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

Novel Assist Layers To Enhance EUV Lithography Performance Of Photoresists On Different Substrates


In EUV lithography, good resist patterning requires an assist layer beneath it to provide adhesion to prevent pattern collapse of small features and allow for higher aspect ratios. In addition, future EUV high numerical aperture (NA) is expected to require a decrease in thickness from the overall patterning stack. In this study, we are exploring a fundamentally new approach to developing an alt... » read more

Nine Essential Criteria To Achieve A Successful Bonding Process


A photosensitive permanent bonding material enables the creation of high-quality permanent bonds between dissimilar materials used in the creation of MEMS and sensors. Having a thorough understanding of the materials and product performance is crucial to the success of the end application. In this article, we explore nine criteria used to evaluate a polymeric photosensitive permanent bonding ma... » read more

Battling Over Shrinking Physical Margin In Chips


Smaller process nodes, coupled with a continual quest to add more features into designs, are forcing chipmakers and systems companies to choose which design and manufacturing groups have access to a shrinking pool of technology margin. In the past margin largely was split between the foundries, which imposed highly restrictive design rules (RDRs) to compensate for uncertainties in new proces... » read more

Goals of Going Green


The chip industry is stepping up efforts to be seen as environmentally friendly, driven by growing pressure from customers and government regulations. Some manufacturers have been addressing sustainability challenges for more than a decade, but they are becoming more aggressive in their efforts, while others are joining them. A review of sustainability reports across the semiconductor indust... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Applied Materials sued its Chinese-owned rival, Mattson, over an alleged 14-month effort to steal valuable trade secrets, reports Bloomberg. In court filing, Applied Materials claimed that Mattson engaged in a spree of employee-poaching and covertly transferring semiconductor equipment designs. Global semiconductor materials revenue grew 8.9% to $72.7 billion in 2022, surpassing the previous... » read more

A Technical Guide To Selecting A Photosensitive Permanent Bonding Material


A photosensitive permanent bonding material enables the creation of high-quality permanent bonds between dissimilar materials used in the creation of MEMS and sensors. Having a thorough understanding of the materials and product performance is crucial to the success of the end application. In this article, we explore nine criteria used to evaluate a polymeric photosensitive permanent bonding ma... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


The Cyberspace Administration of China recommended a ban of Micron chips for critical information infrastructure (CII), alleging serious network security risks. According to a statement from China's Network Security Review Office, "Micron's products have relatively serious potential network security issues, which pose a major security risk to [China's] critical information infrastructure supply... » read more

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