Flat-Panel Display Demand Soars


What a difference a year makes in the flat-panel display market. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020, the flat-panel display (FPD) market was gloomy. Oversupply, falling prices and losses were the common themes in the market. It’s been a different story during the outbreak. In 2020, the FPD market rebounded. In the stay-at-home economy, consumers went on a buying spree... » read more

Automotive Chip Shortages: An Assembly Perspective


Since March 2020, the pandemic has brought on scarcity in odd goods like toilet paper, baking flour and exercise equipment. The latest casualty is the auto industry as car production across the world has been hobbled by chip shortages. While much has been written about the role of semiconductor suppliers, foundries, wafer fab equipment, fires, and snowstorms in the chip shortages, we should als... » read more

Robust Growth And Strong Outlook For Semiconductor Materials


2020 was a year that made a mark in the history of mankind as well as the semiconductor industry. It was a year of business and personal disruptions caused by COVID-19, supply chain interruptions, and exceptional agility of industries coping with the new normal imposed by the pandemic. Nevertheless, it was a year of extraordinary growth for the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor ma... » read more

Potential For 5G In Daily Life


The excitement around the rollout of 5G technology could not be more palpable. We see this next-generation technology in news headlines and commercials, with promises to usher in the next wave of internet capabilities, speeds, and frictionless internet access. Let’s look at what 5G is and how semiconductor advancements are driving this new technology. What is 5G? 5G technology can be su... » read more

Rethinking Business As Usual


Few things can snap your priorities into focus like the onset of a pandemic. Our industry is known for its cyclical nature, so adapting to change is not a new concept. But dealing with the challenges posed by COVID-19 has been like nothing any of us have experienced before. QP Technologies has been fortunate to weather the pandemic well – less than 0.05% of our staff has tested positive, w... » read more

Is The Photomask Ecosystem Ready For Curvilinear ILT?


The time it takes to write a photomask with curvilinear shapes was a major historical barrier to adoption inverse lithography technology (ILT), as discussed in the second installment of our blog series on curvilinear mask shapes. After years of development, multi-beam mask writers came into production and one of their features is the ability to write curvilinear masks without a write time penal... » read more

How Extensively Will Curvilinear ILT Be Used For EUV Photomasks?


Curvilinear shapes on photomasks lead to improved process windows, as the first installment of this blog series discussed. Our blog series continues with a video panel discussion of the benefits that curvilinear shapes have for EUV photomasks (masks) and whether curvilinear shapes will be used beyond today’s usage for hotspots. Our panellists approached the question of curvilinear ILT for ... » read more

Improving Your Understanding Of Advanced Inertial MEMS Design


Micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS) based inertial sensors are used measure acceleration and rotation rate. These sensors are integrated into units to measure motion, direction, acceleration or position, and can be found in a wide range of applications including smart phones, consumer electronics, medical devices, transportation systems, oil/gas exploration, military, aeronautical and sp... » read more

Latest IC Forecast: Big Demand, Shortages


Over the last year, the semiconductor industry has seen its share of highs, lows and uncertainties. In early 2020, the business looked bright, but the IC market dropped amid the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Throughout 2020 different countries implemented a number of measures to mitigate the outbreak, such as stay-at-home orders and business closures. Economic turmoil and job losses soon follo... » read more

Will An Adhesion Promoter Prevent Delamination?


Power semiconductor packages are used in high temperature, high voltage environments. With the increase of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in the automotive market, demands on (and for) power packages have been growing. Packages for automotive applications must pass extensive testing for safety, therefore, packaging reliability is essential. As more semiconductor pack... » read more

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