Wanted: Mask Equipment for Mature Nodes

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Oct, 2018 - Comments: 0

Rising demand for chips at mature nodes is impacting the photomask supply chain, causing huge demand for trailing-edge masks and a shortfall of older mask equipment. The big issue is the equipment shortfall, which could impact customers on several fronts. Tool shortages could lead to longer mask turnaround times and delivery schedules for chips being developed at 90nm and above, which are bu... » read more

Looking For The Next Big Innovation

By Buvna Ayyagari-Sangamalli - 18 Oct, 2018 - Comments: 0

Never has there been more demand for “The Big Innovation” — one that moves the needle for performance, power and area-cost (PPAC) in a big way — as there is in the current era of AI and machine learning (ML). As summarized in Why AI Workloads Require New Computing Architectures, AI workloads require new architectures to process data. These workloads also call for heterogeneous comp... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 3

By Jesse Allen - 03 Oct, 2018 - Comments: 0

Applied's Buvna Ayyagari-Sangamalli notes that the requirements of AI are challenging the entire design ecosystem, and while new materials are necessary, so is keeping up the current pace of architecture and EDA development. Mentor's Joe Hupcey III digs into how to handle counters effectively with formal by reducing their size or replacing them with abstract models to allow formal engines to... » read more

EUV Pellicle, Uptime And Resist Issues Continue

By Mark LaPedus - 26 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is moving closer to realization, but several problems involving scanner uptime, photoresists and pellicles need to be resolved before this long-overdue technology is put into full production. Intel, Samsung and TSMC are hoping to insert EUV into production at 7nm and/or 5nm. While the remaining issues don’t necessarily pre-empt using EUV, they do affec... » read more

The Value of Runtime Knowledge Management

By Applied Materials - 20 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

In clinical and commercial manufacturing when measures are taken to prevent deviations, the findings aren’t often shared across the enterprise and when corrective actions are taken to resolve an issue, they often don’t address the actual root cause(s). The Applied SmartFactory® Rx™ Knowledge Management solution allows knowledge captured in the R&D and design phases to be used th... » read more

A New Type Of Switch

By David Thompson - 20 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

Back in July, Applied Materials announced that we’d been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop technology for AI. While Applied is engaged on the development of many disruptive technologies, it’s not often that we’re in a position to discuss them in early development. Thanks to the vision of DARPA’s Electronics Resurgence Initiative and their ... » read more

Cryogenic Etch Re-Emerges

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

After years in R&D, a technology called cryogenic etch is re-emerging as a possible option for production as the industry faces new challenges in memory and logic. Cryogenic etch removes materials in devices with high aspect ratios at cold temperatures, although it has always been a challenging process. Cryogenic etch is difficult to control and it requires specialized cryogenic gases in... » read more

Variation’s Long, Twisty Tail Worsens At 7/5nm

By Ed Sperling - 20 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 1

Variation is becoming a bigger challenge at each new node, but not just for obvious reasons and not always from the usual sources. Nevertheless, dealing with these issues takes additional time and resources, and it can affect the performance and reliability of those chips throughout their lifetimes. At a high level, variation historically was viewed as a mismatch between what design teams in... » read more

SiC Chip Demand Surges

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

The silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor market is experiencing a sudden surge in demand amid growth for electric vehicles and other systems. But the demand also is causing a tight supply of SiC-based devices in the market, prompting some vendors to add fab capacity in the midst of a tricky wafer-size transition. Some SiC device makers are transitioning from 4- to 6-inch wafers in the f... » read more

Blog Review: Sept. 19

By Jesse Allen - 19 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

Applied Materials' David Thompson shares the new DARPA program that is focused on using correlated electrons to develop a new type of switch with quantum effects, potentially leading to unprecedented switching speeds. Mentor's Joe Hupcey III argues that for the most effective formal analysis, assertions should be as simple as possible and shares some tips on decomposing big assertions. Ca... » 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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