EUV Mask Blank Battle Brewing


Amid the ramp of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in the market, suppliers of EUV mask blanks are expanding their production. And a new player—Applied Materials—is looking to enter the market. AGC and Hoya, the two main suppliers of EUV mask blanks, are adding capacity for these critical components that are used for EUV photomasks. A mask blank serves as the substrate for a photomas... » read more

Finding New Dimensions Of Innovation


Whenever a company announces a major strategy shift and restructuring, such as pivoting away from 7nm FinFET technology development, it’s understandable that confusion, uncertainty and misunderstandings may arise. The best way to allay these concerns is to take an objective look at the situation: Demand for chips for the automotive, IoT, mobility and data center/wireless infrastructure mar... » read more

Smart Manufacturing Initiative


SEMI’s Smart Manufacturing (SM) Initiative has been a gathering place for companies who believe that electronics manufacturing will benefit from the gathering and analysis of production and sensor data, and optimizing processes based on that data. SM principles are focused on increasing speed, improved output and higher quality. Smart Manufacturing relies on simplifying data sharing and co... » read more

Multi-Beam Mask Writing Finally Comes Of Age


Elmar Platzgummer, chief executive of IMS Nanofabrication, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss photomask and mask writing trends. IMS, a subsidiary of Intel, is a supplier of multi-beam e-beam systems for photomask production. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: For years, photomask makers have used single-beam e-beam tools to pattern or write the features on ... » read more

Matching Between Simulations and Measurements As a Key Driver for Reliable Overlay Target Design


By S. Lozenko, B. Schulz, L. Fuerst, C. Hartig, and M. Ruhm of GlobalFoundries and T. Shapoval, G. Ben-Dov, Z. Lindenfeld,  R. Haupt, and R. Wang of KLA-Tencor Abstract Numerical simulation of overlay metrology targets has become a de-facto standard in advanced technology nodes. While appropriate simulation software is widely available in the industry alongside with metrics that allow sel... » read more

New Metrology and Inspection Technologies Needed for More-Than-Moore Markets


The escalating costs of following Moore’s Law have shifted the semiconductor industry’s focus to More-than-Moore (MtM) technologies, where analog/mixed-signal, RF, MEMS, image sensing, power or other technologies may be integrated with CMOS in a variety of planar, 2.5D and 3D architectures. The integration of these and other key technologies is enabling a host of fast-growing application... » read more

Machine Learning Moves Into Fab And Mask Shop


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and chip and photomask manufacturing technologies with Aki Fujimura, chief executive of D2S; Jerry Chen, business and ecosystem development manager at Nvidia; Noriaki Nakayamada, senior technologist at NuFlare; and Mikael Wahlsten, director and product area manager at Mycronic. What follows are excerpt... » read more

180nm HVIC Technology for Digital AC/DC Power Conversion


This paper presents a new high-voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) technology that is optimized for AC/DC power conversion applications with increased digital content. The cost-effective process uses 3.3V CMOS and a 180nm backend process to provide about 10X greater digital circuit density compared with conventional 0.5μm 5V CMOS solutions while maintaining excellent analog circuit performance. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 13


Quantum memories The University of Alberta has developed a new method for making quantum memories, paving the way for a next-generation quantum Internet. Quantum memory is targeted for quantum networks and computers. In classical computing, the information is stored in bits, which can be either a “0” or “1”. In quantum computing, information is stored in quantum bits, or qubits, whi... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Trade SEMI has voiced support and encouragement for trade discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and the People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping. The talks are planned for Dec. 1 during the G20 Summit in Argentina. SEMI expressed hope for a deal and offered principles beneficial to the microelectronics supply chain. Recent tariffs and trade tensions, on top of rumored expor... » read more

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