Interconnect Challenges Grow

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 1

It’s becoming apparent that traditional chip scaling is slowing down. The 16nm/14nm logic node took longer than expected to unfold. And the 10nm node and beyond could suffer the same fate. So what’s the main cause? It’s hard to pinpoint the problem, although many blame the issues on lithography. But what could eventually hold up the scaling train, and undo Moore’s Law, is arguably t... » read more

How Long Will FinFETs Last?

By Ann Mutschler - 13 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss how long FinFETs will last and where we will we go next with Vassilios Gerousis, Distinguished Engineer at [getentity id="22032" e_name="Cadence"]; Juan Rey, Sr. Director of Engineering for Calibre R&D at [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor Graphics"]; Kelvin Low, Senior Director Foundry Marketing at [getentity id="22865" e_name="Samsung"]; and Vic... » read more

Technology Tsunami Approaches

By Brian Bailey - 27 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

How many times have we heard the saying that technology advancements are accelerating and that inevitably the older generation will have increasing problems keeping up with the new advancements? This happened to me with software development methodologies over fifteen years ago. I still program, when people actually let me, using basically the same techniques I learned when I was in my teens.... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 14

By Mark LaPedus - 14 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

Exploring the proton It took 23 years to conduct the experiments, but physicists have finally provided detailed results about the proton. The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) organization conducted the experiments within its particle accelerator from 1992 to 2007. The experiments took place in DESY’s Hadron Electron Ring Accelerator (HERA), an electron-proton collider. Then, ove... » read more

System Bits: June 23

By Ann Mutschler - 23 Jun, 2015 - Comments: 0

Magnifying motions indiscernible to the naked eye For several years now, the research groups of MIT professors of computer science and engineering William Freeman and Frédo Durand have been investigating techniques for amplifying movements captured by video but indiscernible to the human eye. Versions of their algorithms can make the human pulse visible and even recover intelligible speech fr... » read more

New Patterning Paradigm?

By Mark LaPedus - 16 Apr, 2015 - Comments: 0

Chip scaling is becoming more difficult at each process node, but the industry continues to find new and innovative ways to solve the problems at every turn. And so chipmakers continue to march down the various process nodes. But the question is for how much longer? In fact, at 16nm/14nm and beyond, chipmakers are finding new and different challenges, which, in turn, could slow IC scaling or br... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Feb. 17

By Jesse Allen - 17 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

What can snails teach us about creating batteries? Evgenia Barannikova, a graduate student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County presented the current state of research in using biology to improve the properties of lithium ion batteries at the 59th annual meeting of the Biophysical Society, held Feb. 7-11 in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the inspirations for her research was the way t... » read more

DNA Sequencing Device Market Heats Up

By Mark LaPedus - 11 Dec, 2014 - Comments: 0

Slightly more than a decade ago an international consortium reached a major milestone by sequencing the human genome. Using laboratory systems called DNA sequencers, the Human Genome Project (HGP) determined the order of nearly 3 billion base pairs that make up the human genome. This, in turn, was supposed to pave the way to prevent, treat and cure diseases. Then, in early 2014, Illumina hit... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 8

By Mark LaPedus - 08 Dec, 2014 - Comments: 1

Progress report on EUV resists The development of resists is a key part of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. “EUV resists are production ready,” said Kevin Cummings, Sematech’s director of lithography. “However, through Sematech’s work with the resist suppliers, we have observed a deceleration in the rate of improvements. As a result, Sematech is working not only with the re... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 28

By Mark LaPedus - 28 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 0

Making graphene from cooked sawdust The University of Birmingham has found a new and cheap way to make nanostructured carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. The magic formula? Common sawdust. Sawdust is made up of cellulose and lignin. Researchers can convert this biomass material into nanostructured graphitic carbon in a single step. [caption id="attachment_15639" alig... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

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

tag: carbon nanotubes