category: Blogs – MD

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

Regaining U.S. Chip Competitiveness
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Dec, 2020 - Comments: 0

In the IC industry, companies compete in a multitude of different markets. At the same time, there is competition among nations on several different fronts. In technology, for example, various nations are competing for supremacy in 5G, AI and quantum computing. China has rekindled the worldwide competition in semiconductors. Backed by $150 billion in funding, the country is developing its do... » read more

Adding Value With Unit Level Traceability (ULT) In Automotive Packaging
By Ajay Sattu - 17 Dec, 2020 - Comments: 0

Automotive product traceability has existed in one form or another for several decades. Traceability generally refers to tracking and tracing each component that comprises every sub-system in a car. Traditionally, this has been achieved with direct part marking on mechanical or electronic components, using 1D or 2D barcodes or radio-frequency identification (RFID). Since vehicle recalls are cos... » read more

Wafer Prep Key To Thinning SiP
By Annette Teng - 17 Dec, 2020 - Comments: 0

In its ongoing push to create smaller, thinner, and denser chip packages, the semiconductor industry has intensified its focus on integrating separately manufactured components with different functionalities into systems-in-package (SIPs). Known as heterogeneous integration (HI), this approach now drives the industry’s roadmap for advancement. SiPs enable power-efficient, high-bandwidth conne... » read more

Chip Equipment Billings Soar In 2020
By Clark Tseng - 17 Dec, 2020 - Comments: 0

The global economy has started down a gradual path to recovery from COVID-19 in recent months as the world continues to combat the virus. Yet one sector – semiconductors – has shown impressive growth powered by a transformation hastened by the pandemic across industries ranging from education and work-from-home to healthcare. Semiconductor sales increased 12% in September to mark a secon... » read more

Accelerating Dry Etch Processes During Feature Dependent Etch
By Timothy Yang - 23 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

In dry etching, the trajectory of accelerated ions is non-uniform and non-vertical, due to collisions with gas molecules and other random thermal effects (figure 1). This has an impact on etch results, since the etch rate at any point on the wafer will vary depending on the solid angle visible to the bulk chamber and the ion flux for that angular range. These non-uniform and feature dependent e... » read more

Upturn Seen For Silicon Wafer Market
By Mark LaPedus - 19 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

After a downturn in 2019, the silicon wafer market is expected to rebound in 2020. 2021 looks even better for silicon wafers. Silicon wafers are a fundamental part of the semiconductor business. Every chipmaker needs to buy them in one size or another. Silicon wafer vendors produce and sell bare or raw silicon wafers to chipmakers, who in turn process them into chips. The silicon wafer ma... » read more

The Ten Commandments Of Packaging
By Sam Sadri - 19 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor packaging continues to evolve as chipmakers find new ways to fit more functionality into smaller spaces. Whereas the package once served primarily as a means of attaching a chip to a circuit board and protecting it from damage due to heat, moisture, etc., packaging today plays an important role in adding value to the device, boosting customization while helping to reduce costs. ... » read more

Taking Advantage Of Outsourced Test Services
By Vineet Pancholi - 19 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

The business model in today’s competitive world of commerce has shifted over recent years to “services.” Companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google are prime success stories that have advanced the industry with business-enabling services. These economic productivity improvement services allow their customers to focus on product architecture, design and quick time to market. The service p... » read more

From FinFETs To Gate-All-Around
By Nerissa Draeger - 19 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

When they were first commercialized at the 22 nm node, finFETs represented a revolutionary change to the way we build transistors, the tiny switches in the “brains” of a chip. As compared to prior planar transistors, the fin, contacted on three sides by the gate, provides much better control of the channel formed within the fin. But, finFETs are already reaching the end of their utility as... » read more

Smart Manufacturing In Fabs
By Jean-Marc Philippe - 19 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

Not long after STMicroelectronics opened its first semiconductor plant in Singapore more than 50 years ago, a facility chiefly focused on chip assembly and packaging, the company realized that it had constructed the site in an area with a blossoming chip ecosystem with a bright future. Before long, the company became the first to start a wafer fab facility in the so-called Little Red Dot. To... » read more

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