Photomask Shortages Grow At Mature Nodes

By Mark LaPedus - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 2

A surge in demand for chips at mature nodes, coupled with aging photomask-making equipment at those geometries, are causing significant concern across the supply chain. These issues began to surface only recently, but they are particularly worrisome for photomasks, which are critical for chip production. Manufacturing capacity is especially tight for photomasks at 28nm and above, driving up ... » read more

Equipment Perspective At U.S. Senate Hearing On Chipmaking

By Tim Archer - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

In March, Lam Research President and CEO Tim Archer testified before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The hearing examined a variety of issues including the correlation between American competitiveness and semiconductors, the impact of vulnerabilities in semiconductor supply chains and the importance of CHIPS legislation within the U.S. Innovation a... » read more

Big Changes In Materials And Processes For IC Manufacturing

By Ed Sperling And Laura Peters - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 3

Rama Puligadda, CTO at Brewer Science, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about a broad set of changes in semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, and materials, and how that will affect reliability, processes, and equipment across the supply chain. SE: What role do sacrificial materials play in semiconductor manufacturing, and how is that changing at new process nodes? Puliga... » read more

Mask And Metrology Technology Trends

By Bob Smith - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Aselta Nanographics of Grenoble, France, which produces software for wafer and mask patterning based on e-beam technology for IC manufacturing, along with advanced metrology solutions for scanning electron microscopes, recently became an ESD Alliance member. Adding to its impressive credentials, Aselta is a spin-off of CEA-Leti, the electronics and information technologies research institut... » read more

5 Traits For Healthy Competition

By Tom Brown - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Competition encourages continuous improvement. Therefore, to enable growth, surround yourself with others who aspire to be better. This fundamental concept is most notably quoted in Proverbs 27:17, “iron sharpens iron,” interpreted as when both people are committed to growth, they recognize challenges as opportunities, not obstacles. Competitive people are found everywhere. The competiti... » read more

Hiding Security Keys Using ReRAM PUFs

By Katherine Derbyshire - 21 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 2

Resistive RAM and physically unclonable functions (PUFs) have been gaining traction for completely different reasons, but when combined they create an extremely secure and inexpensive way of storing authentication keys. As security concerns shift from purely software to a combination of hardware and software, chipmakers and systems companies have been scrambling to figure out how to prevent ... » read more

Vehicle Electrification Driving Supply Chain Evolution

By Amkor - 20 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Dr. Ajay Sattu, Director, Automotive Product Marketing, Amkor Technology, Inc. If the recently concluded CES 2022 is any indication, the automotive industry is yet again in the cross hairs of both consumers and industry experts alike. Whether it’s the new electric vehicle (EV) model introductions, color changing technologies, or concept cars, automotive companies are slowly transforming th... » read more

A Single-Layer Mechanical Debonding Adhesive For Advanced Wafer-Level Packaging

By Brewer Science - 20 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Better performance and lower cost are always key trends being pursued in the semiconductor industry. Moore's law has provided a very well-defined relationship between performance and cost and the semiconductor industry has followed this law for the past several decades with no issue. However, it became more and more difficult for foundries and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) to scale to ... » read more

Durability And Cost Benefits Drive Mil-Aero Demand For OCPP

By QP Technologies - 20 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Ceramic packages were, for many years, the option of choice for semiconductor prototype assembly, particularly in military-aerospace applications. They are able to withstand high temperatures and can be hermetically sealed. However, they can be costly and, while they allow for rapid assembly of first samples, the final product is typically a plastic package, so the ceramic prototype doesn’t o... » read more

Yield Enhancement By Virtual Fabrication

By Coventor - 20 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

This paper provides an example of yield enhancement using virtual fabrication. A 6 transistors based static random access memory example on 7nm node technology was used in this case study. Yield loss caused by via contact-metal edge placement error was modeled and analyzed. The results show that yield can be enhanced from 48.4% to 99.0% through process window optimization and improved specifica... » read more

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