Testing 2.5D And 3D-ICs


Disaggregating SoCs allows chipmakers to cram more features and functions into a package than can fit on a reticle-sized chip. But as Vidya Neerkundar, technical marketing engineer at Siemens EDA explains, there are challenges in accessing all of the dies or chiplets in a package. The new IEEE 1838 standard addresses that, as well as what to do when 2.5D and 3D-ICs are combined together in the ... » read more

Wafer Cleaning Becomes Key Challenge In Manufacturing 3D Structures


Wafer cleaning, once a rather mundane task as simple as dipping wafers in cleaning fluid, is emerging as one of the top major engineering challenges for manufacturing GAA FETs and 3D-ICs. With these new 3D structures — some on the horizon but some already in high-volume manufacturing — semiconductor wafer equipment and materials suppliers in the wet cleaning business are at the epicenter... » read more

Coming In Hot: Requirements For Successful Thermal Management In 3D-IC


As the speed, density, and capabilities of electronics have all increased, power has become a first order driver in almost all electronic systems. For instance, it’s well recognized that heat is often the number one limiting factor in 3D-IC design. High-speed chips stacked close together in a small housing cause things to heat up fast. One of the most common designer responses to overheating ... » read more

IC Architectures Shift As OEMs Narrow Their Focus


Diminishing returns from process scaling, coupled with pervasive connectedness and an exponential increase in data, are driving broad changes in how chips are designed, what they're expected to do, and how quickly they're supposed to do it. In the past, tradeoffs between performance, power, and cost were defined mostly by large OEMs within the confines of an industry-wide scaling roadmap. Ch... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Highlights from ITC The hot topic at this week’s International Test Conference (ITC) was tackling silent data corruption, with panel discussions, papers, and Google’s Parthasarathy Ranganathan’s keynote address all emphasizing the urgency of the issue. In the past two years Meta, Google, and Microsoft have reported on silent errors, errors not detected at test, which are adversely impact... » read more

Holistic 3D-IC Interposer Analysis In Product Designs


The miniaturization trend in electronic devices and the rise in smart and IoT device segments make adopting heterogeneous integration of chip components or 3D-ICs a viable option for miniaturization and better interconnection. This vertical stacking of ICs enables the next generation of sophisticated, intelligent devices, necessitating high chip density and terabytes of bandwidth. As per the f... » read more

Designing For Thermal


Heat has emerged as a major concern for semiconductors in every form factor, from digital watches to data centers, and it is becoming more of a problem at advanced nodes and in advanced packages where that heat is especially difficult to dissipate. Temperatures at the base of finFETs and GAA FETs can differ from those at the top of the transistor structures. They also can vary depending on h... » read more

Enabling Test Strategies For 2.5D, 3D Stacked ICs


Improved testability, coupled with more tests at more insertion points, are emerging as key strategies for creating reliable, heterogeneous 2.5D and 3D designs with sufficient yield.  Many changes need to fall into place to make side-by-side 2.5D and 3D stacking approaches cost-effective, particularly for companies looking to integrate chiplets from different vendors. Today, nearly all of t... » read more

Testing The Stack: DFT Is Ready For 3D Devices


When existing advanced 2D designs already push the limits of design-for-test (DFT) tools, what hope do developers have of managing DFT for 3D devices? Can anyone afford the tool run time, on-chip area demand, pattern count, and test time? The answer, from an array of experts, is yes, there is a path to a scalable, affordable, and comprehensive DFT solution for 3D ICs. Well-covered strategies... » read more

Affordable And Comprehensive Testing Of 3D Stacked Die Devices


Developers of high-end semiconductor products who face manufacturing limitations with respect to die sizes are investing in 3D stacked die technology. These advanced designs already push current design-for-test (DFT) solutions to the limits: tool run time, on-chip area demand, test pattern count, and test time. How then, can designers manage DFT for these new 3D devices? In this paper, we outli... » read more

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