tag: Applied Materials

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 21 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

Reports have surfaced that IBM’s semiconductor unit is on the block, and there has been discussion about the reasons and the aftermath. Sources say there are at least two potential buyers for the unit—Samsung and TowerJazz. Apparently, the talks between IBM-Samsung and IBM-TowerJazz have been going on for some time. Multiple sources believe that Samsung is interested in buying IBM’s advan... » read more

The Search For The Next Transistor
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 3

In the near term, the leading-edge chip roadmap looks fairly clear. Chips based on today’s finFETs and planar fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) technologies are expected to scale down to the 10nm node. But then, the CMOS roadmap becomes foggy at 7nm and beyond. The industry has been exploring a number of next-generation transistor candidates, but suddenly, a few technologies are ... » read more

Driving Innovation: From Talk to Action
By Karen Savala - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

During the recent SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium, one of the themes focused on the challenges of building an innovative workforce with fresh ideas. KLA CEO and president Rick Wallace’s opening keynote address included an appeal for industry to actively recruit more young talent to foster greater levels of innovative thinking. He said that only four percent of the U.S. workforce is compos... » read more

Interconnect Challenges Grow
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

Qualcomm outlined the technology challenges facing mobile chip suppliers at a recent event. In no particular order, the challenges include the usual suspects—area scaling, power reduction, performance and cost. Another concern for Qualcomm is an often-overlooked part of the equation—the backend-of-the-line (BEOL). In chip production, the BEOL is where the interconnects are formed within ... » read more

Lithography-Enabled Scaling Challenges
By Ehud Tzuri - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry is being challenged as never before when it comes to lithography-enabled scaling. While development of new patterning techniques and resists as well as inspection and metrology capabilities have helped device scaling advance, major issues continue to challenge the future of Moore’s Law. There’s an industry shift from lithography-enabled 2D devices to materials-ena... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

Prosecutors have charged the CEO of chipmaker Entropic Communications with assaulting a model who appeared on the reality television show "Beverly Hills Nannies," according to the L.A. Times. Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) has signed an agreement to sell its semiconductor imprint lithography equipment business to Canon. The agreement also allows for the creation of a new company that will ke... » read more

The List Of Unknowns Grows After Silicon
By Katherine Derbyshire - 07 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 3

As discussed earlier in this series, most proposed alternative channel schemes depend on germanium channels for pMOS transistors, and InGaAs channels for nMOS transistors. Of the two materials, InGaAs poses by far the more difficult integration challenges. Germanium has been present in advanced silicon CMOS fabs for several technology generations, having been introduced used in strained silicon... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 07 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

This is no surprise, but it could be the end of an era. IBM is exploring a sale of its semiconductor business, according to FT.com. A survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Crucial.com, revealed that when asked to choose between these two specific types of men, 84% of women who prefer to be involved with men prefer their male love interest to be "super handy" with computers an... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 31 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

The technology of 3D "bioprinting" (the medical application of 3D printing to produce living tissue and organs) is advancing so quickly that it will spark a major ethical debate on its use by 2016, according to Gartner. At the same time, 3D printing of non-living medical devices such as prosthetic limbs, combined with a burgeoning population and insufficient levels of healthcare in emerging mar... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Look for a nasty political campaign in Idaho, according to Bloomberg. Business leaders from Micron Technology and others in Idaho are endorsing the incumbent Republican candidate over a Tea Party challenger. The challenger, Bryan Smith, is a conservative Republican running for Idaho’s second congressional district. He is running against 16-year incumbent Mike Simpson. Simpson is supposedly pr... » read more

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