IC Manufacturing Targets Less Water, Less Waste


Fabs, OSATs, and equipment makers are accelerating their efforts to consume less water while recycling more material waste in a trend toward better sustainability. With chips, sustainability is heavily focused on carbon emissions, and energy consumption is a significant contributor. But there is an equal effort underway to reduce water consumption and pollution. Across the globe, the number ... » read more

Gearing Up For Hybrid Bonding


Hybrid bonding is becoming the preferred approach to making heterogeneous integration work, as the semiconductor industry shifts its focus from 2D scaling to 3D scaling. By stacking chiplets vertically in direct wafer-to-wafer bonds, chipmakers can leapfrog attainable interconnection pitch from 35µm in copper micro-bumps to 10µm or less. That reduces signal delay to negligible levels and e... » read more

Negative-Tone Photosensitive Polymeric Bonding Material To Enable Room Temperature Prebond For Cu/Polymer Hybrid Bonding


An evaluation of a negative-tone i-line photosensitive polymeric bonding material for achieving prebonding in Cu/polymer hybrid bonding at low temperatures via the Cu damascene process. The polymeric material has a Tg≤100∘C ; Young’s modulus of 99 MPa, the dielectric constant of 2.6, and dissipation factor of 0.0016 at 10 GHz. Shear tests revealed a bond shear strength of over 10 MPa when... » read more

Building Better Bridges In Advanced Packaging


The increasing challenges and rising cost of logic scaling, along with demands for an increasing number of features, are pushing more companies into advanced packaging. And while that opens up a slew of new options, it also is causing widespread confusion over what works best for different processes and technologies. At its core, advanced packaging depends on reliable interconnects, well-def... » read more

5 Reasons Why Defect Reduction Is Critical In Semiconductor Material Success


Semiconductors may be small, but the impacts they have are significant. Semiconductors used in life-dependent applications, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, life support systems, automotive safety systems, or in aviation need to be fail-proof. A device smaller than a centimeter with features just a few nanometers has no margin of error. This blog shares why it’s important to detect materia... » read more

Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes Enabled Flexible And Scalable CO2 Sensors


This work, we have demonstrated a low-cost and effective chemiresistive CO2 sensor based on a composite of functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) with polyethyleneimine (PEI). The resulting sensor shows excellent selectivity and sensitivity, which can respond to the CO2 concentration in a wide range of 300 - 5000 ppm. The effects of ink dilution and humidity from the environment on the sen... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Gregory Haley, Jesse Allen, and Liz Allan TSMC told equipment vendors to delay deliveries of the most advanced tools due to uncertain demand, according to Reuters. The news drove down stock prices of all the major equipment providers. On the other hand, TSMC said advanced packaging shortages will constrain AI chip shipments for the next 18 months, according to NikkeiAsia. The United St... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Bosch completed its acquisition of TSI Semiconductors to expand its SiC chips business, reports Reuters. In April, Bosch announced plans to invest $1.5 billion in the Roseville, California, foundry to convert TSI’s manufacturing facilities into state-of-the-art processes, with the first SiC chips due out in 2026. Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung said the full expansion "depends on the support of the... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Intel dropped out of a $5.4 billion deal to purchase Tower Semiconductor in Israel. Intel cited the inability to obtain regulatory approval in a timely manner as the reason for ending the deal signed in February. Intel will pay a $353 million termination fee to Tower. The silicon wafer supply has moved back into positive territory for 2023 thanks to a 7% decline in wafer shipments combined w... » read more

Directed Self-Assembly Finds Its Footing


Ten years ago, when the industry was struggling to deliver EUV lithography, directed self-assembly (DSA) roared to the forefront of research and development for virtually every manufacturer determined to extend the limits of 193i. It was the hot topic at of the 2012 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, with one attendee from Applied Materials comparing its potential to disrupt the industry to ... » read more

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