Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers, OEMs Intel continues to build more fabs. First, the company announced fabs in Arizona and then Ohio. Now, Intel plans to invest up to €80 billion in the European Union over the next decade. As part of the effort, Intel plans to build two semiconductor fabs in Magdeburg, Germany. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023 and production planned to come online in 2... » read more

Accelerating Semiconductor Process Development Using Virtual Design Of Experiments


Design of Experiments (DOE) are a powerful concept in semiconductor engineering research and development. DOEs are sets of experiments used to explore the sensitivity of experimental variables and their effect on final device performance. A well-designed DOE can help an engineer achieve a targeted semiconductor device performance using a limited number of experimental wafer runs. However, in se... » read more

Blog Review: March 2


Arm's Charlotte Christopherson checks out SpiNNaker1, a project to develop a massively parallel, manycore supercomputer architecture that mimicked the interactions of biological neurons, and its follow up, SpiNNaker2, a hybrid system that combines statistical AI and neuromorphic computing. Cadence's Paul McLellan looks at open and generic PDKs that can be used by researchers and in education... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 23


Synopsys' Varun Agrawal looks at four new technologies have emerged to support the demands on 5G networks and applications, the challenges in validating all of those technologies together, and what's needed to perform end-to-end testing effectively for 5G O-RAN SoCs. Siemens EDA's Ray Salemi points to how FPGA retargeting could help address supply chain difficulties and some of the challenge... » read more

A Sub-1 Hz Resonance Frequency Resonator Enabled By Multi-Step Tuning For Micro-Seismometer


We propose a sub-1 Hz resonance frequency MEMS resonator that can be used for seismometers. The low resonance frequency is achieved by an electrically tunable spring with an ultra-small spring constant. Generally, it is difficult to electrically fine-tune the resonance frequency at a near-zero spring constant because the frequency shift per voltage will diverge at the limit of zero spring const... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 26


Arm's Mark Inskip shares how the Morello prototype architecture, aimed at improving the security of hardware, was developed, from the creation of the prototype architecture specification, followed by the design and implementation of a new CPU, through to the development of a new SoC, hardware platform, development tools, toolchains, and software. Cadence's Paul McLellan looks at how the RISC... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fabs Intel has announced plans for an initial investment of more than $20 billion in the construction of two new leading-edge fabs in Ohio. Planning for the first two factories will start immediately, with construction expected to begin late in 2022. Production is expected to come online in 2025. As part of the announcement, Air Products, Applied Materials, Lam Research and Ultra Clean Technol... » read more

The Effect Of Pattern Loading On BEOL Yield And Reliability During Chemical Mechanical Planarization


Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is required during semiconductor processing of many memory and logic devices. CMP is used to create planar surfaces and achieve uniform layer thickness during semiconductor manufacturing, and to optimize the device topology prior to the next processing step. Unfortunately, the surface of a semiconductor device is not uniform after CMP, due to different re... » read more

Expanding Advanced Packaging Production In The U.S.


The United States is taking the first steps toward bringing larger-scale IC packaging production capabilities back to the U.S. as supply chain concerns and trade tensions grow. The U.S. is among the leaders in developing packages, especially new and advanced forms of the technology that promise to shake up the semiconductor landscape. And while the U.S. has several packaging vendors, North A... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 5


Cadence's Paul McLellan listens in on the challenges Tesla sees in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles at scale and the types of battery chemistries it are currently using. Synopsys' Mark Kahan finds out the launch steps involved with the James Webb Space Telescope and the role of optical design software in creating the new instruments for Near IR and Mid IR sensing. Siemens' An... » read more

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