys... » read more

Security For Cars That Are Smartphones On Wheels


Your modern car is a computer on wheels—potentially hundreds of computers on a set of wheels. Heck, even the wheels are infested with computers—what do you think prompts that little light on your dashboard to come on if your tire pressure is low? And computers don’t just run your infotainment system, backup camera, dashboard warning lights, and the voice that tells you to buckle your seat... » read more

Advantages Of Picosecond Ultrasonic Technology For Advanced RF Metrology


This paper is from China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC). Picosecond Ultrasonics (PULSE Technology) has been widely adopted as the tool-of-record for metal film thickness metrology in semiconductor fabs around the world. It provides unique advantages, such as being a rapid, non-contact, non-destructive technology, and has capabilities for simultaneous multiple layer... » read more

Finding And Fixing Design And Testbench Coding Errors On The Fly


Two things are certain in chip verification: as many bugs as possible must be found and fixed before fabrication, and this must happen as early as possible in the development process. The much-desired “shift left” in verification requires that advanced analysis and debug technologies be available to engineers from the earliest stages of the project. It is preferable that many classes of err... » read more

ATE In The Age Of Convergence And Exascale Computing


We are currently in the midst of the age of convergence – that is, the convergence of data from a range of applications and data sources. These sources constitute anything that creates data – ranging from human-created data, such as voice and video, through automotive, mobile, and wireless/IoT devices. This also includes edge computing and servers storing the massive amounts of data needed ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 5


Open access superconducting magnets The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory or MagLab has opened the world's strongest superconducting magnet to users. In the works for eight years, the 32 tesla (T) all-superconducting magnet enables scientists to conduct research for various applications, such as quantum matter experiments. The system is called the SCM-32 T. MagLab develops several ... » read more

Bending The Rules With Curvilinear Technology


What have been the historical hurdles for curvilinear ILT? Danping Peng, director at TSMC, reflected on his early involvement in the development of ILT and the three major hurdles encountered while at Luminescent during a panel discussion with industry experts at the eBeam Initiative’s annual event during the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference. Among the topics covered, the panel di... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 5


Wafer-scale graphene In an attempt to make graphene more useful for photonic devices, researchers from CNIT, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Tecip Institute, University of Cambridge, and Graphene Flagship Associated Member and spin-off CamGraphIC developed a wafer-scale graphene fabrication technology that uses predetermined graphene single-crystal templates, allowing for integration in... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Government policy President Biden has rolled out a proposal to boost the infrastructure in the U.S. As part of the plan, the president is calling on Congress to invest $50 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research. The proposal must pass Congress, which isn’t going to be easy. “The President’s plan would invest ambitiously in U.S. semiconductor workers, manufacturing, and ... » read more

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