Curvilinear Masks Push The Limits Of Inspection And Metrology


Key Takeaways: Curvilinear masks require native data flows across design, mask data prep, writing, inspection, and metrology. Inspection is shifting from finding all defects to identifying which mask variations actually print on wafer. High-NA EUV will intensify inspection challenges, particularly for small printable defects and actinic contrast limits. Experts at the table:... » read more

Enabling Production-Ready AI For Semiconductor Manufacturing


Semiconductor inspection has always been a scalability problem. Inspection teams are buried in manual reviews because the machines on the line throw false rejects, miss real defects, and can't learn from the data they're already producing. The job hasn't really changed in decades. Find defects faster. Find them with higher sensitivity. Keep cost down. And whatever you do, don't bury the review ... » read more

Mask Technology Faces A New Set Of Challenges


Key Takeaways: Mask inspection and repair remain the critical bottleneck, even as multi-beam writers have reduced mask-writing constraints. Curvilinear masks are becoming viable for critical layers, but qualification, metrology, and inspection standards still lag production needs. Scaling curvilinear requires curvilinear-native data flows, model-based checks, GPU/HPC compute, and les... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Acquisitions and business pivots Teradyne acquired Israel-based TestInsight, a semiconductor test provider with pattern conversion, validation, and virtual test capabilities. Credo plans to acquire DustPhotonics, a developer of silicon photonics PICs for optical transceivers. Molex plans to acquire Teramount, a provider of detachable, passive-alignment fiber-to-chip connectivity solu... » read more

eBeam Initiative At SPIE ALP 2026: Continuing Progress On Curvilinear, EUV, And Data Challenges


The eBeam Initiative’s annual lunch at SPIE Advanced Lithography and Patterning has long served as a focal point for eBeam technology education for the industry. This year marked our 17th gathering, with approximately 150 attendees joining us. As in past years, the value of the session was less about any single topic and more about the collective signal across different parts of the ecosystem... » read more

Challenges In Scaling Chips To 2nm And Below


Key Takeaways Scaling to 2nm and below continues due to power improvements per watt, but progress is much more challenging and costly. Solutions to problems often create other problems due to less margin for tradeoffs, often requiring larger interposers, more chiplets, and more complex packages. New levels of precision are required throughout the design-through-manufacturing flow, re... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Big Deals and Fundings Rapidus secured US$1.7B in a new funding round from the Japanese government and the private sector to ramp 2nm production by next year. Open AI announced a $110B in new funding, with $30B from Nvidia, $30B from Softbank and $50B from Amazon. In a $100B multi-year deal, Meta will power its AI infrastructure with up to 6GW of AMD's GPUs. SambaNova and Intel ar... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 25


Cadence's Mick Posner introduces the Foundational Chiplet System Architecture, a specification that aims to deliver a vendor and CPU-neutral architecture, common system partition guidelines, and a shared vocabulary and set of standards for system-level and interface definitions between chiplets. Synopsys' Scott Knowlton explains why LPDDR6 represents a big step forward in memory management c... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Samsung reportedly is hiking memory chip prices by 30% to 60% due to high demand from AI data centers and constrained supplies. Those shortages are causing ripples elsewhere. SMIC, China's largest foundry, said its customers are holding back orders for other types of semiconductor due to concerns about memory supplies. Meanwhile, interest in photonics and power semiconductors is picking up, ... » read more

Expert Panel Sees History Of Continuous Photomask Innovations As Key To The Future


The eBeam Initiative conducted its 14th annual eBeam Initiative Luminaries survey in July and reported the results on September 23, 2025 to more than 200 attendees at its annual meeting during the BACUS SPIE Photomask Technology conference. Industry luminaries representing 51 companies from across the semiconductor ecosystem—including photomasks, electronic design automation (EDA), chip desig... » read more

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