category: Manufacturing, Packaging and Materials

category: Auto, Security & Edge AI

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 5
By Mark LaPedus - 05 Nov, 2019 - Comments: 0

Nanoliter measurements The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an optofluidic measurement system that can measure the flow of liquids at the nanoliter scale. Targeted for the field of microfluidics, the system can measure the flow of liquids as small as 10 billionths of a liter per minute. A nanoliter (nL) is one billionth of a liter. A liter is 33.814 ounces... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 01 Nov, 2019 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers China has created a new $29 billion fund to help advance its semiconductor sector, according to reports from Bloomberg and others. Here's another report. The The U.S. and China are in the midst of a trade war. This has prompted China to accelerate its efforts to become more self-sufficient in semiconductor design and production. This includes DRAMs as well as logic/foundry. -----... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 29
By Mark LaPedus - 29 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

Searching for dark energy The first tests have been conducted on a new cosmic cartography system that will soon search for dark energy and galaxies in the universe. The system, called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), is a complex unit with 5,000 fiber-optic eyes. The DESI system is mounted on top of the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Ariz... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 25 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

Fab tools It’s been a tough period for memory. But is there now a sign of a rebound? For the September 2019 quarter, Lam Research reported revenue of $2.166 billion, and net income was $466 million, or $3.09 per diluted share on a U.S. GAAP basis. The outlook at Lam (LRCX) is a bright spot. “LRCX posted strong results and guidance, noting strength from logic and foundry in the December ... » read more

Power Semi Wars Begin
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

Several vendors are rolling out the next wave of power semiconductors based on gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), setting the stage for a showdown against traditional silicon-based devices in the market. Power semiconductors are specialized transistors that incorporate different and competitive technologies like GaN, SiC and silicon. Power semis operate as a switch in high-volt... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 22
By Mark LaPedus - 22 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

3.5D chip packaging In a recent paper, PacTech has described a vertical laser assisted bonding process for use in developing advanced 3.5D chip packages. Laser assisted bonding (LAB) is an interconnection technology used in IC packaging. It uses a laser as a thermal energy, which in turn connects a die bump and a substrate pad, according to Amkor, which is the original developer of LAB tech... » read more

Rare Earth Battle Begins
By Mark LaPedus - 21 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

Rare earths are back in the news. The United States is increasing its efforts to develop and source rare earths elements (REE) to reduce its dependence on China in the arena. But this might be too little and too late for the U.S. Found in the Earth’s crust, rare earths are critical elements used in cars, consumer electronics, computers, communications, clean energy and defense systems.... » read more

Making Random Variation Less Random
By Ed Sperling - 21 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

The economics for random variation are changing, particularly at advanced nodes and in complex packaging schemes. Random variation always will exist in semiconductor manufacturing processes, but much of what is called random has a traceable root cause. The reason it is classified as random is that it is expensive to track down all of the various quirks in a complex manufacturing process or i... » read more

Scaling Up And Down
By Nerissa Draeger - 21 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

You don’t have to look very far in the semiconductor world before you see the word “scaling.” Perhaps you read an industry news article headline about transistor scaling – how those nearly nanoscale components are shrinking even smaller in size down to the atomic scale. Or maybe you heard a reference to memory capacity scaling – how our favorite mobile devices can store more high-reso... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 18 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers The semiconductor capital spending race continues to escalate in the leading-edge logic space. Intel and Samsung have separately announced big capital spending plans in 2019. Intel’s latest CapEx budget is $15.5 billion in 2019, while Samsung’s CapEx is slated for $16.204 billion for the year, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets. Now, TSMC is raising the stakes. TSMC this... » read more

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