Reliability Challenges Grow For 5/3nm


Ensuring that chips will be reliable at 5nm and 3nm is becoming more difficult due to the introduction of new materials, new transistor structures, and the projected use of these chips in safety- and mission-critical applications. Each of these elements adds its own set of challenges, but they are being compounded by the fact that many of these chips will end up in advanced packages or modul... » read more

The Need For Traceability In Auto Chips


Someday your car will drive itself to a repair shop for a recall using a scheduling application that is both efficient and can prioritize which vehicles need to be fixed first. But that's still a ways off. Proactive identification of issues is not yet available. To be ready for that, today’s data analytics systems need to begin supporting targeted recalls, enabling predictive maintenance a... » read more

Service Agreements For Probe Systems


Having a Probe Systems Service Agreements can bring simplicity and peace of mind when it comes to keeping equipment operating at optimum performance. We take the guesswork out of maintenance budgeting by providing parts and labor coverage at a single, low cost. Priority service and part delivery eliminates time wasted waiting for maintenance or repair parts. Comprehensive, scheduled preve... » read more

Holistic Yield Improvement Methodology


As new products and processes are being introduced into IC manufacturing at an accelerated rate, yield learning and ramping are becoming more challenging due to the increased interaction between the design and process. Compared to random defect caused yield losses, systematic yield loss mechanisms are becoming more important, thus initial yield ramping process becomes more challenging. A “hol... » read more

Cloudy With A Chance Of Better Analytics


How can you create product-oriented analytics on the factory floor while leveraging cloud capabilities at the same time? In our article, you will learn about: The importance of moving from machine analytics to product analytics. The benefits of migrating your analytics infrastructure to the cloud. How OptimalPlus successfully partnered with AWS to create an end-to-end analytics so... » read more

Case Study – Semiconductor Auto Multi Sensor


CyberOptics’ WaferSense sensor, Auto Multi Sensor (AMS), combines an Auto Leveling Sensor (ALS), Auto Vibration Sensor (AVS), and a humidity sensor in a thin, light, all-in-one multi sensor. The ALS and AVS have well-established records of success for their ease-of-use, robust performance and convenient form factor. The addition of the humidity sensing (to tilt and vibration) in the AMS lets ... » read more

The Story Behind Advanced Packaging, Heterogeneous Integration and Test


The introduction of AMD’S FIJI chip a few years ago marked an important technology turning point for the semiconductor industry. This revolutionary graphics product delivered capability and innovation by relying on the first commercial example of 2.5D heterogenous integration, featuring a GPU assembled with High-Bandwidth-Memory (HBM) using Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) interconnect and interpose... » read more

Test Is Becoming A Horizontal Process


Semiconductor test, once a discrete part of a well-orchestrated series of manufacturing steps, is looking more like a process that extends from the early concept stage in design to the end of life of whatever system that chip ultimately is used for. This has important ramifications for safety-critical markets in general, and the semiconductor industry in particular. Both worlds have been inc... » read more

MRAM Process Development And Production Briefing


By Dr. Meng Zhu, Dr. Roman Sappey, and Jeff Barnum MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory) is a type of non-volatile memory (NVM) that utilizes magnetic states to store information. The basic structure of MRAM is a magnetic-tunnel junction (MTJ), which consists of two ferromagnetic (FM) layers separated by an insulating tunnel barrier (Fig.1). When the magnetizations of the two magnetic... » read more

Test Costs Spiking


The cost of test is rising as a percentage of manufacturing costs, fueled by concerns about reliability of advanced-node designs in cars and data centers, as well as extended lifetimes for chips in those and other markets. For decades, test was limited to a flat 2% of total manufacturing cost, a formula developed prior to the turn of the Millennium after chipmakers and foundries saw the traj... » read more

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