Is This The Year Of The Chiplet?

By Ed Sperling - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 2

Customizing chips by choosing pre-characterized — and most likely hardened IP — from a menu of options appears to be gaining ground. It's rare to go to a conference these days without hearing chiplets being mentioned. At a time when end markets are splintering and more designs are unique, chiplets are viewed as a way to rapidly build a device using exactly what is required for a particul... » read more

SiC Foundry Business Emerges

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 1

Several third-party foundry vendors are entering or expanding their efforts in the silicon carbide (SiC) business amid booming demand for the technology. However, making a significant dent in the market will not be so easy for SiC foundry vendors and their customers. They are facing stiff competition from traditional SiC device vendors such as Cree, Infineon, Rohm and STMicroelectronics. ... » read more

AI And Big Data Set To Reinvent Semiconductor Industry

By Regina Freed - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

The recent IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) reaffirmed that the semiconductor industry is in a period of reinvention as we grapple with the challenges and opportunities promised by the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and AI. That such change is underway was made evident by a panel I was honored to moderate titled, “The Future of Logic: EUV is Here, Now What?” Joining... » read more

Finding Defects In EUV Masks

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is finally in production at advanced nodes, but there are still several challenges with the technology, such as EUV mask defects. Defects are unwanted deviations in chips, which can impact yield and performance. They can crop up during the chip manufacturing process, including the production of a mask or photomask, sometimes called a reticle. Fortunately... » read more

Semiconductor Equipment Growth Resumes For 2020

By Walt Custer - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

The December Global Purchasing Managers Index was in zero growth territory (PMI = 50). However, the various country components varied significantly. With IHS Markit PMI data as a gauge of manufacturing activity, following are how some key electronics-producing countries and regions finished 2019. World Manufacturing Growth Flat to Start 2020 (Chart 1) To quote IHS Markit’s chief eco... » read more

5/3nm Wars Begin

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 6

Several foundries are ramping up their new 5nm processes in the market, but now customers must decide whether to design their next chips around the current transistor type or move to a different one at 3nm and beyond. The decision involves the move to extend today’s finFETs to 3nm, or to implement a new technology called gate-all-around FETs (GAA FETs) at 3nm or 2nm. An evolutionary step f... » read more

GaN on SiC: The Only Viable Long-Term Solution for 5G

By Wolfspeed, a Cree Company - 22 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

The 5G wave that’s been building for many years will finally come to shore in 2019. Early (but extremely limited) service rollouts will gain much fanfare and the first round of 5G-enabled devices will begin to hit markets. Wider commercial deployments, however, are still off in the distance and will be a slow but growing wave from 2020 to 2025. CCS Insight predicts 1 billion 5G users globally... » read more

Speeding Up Process Optimization Using Virtual Fabrication

By Coventor - 22 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

Author: Joseph Ervin Director, Semiconductor Process and Integration Lam Research Advanced CMOS scaling and new memory technologies have introduced increasingly complex structures into the device manufacturing process. For example, the increase in NAND memory layers has achieved greater vertical NAND scaling and higher memory density, but has led to challenges in high aspect ratio etch patte... » read more

Dealing With ECOs In Complex Designs

By Ed Sperling - 22 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

Namsuk Oh, R&D principal engineer at Synopsys, talks about the impact of more corners and engineering change orders, how that needs to be addressed in the flow to close timing, and how dependencies can complicate any changes that are required. » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 22

By Jesse Allen - 22 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

Synopsys' Taylor Armerding explains different types of social engineering scams that target everyone from CEOs to gamers to smart appliance users, and what training and tools can better protect people and their organizations. Mentor's Dennis Joseph points to some important things to consider if you're thinking about switching from GDS to OASIS and some tips for converting files. Cadence's... » read more

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