Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 11


Microscopy resolution record Cornell University says that it has achieved a world’s record for the highest resolution microscope. Using a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and a new detector, Cornell has demonstrated features of atoms in a two-dimensional semiconductor sheet as small as 0.39 angstroms. In comparison, atoms are about 2 to 4 angstroms in diameter. An angstrom... » read more

Sorting Out Packaging Options


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss advanced packaging with David Butler, executive vice president and general manager of SPTS Technologies; Ingu Yin Chang, senior vice president president at ASE Group; Hubert Karl Lakner, executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems; Robert Lo, division director for electronics and optoelectronics research at Industrial Te... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Packaging Brewer Science has introduced the latest additions to its family of temporary bonding materials. The company also rolled out its new line of thin spin-on packaging materials. The company’s temporary bonding materials are called BrewerBOND. The new products, called the BrewerBOND T1100 and BrewerBOND C1300 series, are combine to create a dual-layer system for temporary bonding a... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 4


Flat diamond chips Kanazawa University and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have developed a process that solves a big issue for diamond semiconductors in power applications. Researchers have developed a water vapor annealing technique that creates atomically flat diamond surfaces. This brings diamond semiconductors one step closer to becoming more... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers GlobalFoundries said that it is putting its 7nm finFET program on hold indefinitely and has dropped plans to pursue technology nodes beyond 7nm. To be sure, it was a tough decision by GF to put 7nm on hold. But generally, analysts believe that GF made the right decision. “There’s only a handful of semiconductor companies that will require high-volume 7nm technology right when... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 28


Neutron scattering The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has reached what the agency says is the world’s highest power level for a neutron source. Oak Ridge has several facilities, including the so-called Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). The SNS is used in a metrology field called neutron scattering. Used in physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science, neutron ... » read more

GF Puts 7nm On Hold


GlobalFoundries is putting its 7nm finFET program on hold indefinitely and has dropped plans to pursue technology nodes beyond 7nm. The moves, which mark a major shift in direction for the foundry, involve a headcount reduction of about 5% of its worldwide workforce. At the same time, the company is also moving its ASIC business into a new subsidiary. As a result of GlobalFoundries’ ann... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Trade wars The United States and China have escalated the ongoing trade war. Both sides have implemented 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other’s goods, according to a report from Reuters. The U.S. and China have slapped a combined $100 billion in tariffs on products since early July, according to the report. In testimony before a U.S. government interagency panel on considering t... » read more

Using AI In Chip Manufacturing


David Fried, CTO at Coventor, a Lam Research Company, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about how AI and Big Data techniques will be used to improve yield and quality in chip manufacturing. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: We used to think about manufacturing data in terms of outliers, but as tolerances become tighter at each new node that data may need to b... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 21


World’s smallest transistor The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has developed what researchers say is the world’s smallest transistor. Researchers have devised a single-atom transistor. The transistor switches an electrical current via a single atom, which resides in a gel electrolyte. The device also works at room temperature. While others have developed single-atom transist... » read more

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