Fab Tool R&D And Ramen Noodles


The semiconductor equipment and materials industry has always been a tough business. Over the years, vendors have been under pressure to develop new technologies for a shrinking but demanding customer base. And as a result, many vendors could not keep up, or elected to exit the business, causing a massive shakeout in the industry. It isn’t getting any easier, though. Today, tool and... » read more

Tech Talk: Inverse Lithography


D2S’ Leo Pang talks with Semiconductor Engineering about lithography, inverse lithography, photomasks, where the problems are, and what needs to be done to move forward. [youtube vid=mn8JWaP8Z68] » read more

We Have Reached The Tipping Point For Simulation-Based Mask Data Preparation


Since the beginning of the semiconductor industry, mask-data preparation (MDP) and mask verification (MV) have been shape-based: each shape has been treated as an entity unto itself, and if each isolated shape was correct, the mask was correct. This context independence is a critical assumption for conventional fracturing. However, as line/space measurements (L:S) fall below 50nm, shape-ba... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 22


What is UX? The User Experience, of course. Rambus' Aharon Etengoff notes that the IoT UX is now the subject of a Harvard Business Review article. A long list of hurdles are expected at the 10nm process node, including multiple levels of local interconnects, more complex layout rules, timing problems, and a slew of others. Cadence's Richard Goering puts it all in perspective. Mentor's R... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


It’s official: IBM appears to be exiting the chip business. After months of talks, IBM has agreed to pay GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion to take Big Blue’s chip unit off its hands, according to reports from Bloomberg. IBM will also receive $200 million worth of assets, according to the reports. At the upcoming IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Intel and IBM will present... » read more

Executive Insight: Aki Fujimura


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss photomask technology and lithography trends with Aki Fujimura, chairman and chief executive of D2S. SE: What are the big challenges that keep you awake at night? Fujimura: Mask technology, and the investments in the mask industry, are increasingly important. But so far, the investment dollars that the community is willing to spend on it isn’... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Gartner predicts that by 2016 smartwatches will comprise about 40% of consumer wristworn devices. Gartner said that nine out of the top 10 smartphone vendors have entered the wearables market to date or are about to ship a first product, while a year ago only two vendors were in that space. The eBeam Initiative announced the completion of its third annual survey. In one of the highlights of ... » read more

2014 eBeam Survey Results


An industry-wide poll highlights what the industry is thinking about EUV and mask writing at advanced nodes. To view the poll, click here. » read more

Survey: Optimism Up For Multi-beam


The eBeam Initiative announced the completion of its third annual survey. In one of the highlights of the survey, a majority (58%) of respondents predict that multi-beam technology will be used in production by 2016 to address the critical problem of mask write times as the industry moves to smaller geometries. And according to the survey, skepticism of EUV lithography also increased comp... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Front-end fab equipment spending is projected to increase by 20% in 2015 to $42 billion, according to SEMI. In 2015, equipment spending could mark a historical record high, surpassing the previous peak years of 2007 ($39 billion) and 2011 ($40 billion). In 2014, the report predicts growth of approximately 21% for front-end fab equipment spending, for total spending of $34.9 billion. SEMI rep... » read more

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