From DFM To IFM


For the past decade the bridge between design and manufacturing was called, appropriately enough, design for manufacturing. DFM tools, which by nature cross boundaries of what previously were discrete segments in the semiconductor flow, are now critical for complex designs. They allow design teams to check early in the design process whether chips will yield sufficiently and to incorporate rule... » read more

Momentum Builds For Monolithic 3D ICs


The 2.5D/3D chip market is heating up on several fronts. On one front, stacked-die using through-silicon vias (TSVs) is taking root. In a separate area, Samsung is sampling the world’s first 3D NAND device, with Micron and SK Hynix expected to follow suit. And now, there is another technology generating steam—monolithic 3D integrated circuits. In stacked-die, bare die are connected using... » read more

Temporary Bonding, Debonding Remains Challenging For TSV Adoption


By Jeff Chappell One issue with the adoption of TSVs in 3D ICs in mainstream semiconductor applications revolves around the throughput of the temporary wafer bonding and debonding process. This doesn't necessarily equate to a roadblock, but work certainly remains to be done on this and related issues. On one hand, TSVs already are being used in the manufacturing of compound semiconductors ... » read more

TSVs: Welcome To The Era Of Probably Good Die


Among the challenges of a widespread adoption of 3D ICs is how to test them, particularly when it comes to through-silicon vias (TSVs). While not necessarily presenting a roadblock, TSVs use in the mainstream will almost certainly change traditional test strategies. In fact for many chipmakers looking to stack their silicon, they may come to rely less on the traditional known good die (KGD) ... » read more

Standards Watch


This may sound odd to anyone outside of the SoC world, but as more functionality and more components move from PCB to chip—or at least the same package—what’s happening in the standards world is mirroring what’s going on in semiconductor design and manufacturing. The rule of thumb in the standards world is that as new techniques and technologies are introduced, the number of standard... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 1


Nanoimprint Foundry Singapore’s A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and its partners have launched a new R&D foundry using nanoimprint lithography. The so-called Nanoimprint Foundry is a collaboration between several entities, such as IMRE, Toshiba Machines, EV Group, NTT, NIL Technology, Kyodo International, Micro Resist Technology, Nanoveu and Solves In... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 20


By Ed Sperling It’s reference flow update time as TSMC prepares to roll out both finFETs and stacked die capabilities, and advanced capabilities at 20nm. The foundry updated its reference flows to include tools and IP from all of the Big Three EDA companies. It added Mentor Graphics’ place and route and DFM tools in its 16nm finFET reference flow, and added a slew of Mentor tools, inclu... » read more

Stacking The Deck


By Javier DeLaCruz The pinnacle of system-on-chip has passed. There are several dynamics that are moving the industry away from the SoC philosophy that was so popular just a few short years ago. One of the significant factors is that the cost per gate for CMOS nodes below 28nm is rising for the first time in the history of our industry. Another critical factor is the emergence of through-silic... » read more

Stacking The Deck


By Javier DeLaCruz The pinnacle of system-on-chip has passed. There are several dynamics that are moving the industry away from the SoC philosophy that was so popular just a few short years ago. One of the significant factors is that the cost per gate for CMOS nodes below 28nm is rising for the first time in the history of our industry. Another critical factor is the emergence of through-silic... » read more

ATE Market Changes With The Times


By Jeff Chappell A declining PC market in recent years coupled with the continuing growth of mobile phones and tablets has meant changes throughout the semiconductor supply chain, and automated test equipment is no exception. For example, a decade ago memory test—namely DRAM—was a large market compared with that of nascent system-on-a-chip (SoC) testing. In fact, at the time some test e... » read more

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