Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 30


Mechanical switches For years, the industry has been talking about the use of advanced mechanical switches in low-power applications. In theory, mechanical switches have zero off-state leakages, abrupt ON/OFF switching capabilities and small voltage swings. Mechanical switches could overcome the energy efficiency limit of CMOS. In fact, mechanical switches could replace CMOS in some applica... » read more

Unraveling The Mysteries At IEDM


In some respects, the 2014 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) was no different than past events. The event, held this week in San Francisco, included the usual and dizzying array of tutorials, sessions, papers and panels. On the leading-edge CMOS front, for example, the topics included [getkc id="82" kc_name="2.5D"]/[getkc id="42" kc_name="3D IC"] chips, III-V materials, [getkc ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 16


Space DSA NASA's Physical Science Research Program is taking directed self-assembly (DSA) technology to new heights. On the International Space Station, astronauts are exploring the development of nanoparticles suspended in magnetorheolocial (MR) fluids. MR fluids, which are a new class of smart materials, self-assemble into shapes in the presence of a magnetic field. With the technology, r... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 21


Peanut butter and chocolate TEMs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technology that combines two types of key measurements. The technology, dubbed the dynamic transmission electron microscope (DTEM), captures information about both temperature and the crystal structure... » read more

Week 13: Cruising The Deep Submicron


These cooler, shorter days can only mean one thing: It’s time to get in the last beautiful late summer, early autumn motorcycle rides. Surprised? Well, I ride a 2005 Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider. I’m a picky rider who prefers the kind of perfect weather conditions that have prevailed in Oregon during the last few weekends. Here is a little clip from a recent tour around Crater Lake in sou... » read more

Plotting IBM Micro’s Future


It’s been a wild ride for IBM’s Microelectronics Group. Neither IBM, nor the other parties involved, have made any public comments about the recent events concerning IBM Micro. Much of the drama has played out in the media. Based on those reports, here’s a rough outline of the events. Not long ago, IBM put its loss-ridden chip unit on the block to shore up the company’s bottom lin... » read more

Executive Insight: Taher Madraswala


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Taher Madraswala, president of Open-Silicon, to talk about future challenges, opportunities and changes. What follows are excerpts of that interview. SE: What worries you most? Madraswala: What worries me at the industry-level is the growing effect that business constraints are having on product innovation. We’ve done a very good job of advancing ... » read more

What Happened To 450mm?


By Mark LaPedus, Ed Sperling & Katherine Derbyshire There was a time not very long ago—one process node, in fact—when the economic momentum of Moore’s Law seemed unstoppable with a combination of extreme ultraviolet lithography, larger wafer sizes and a variety of new materials. Shrinking feature sizes is still technically possible, but certainly not with the same promised economic benef... » read more

All Roads Point Up…But When?


One of the clear messages at Semicon West this month was that stacked die are coming soon. The only question is how soon. This isn’t so simple to answer. It depends on a lot of factors, and for most of them there aren’t any clear answers. First of all, no one is certain what the cost equation will look like at 14/16nm, particularly once the process technology becomes more mature. Ther... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Looking to address a new wave of chip architectures in the marketplace, Applied Materials has rolled out its next-generation, medium-current ion implanter. The system, dubbed the VIISta 900 3D, is geared for the production of finFETs and 3D NAND designs at the sub-2xnm nodes. Typically, medium-current implanters have a maximum energy range of about 900keV (triple-charge), with dose ranges fr... » read more

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