Migrating 3D Into The Mainstream

By Brian Bailey - 31 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss changes required throughout the ecosystem to support three-dimensional (3D) chip design with Norman Chang, chief technologist for ANSYS' Semiconductor Business Unit; John Park, product management director for IC packaging and cross-platform solutions at Cadence; John Ferguson, director of marketing for DRC applications at Mentor, a Siemens Business;... » read more

What’s The Best Advanced Packaging Option?

By Mark LaPedus - 17 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 2

As traditional chip designs become more unwieldy and expensive at each node, many IC vendors are exploring or pursuing alternative approaches using advanced packaging. The problem is there are too many advanced packaging options on the table already, and the list continues to grow. Moreover, each option has several tradeoffs and challenges, and all of them are still relatively expensive. ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test

By Mark LaPedus - 04 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

Packaging and test In a major deal that has some implications in the OSAT supply chain, South Korea’s Nepes has taken over Deca Technologies’ wafer-level packaging manufacturing line in the Philippines. In addition, Nepes has also licensed Deca’s M-Series wafer-level packaging technology. This includes fan-in technology as well as wafer- and panel-level fan-out. It also includes an ad... » read more

The Race To Next-Gen 2.5D/3D Packages

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Sep, 2019 - Comments: 4

Several companies are racing each other to develop a new class of 2.5D and 3D packages based on various next-generation interconnect technologies. Intel, TSMC and others are exploring or developing future packages based on one emerging interconnect scheme, called copper-to-copper hybrid bonding. This technology provides a way to stack advanced dies using copper connections at the chip level,... » read more

Advanced Packaging Options Increase

By Ed Sperling - 19 Aug, 2019 - Comments: 0

Designing, integrating and assembling heterogeneous packages from blocks developed at any process node or cost point is proving to be far more difficult than expected, particularly where high performance is one of the main criteria. At least part of the problem is there is a spectrum of choices, which makes it hard to achieve economies of scale. Even where there is momentum for a particular ... » read more

Cloudy Outlook Seen For IC Biz

By Mark LaPedus - 29 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 0

After a slowdown in the first half of 2019, chipmakers and equipment vendors face a cloudy outlook for the second half of this year, with a possible recovery in 2020. Generally, the semiconductor industry began to see a slowdown starting in mid- to late-2018, which extended into the first half of 2019. During the first half of this year, memory and non-memory vendors were negatively impacted... » read more

Challenges Grow For 5G Packages And Modules

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 0

The shift to 5G wireless networks is driving a need for new IC packages and modules in smartphones and other systems, but this move is turning out to be harder than it looks. For one thing, the IC packages and RF modules for 5G phones are more complex and expensive than today's devices, and that gap will grow significantly in the second phase of 5G. In addition, 5G devices will require an as... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 25

By Mark LaPedus - 25 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 0

Panel-level consortium Fraunhofer is moving forward with the next phase of its consortium to develop technologies for panel-level packaging. In 2016, Fraunhofer launched the original effort, dubbed the Panel Level Packaging Consortium. The consortium, which had 17 partners, developed various equipment and materials in the arena. Several test layouts were designed for process development on ... » read more

Sidestepping Moore’s Law

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 2

Calvin Cheung, vice president of engineering at ASE, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about advanced packaging, the challenges involved with the technology, and the implications for Moore’s Law. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What are some of the big issues with IC packaging today? Cheung: Moore’s Law is slowing down, but transistor scaling will co... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 18

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 0

Making microvias in packages At the recent IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) in Las Vegas, Georgia Institute of Technology, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) and Panasonic presented a paper on a technology that enables ultra-small microvias for advanced IC packages. Researchers demonstrated a picosecond UV laser technology as well as materials, which enabled 2μm to 7μm vias... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

3.5D: The Great Compromise

Pros and cons of a middle-ground chiplet assembly that combines 2.5D and 3D-IC.

by Ed Sperling

AI’s Role In Chip Design Widens, Drawing In New Startups

Focus is on letting engineers do much more with the same or fewer resources — and less drudgery.

by Karen Heyman

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms

Alongside high-NA EUV will be better-performing photoresists, reduced roughness using passivation and etch, and lateral etching to reduce tip-to-tip dimensions.

by Laura Peters

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?

by Brian Bailey

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

Why Small Fab And Assembly Houses Are Thriving

Megafabs churning out the most advanced processors are not the only game in town.

by Bryon Moyer

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