Top Stories

One-On-One: Mark Bohr
Intel’s process guru on taller, thinner fins; cheap interposer alternatives; and new materials and technologies on the near and distant horizon.

EDA Vendors Prepare For 7nm
It’s still uncertain how and when this process node will unfold, but work already has begun.

Wanted: Multi-beam E-Beam Inspection
Inspection becomes more difficult and expensive at each node due to process shrinks, complexity, and new materials.

Predictive Fab Management
The future of factory variation is in effectively managing process and equipment.

Navigating The Used Equipment Market
It’s still buyer beware, but the rapid shift in process technologies has turned this into a lucrative and very complex sector.

Blogs

Editor in Chief Ed Sperling observes that the number of companies developing chips at 16/14nm is increasing, but what does that really mean? Here’s Why Investments At Advanced Nodes Matter.

Executive Editor Mark LaPedus finds the used equipment market is a tough place to get a good deal in How To Buy Used Fab Tools.

Mentor Graphics’ Nancy Nguyen and Jean-Marie Brunet show why having the most accurate and up-to-date sign-off engine instead of a limited place-and-route tech file is essential at advanced nodes in The Route To Faster Physical Verification And Better Designs.

SEMI’s Pushkar Apte looks at what’s necessary to enable the future of IC fabrication and packaging in Materials Matter.

Semico’s Tony Massimini digs into the many layers of security and privacy in How Chip Vendors Counter Security Vulnerabilities In The IoT.

Sponsor White Papers

2014 eBeam Initiative Survey Results
Multi-beam gains ground as a way to reduce mask write times at advanced geometries.

Improve Failure Analysis Success Rate With Layout-Aware Diagnosis
Best practices in understanding why particular die fail and how to find the defect location.