Reflections On Photomask Japan 2023: Embracing The Era Of Curvilinear Masks


In April, 2023, I had the privilege of participating in Photomask Japan 2023 (PMJ2023), a web conference that brought together experts and enthusiasts in the field. The conference commenced with an enlightening keynote talk by Dr. Kurt Ronse of imec on the status and challenges of the high NA EUV ecosystem, presenting roadmaps for the introduction of high NA EUV. I would like to express my grat... » read more

Enabling New Functionality In Medtech And Biotech Devices


Medtech and biotech devices are uniquely suited to benefit from emerging electronic capabilities – specifically, the kind of electronics design, packaging and assembly offerings that are Promex’s specialty. With that said, these markets present a variety of manufacturing challenges and demands that require heterogeneous integration (HI) to address. This two-part blog post provides a high... » read more

MEMS & Sensors Market Forecast: Impact Of Semiconductor Industry Slowdown


Of all technologies, MEMS and sensors stand out for their far-reaching promise to improve lives across segments such as Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, smart home, digital health, precision agriculture, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and environmental monitoring. Little wonder, then, that the growth of the MEMS and sensor design and manufacturing industry is among the hottest topics at ... » read more

A Deposition And Etch Technique To Lower Resistance Of Semiconductor Metal Lines


Copper's resistivity depends on its crystal structure, void volume, grain boundaries and material interface mismatch, which becomes more significant at smaller scales. The formation of copper (Cu) wires is traditionally done by etching a trench pattern in low-k silicon dioxide using a trench etch process, and subsequently filling the trench with Cu via a damascene flow. Unfortunately, this meth... » read more

Supply Chain Resilience And Agility: Two Critical Sides Of The Same Coin


Over the past three years of major global disruptions, the supply chains of many industries have sharpened their focus on resilience. Today, discussions on electronics industry resilience center on redundancy across suppliers, multi-tier supplier mapping, nearshoring, reducing the number of unique parts, regionalizing supply chains, and business continuity planning. Resilience connotes a st... » read more

Revising 5G RF Calibration Procedures For RF IC Production Testing


Modern radio frequency (RF) components introduce many challenges to outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) suppliers whose objective is to ensure products are assembled and tested to meet the product test specifications. The growing advancement and demand for RF products for cellphones, navigational instruments, global positioning systems, Wi-Fi, receiver/transmitter (Rx/Tx) componen... » read more

Panel Tackles Chiplet Packaging Challenges


QP Technologies recently exhibited at the first Chiplet Summit, held January 24-26 in San Jose, California. Dick Otte, CEO of our parent company Promex Industries, participated on a panel titled “Best Packaging for Chiplets Today.” Moderated by Nobuki Islam with JCET Group, the packaging panel also included Daniel Lambalot, Alphawave Semi; Laura Mirkarimi, Adeia; Syrus Ziai, Eliyan; and Mik... » read more

A Comparative Evaluation Of DRAM Bit-Line Spacer Integration Schemes


With decreasing dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cell sizes, DRAM process development has become increasingly difficult. Bit-line (BL) sensing margins and refresh times have become problematic as cell sizes have decreased, due to an increase in BL parasitic capacitance (Cb). The main factor impacting Cb is the parasitic capacitance between the BL and the node contact (CBL-NC) [1]. To reduce ... » read more

Evolution Of The EUV Ecosystem Reflected At 2023 Advanced Lithography + Patterning


As anticipated, this year’s Advanced Lithography + Patterning Symposium was a very informative event, with many interesting papers being presented across a wide range of subjects. Many papers addressed topics relevant to leading-edge lithography, which these days means EUV lithography. With EUV lithography firmly established in high volume manufacturing (HVM), we could see in the presentation... » read more

Unleashing the Potential of Compound Semiconductors: Industry Leaders Collaborate at SEMICON Taiwan 2022 to Create Ecosystem


Delivering high-speed processing over 100 times faster than silicon, compound semiconductors have made the devices a magnet for developers of leading-edge technologies out to maximize performance in key segments including automotive, data centers and communications. With the rising profile of compound semiconductors as the backdrop, leading experts gathered at the Power and Opto Semiconductor F... » read more

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