Curvilinear Photomasks Can Be Made Today


Multi-beam mask writers (MBMWs) and GPU-accelerated curvilinear ILT are enabling curvilinear photomasks to be made today. Despite the benefits of improved process windows, curvilinear photomask adoption is slow. Industry luminaries surveyed by the eBeam Initiative in 2021 ranked photomask inspection and infrastructure as the top barriers to adoption, as shown in figure 1. Yet only 4% say the b... » read more

Equipment Perspective At U.S. Senate Hearing On Chipmaking


In March, Lam Research President and CEO Tim Archer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The hearing examined a variety of issues including the correlation between American competitiveness and semiconductors, the impact of vulnerabilities in semiconductor supply chains and the importance of CHIPS legislation within the U.S. Innovation a... » read more

Mask And Metrology Technology Trends


Aselta Nanographics of Grenoble, France, which produces software for wafer and mask patterning based on e-beam technology for IC manufacturing, along with advanced metrology solutions for scanning electron microscopes, recently became an ESD Alliance member. Adding to its impressive credentials, Aselta is a spin-off of CEA-Leti, the electronics and information technologies research institut... » read more

5 Traits For Healthy Competition


Competition encourages continuous improvement. Therefore, to enable growth, surround yourself with others who aspire to be better. This fundamental concept is most notably quoted in Proverbs 27:17, “iron sharpens iron,” interpreted as when both people are committed to growth, they recognize challenges as opportunities, not obstacles. Competitive people are found everywhere. The competiti... » read more

Wirebond IC Substrates: Challenges Ahead


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

Accelerating Semiconductor Process Development Using Virtual Design Of Experiments


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


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

The Great Resignation And The Microelectronics Industry: Retaining A Skilled Workforce


"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


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

2022 Chip Forecast: Mixed Signals


Jim Feldhan, president of Semico Research, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about the outlook for the semiconductor market. SE: What was your final 2021 semiconductor forecast? What is your 2022 semiconductor forecast? Feldhan: For 2021, world semiconductor revenues totaled $558 billion and units totaled over 1.1 trillion units. In terms of growth rate, revenues increased 2... » read more

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