Detecting Chemical Variability At Advanced Nodes


Key Takeaways Yield loss is increasingly driven by molecular variability in thin films, interfaces, and contamination rather than visible defects. Reliability issues often appear first as parametric drift or margin erosion under workload and thermal stress. Detection requires correlating molecular metrology, embedded electrical telemetry, and AI-driven wafer inspection. As s... » read more

Research Bits: Mar. 3


Computational electron microscopy Researchers from Cornell University, TSMC, and ASM used electron ptychography for atomic-scale defect inspection of transistors. The computational imaging method uses an extremely precise electron microscope pixel array detector (EMPAD) to collect detailed scattering patterns of electrons after they pass through transistors and compare how the patterns chan... » read more

Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: Mar. 3


New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library: Technical Paper Research Organizations AutoGNN: End-to-End Hardware-Driven Graph Preprocessing for Enhanced GNN Performance 🔗 KAIST, Panmnesia, Peking University, Hanyang University, Pennsylvania State University Sputtering-driven formation of interstitial oxygen for intrinsic NIR detec... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Big Deals and Fundings Rapidus secured US$1.7B in a new funding round from the Japanese government and the private sector to ramp 2nm production by next year. Open AI announced a $110B in new funding, with $30B from Nvidia, $30B from Softbank and $50B from Amazon. In a $100B multi-year deal, Meta will power its AI infrastructure with up to 6GW of AMD's GPUs. SambaNova and Intel ar... » read more

3D Atomic-Scale Metrology of Strain Relaxation And Roughness in GAAFETs Via Electron Ptychography (Cornell, ASM, TSMC)


A new technical paper, "3D atomic-scale metrology of strain relaxation and roughness in Gate-All-Around transistors via electron ptychography," was published by researchers at Cornell University, ASM and TSMC. Abstract "Next-generation semiconductor devices are adopting three-dimensional (3D) architectures with feature sizes in the few-nanometer regime, creating a need for atomic-scale me... » read more

Annual Global IC Fabs And Facilities Report


Semiconductor companies announced a significant number of facilities in 2025 as global onshoring efforts continued across manufacturing, materials, packaging, design, and R&D. Investments came from both industry and government sources. Organizations worked together to solve current technology challenges, including soaring demand for AI chips and advanced memory, as well as complex applic... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Deals of the week: Arteris announced plans to acquire cybersecurity provider Cycuity. “Expanding our technology portfolio to include Cycuity’s hardware security assurance products will enable our customers to achieve secure on-chip data movement,” said Charlie Janac, chairman and CEO of Arteris. Qualcomm acquired Ventana Micro Systems, a maker of RISC-V data center-class CPU IP. ... » read more

The Thermal Trap: How Dielectrics Limit Device Performance


The spread of artificial intelligence is forcing an uncomfortable truth on semiconductor manufacturing. Thin films, which are essential for isolating signals and insulating different components and metal layers, are becoming heat traps as physical dimensions continue to shrink in chips used inside AI data centers. That, in turn, is limiting how fast these chips can process data and increasing t... » read more

Powering Efficiency: AI Transforms IC Manufacturing As ICs Fuel AI


The push to grow today’s $500 billion-plus semiconductor industry to $1 trillion in annual revenue is challenging every aspect of the broader supply chain to embrace AI. Artificial intelligence is transforming the way fabs are architected and run, how devices are manufactured, and how server farms are constructed going forward. At the same time, all of this is being enabled by advancements... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Intel reported flat year-over year revenue for Q2, exceeding Wall Street's pessimistic expectations. In a message to employees, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company will: Cut about 15% of its staff, ending the year with about 75,000 employees, down from a high of nearly 132,000 in 2022; Scrap projects in Poland and Germany, consolidate other sites in central America and Southeast Asia, and s... » read more

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