Are Tiny MicroLEDs The Next Big Thing For Displays?


One of the latest emerging trends is a renewed focus on microLED technology. What is a microLED, and why is the industry focusing on this technology? As the name suggests, a microLED, or µLED, is a light-emitting diode (LED) – roughly 100 times smaller than conventional LEDs. MicroLEDs can be arranged into arrays to make high-resolution displays for applications ranging from smartwatches... » read more

Keeping IC Packages Cool


Placing multiple chips into a package side-by-side can alleviate thermal issues, but as companies dive further into die stacking and denser packaging to boost performance and reduce power, they are wrestling with a whole new set of heat-related issues. The shift to advanced packaging enables chipmakers to meet demands for increasing bandwidth, clock speeds, and power density for high perform... » read more

Removing Barriers For End-To-End Analytics


Parties are coming together, generating guidelines for sharing data from IC design and manufacturing through end of life, setting the stage for true end-to-end analytics. While the promise of big data analytics is well understood, data sharing through the semiconductor supply chain has been stymied by an inability to link together data sources throughout the lifecycle of a chip, package, or ... » read more

Center Stage: The Time For Hybrid Bonding Has Arrived


When the subject of hybrid bonding is brought up in the industry, the focus is often on how this technique is used to manufacture CMOS image sensors (CIS), an essential device for today’s digital cameras, particularly those found in smartphones. As such, CIS is a common touchpoint given the ubiquity of mobile phones, whether you hold a product from Apple, Samsung, or Huawei in your hands. ... » read more

The Race To Zero Defects In Auto ICs


Assembly houses are fine-tuning their methodologies and processes for automotive ICs, optimizing everything from inspection and metrology to data management in order to prevent escapes and reduce the number of costly returns. Today, assembly defects account for between 12% and 15% of semiconductor customer returns in the automotive chip market. As component counts in vehicles climb from the ... » read more

Enabling SoC Visibility For Future Secure Hardware Architectures With In-Chip Environmental Monitoring


Billions of people around the world are now online and generating vast amounts of data every day. This data revolution, which is largely driven by user performance requirements, is a double-edged sword. On one hand it is enabling huge technology advancements, revolutionizing the way we connect with each other and the world around us, but on the other hand it is exposing major vulnerabilities in... » read more

Trends In Testing: New Challenges Create New Opportunities


As advancements in semiconductors and microelectronics soldier ahead into emerging, even uncharted, territory, new test challenges arise. To that end, let’s look at a few key trends and challenges that are driving opportunities for innovation in the test sector. Technology convergence has been a buzzword for some time, and this trend is only going to intensify with the heightened need to m... » read more

Silicon Lifecycle Management: Actionable Silicon Insights Through Intelligent Measurement And Analysis


Semiconductors have always been challenging to develop, with many waves of innovation in electronic design automation (EDA) tools and fabrication technologies barely keeping ahead of ever-growing design size and sophistication. Once again, the industry has reached a tipping point. The combination of increasing chip and system complexity, coupled with higher expectations for product performance ... » read more

Atomic Force Microscopy Covers The Landscape Of Polymer Characterization


"Materials scientists designing a polymer-based material for a specific application must analyze how and why all these factors come together to impact the final product. Understanding the structure and properties at the microscopic level is critical to a complete understanding of the material. “Everybody wants to make their materials perform better at the macroscale,” says Bede Pittenger, a... » read more

New Method For BEOL Overlay And Process Margin Characterization


This paper presents a new method, design for inspection (DFI) to characterize overlay. Using design-assisted voltage contrast measurement, the method enables in-line test and monitoring of process induced OVL and CD variation of backend-of line (BEOL) features with litho-etch-lithoetch (LELE) patterning. While only some of the features of multi-color patterning scheme are chosen to be aligned d... » read more

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