The Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


A new study reveals that a majority of Americans are making some costly miscalculations regarding the performance of their existing PCs. The survey reveals that Americans lack financial savvy when faced with slow computers. Germany’s Merck KGaA, a pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company, announced an agreement with AZ Electronic Materials, under which Merck KGaA would acquire AZ.... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 22


Natural lithography For years, researchers have been exploring the development of nanosphere lithography or natural lithography. Nanosphere lithography makes use of directed self-assembly (DSA) techniques. The process begins with self-assembly of a nanosphere mask onto a substrate. This is followed by deposition of a material through the mask. The University of Paderborn has put a new twis... » read more

Applied-TEL Watch


By Mark LaPedus So far this year, the biggest story in the fab tool industry is fairly obvious—Applied Materials recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire rival Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) for about $9.3 billion. The blockbuster announcement will likely be the top story of 2013. Of course, the integration of Applied and TEL will be a challenge. In any case, the Applied-TEL deal is i... » read more

Debate Heats Up Over Bigger Glass


For more than two decades, photomask makers have been talking about moving to a new and larger mask size, sometimes called “bigger glass” by the industry. Generally, the discussions about “bigger glass” have been all talk and no action. But now, some chipmakers are turning up the volume in the discussions and are pushing for a larger mask size. A larger mask size would require the ph... » read more

Executive Briefing: Getting Direct On Litho


Semiconductor Engineering sat down and talked with David Lam, principal of the David Lam Group, an investment and advisory firm. Lam is also the chairman of Multibeam, a multi-beam equipment startup for direct-write lithography and other applications. He founded Lam Research in 1980 and left as an employee in 1985. He served on Lam Research’s board for five years after that. SE: Multibeam ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 15


Better Beer Rice University has devised a polymer material that could boost the properties of natural gas, beer and soda. By adding modified, single-atom-thick graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) to thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), Rice’s polymer material could make it more practical for vehicles to run on compressed natural gas. The material is far more impermeable to pressurized gas and lighte... » read more

The Week In Review: Aug 5


By Mark LaPedus According to a nationwide online survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Crucial.com, 36% of those Americans who experienced PC problems in the past six months admit they have lashed out at their slow, underperforming computers by using profanity, screaming and shouting, or by striking it with a fist or other object. Those who experienced computer problems also indi... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 23


Space Tubes In 2011, NASA produced a material that absorbs on average more than 99% of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that hits it. NASA’s so-called “super-black” material is based on a thin layer of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Tiny gaps between the nanotubes collect and trap light. The carbon absorbs the photons, preventing them from reflecting off surf... » read more

Changes And Challenges


At 130nm, the shift to copper interconnects and 300mm wafer sizes was considered to be the most difficult transition in its long and incredibly efficient history. The next chapter will be even tougher. It’s not that change is a foreign concept to semiconductor design and manufacturing. In fact, it’s probably the only constant over the past 50 years. But in the past, those changes tended ... » read more

Inside Leti’s Litho Lab


By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Manufacturing & Design sat down to discuss future lithography challenges with Serge Tedesco, lithography program manager at CEA-Leti; Laurent Pain, lithography lab manager at CEA-Leti; and Raluca Tiron, a senior scientist at CEA-Leti. SMD: CEA-Leti has two major and separate programs, including one in directed self-assembly (DSA) and another in multi-beam ... » read more

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