A Better Path To Better 3D-IC Thermal Modeling


By Andras Vass-Varnai, Lee Wang, John Parry, Byron Blackmore, and Sudarshan Deo In an era where artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and high-performance computing push the boundaries of semiconductor technology, the thermal management of 2.5D and 3D integrated circuits has become a make-or-break factor in product success. The traditional approach of treating thermal analysis as an ... » read more

How Advanced Packaging Is Reshaping Inspection


As semiconductor devices continue advancing into more sophisticated packaging schemes, traditional optical inspection technologies are brushing up against physical and computational boundaries. The growing reliance on 2.5D and 3D integration, hybrid bonding, and wafer-level processes has made it much harder to detect defects consistently and early enough to protect yields. While optical insp... » read more

3D-IC Stress Analysis


The semiconductor industry is undergoing a transformation as 3D integrated circuits (ICs) and heterogeneous packaging become mainstream. With these advances comes the promise of higher functional density, a smaller footprint and enhanced system performance. However, these same innovations introduce new mechanical stressors within complex assemblies, posing novel reliability risks across the dev... » read more

EDA’s Top Execs Map Out An AI-Driven Future


Artificial intelligence is permeating the entire semiconductor ecosystem, forcing fundamental changes in AI chips, the design tools used to create them, and the methodologies used to ensure they will work reliably. This is a global race that will redefine nearly every domain over the next decade. In presentations and interviews over the past several months, top EDA executives converged on th... » read more

Can You Build A Known-Good Multi-Die System?


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the challenges of designing and testing multi-die systems, including how to ensure they will work as expected, with Bill Mullen, Ansys fellow; John Ferguson, senior director of product management at Siemens EDA; Chris Mueth, senior director of new markets and strategic initiatives at Keysight; Albert Zeng, senior engineering group director at Cadenc... » read more

Multi-Die Assemblies Complicate Parasitic Extraction


The shift from planar designs to multi-die assemblies with complex interconnects is transforming what had become almost an afterthought in the design process into a first-order challenge. Parasitics include things like inductance, capacitance, and resistance, which have become more problematic at advanced nodes due to increasing logic density, thinner interconnects and insulators, and a spik... » read more

Addressing Stress In Heterogeneous 3D-IC Designs


The benefits of 3D IC architectures are well-documented – smaller footprints, lower power, and increased performance. However, the move to heterogeneous 3D designs also introduces a host of new challenges that must be carefully navigated. As chip designers integrate multiple dies and technologies into a single 3D package, the interactions between the chip and package become increasingly co... » read more

Optimizing Data Movement


Demand for new and better AI models is creating an insatiable demand for more processing power and much better data throughput, but it's also creating a slew of new challenges for which there are not always good solutions. The key here is figuring out where bottlenecks might crop up in complex chips and advanced packages. This involves a clear understanding of how much bandwidth is required ... » read more

Research Bits: May 13


Benchmarking 3D-IC cooling Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and HRL Laboratories developed a specialized chip to test and validate cooling solutions for packaged chip stacks. The chip dissipates extremely high power, generating heat through the silicon layer and in localized hot spots to mimic high-performance logic chips. It then uses diodes to measure temperatu... » read more

Overlay, Critical Dimension, And Z-Height Metrology Solutions For Advanced Packaging


The consumer’s thirst for AI-based applications is powering the ever-evolving electronics industry. Applications delivering higher levels of information in human language-like form, smarter at-home gadgets, the ability to receive a medical diagnosis without a doctor’s visit and the convenience of autonomous vehicles are among the applications powering this thirst. To better enable these app... » read more

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