Chip Industry Week In Review


Global spending on 300mm fab equipment is expected to reach a record US$400 billion from 2025 to 2027, according to SEMI. Key drivers are the regionalization of semiconductor fabs and the increasing demand for AI chips in data centers and edge devices, with China, South Korea, and Taiwan leading the way. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the National Semiconductor Technology Center’... » read more

Research Bits: May 21


Lithium tantalate PICs Researchers at EPFL and Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology developed scalable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on lithium tantalate (LiTaO3). Lithium tantalate can provide excellent electro-optic qualities and is used in telecom 5G RF filters. The team developed a wafer-bonding method for lithium tantalate, which is compatible with s... » read more

Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: August 15


New technical papers added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library this week. [table id=128 /] More Reading Technical Paper Library home » read more

A Performance-Aware Framework For Co-Optimizing Floorplan And Performance Of Chiplet-Based Architecture


A technical paper titled “Floorplet: Performance-aware Floorplan Framework for Chiplet Integration” was published by researchers at Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of California Berkeley. Abstract: "A chiplet is an integrated circuit that encompasses a well-defined subset of an overall system's functionality. In contrast to traditional monolithic system-on-chips (SoCs),... » read more

Research Bits: April 19


Processor power prediction Researchers from Duke University, Arm Research, and Texas A&M University developed an AI method for predicting the power consumption of a processor, returning results more than a trillion times per second while consuming very little power itself. “This is an intensively studied problem that has traditionally relied on extra circuitry to address,” said Zhiy... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Oct. 12


More stable quantum states Researchers at the University of Chicago found a way to make quantum systems retain coherency 10,000 times longer. The fragile nature of quantum states remains a challenge for developing practical applications of quantum computing, as they can be easily disrupted by background noise coming from vibrations, temperature changes or stray electromagnetic fields. Ap... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 9


Solar capture and storage Researchers at the University of Houston developed a device capable of both capturing and storing solar energy. Unlike solar panels and solar cells, which rely on photovoltaic technology for the direct generation of electricity, the hybrid device captures heat from the sun and stores it as thermal energy. The device combines molecular energy storage and latent heat... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 30


100GHz transceiver Engineers at the University of California Irvine built a new wireless transceiver that works above 100 gigahertz. The 4.4-millimeter-square silicon chip, called an "end-to-end transmitter-receiver," uses a digital-analog architecture that modulates the digital bits in the analog and radio-frequency domains to process digital signals quickly and energy-efficiently. "We cal... » read more