Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Lots more fabs and capacity The chip industry sees opportunity in shortages, and is racing to meet demand. SEMI reports 19 new worldwide high-volume fabs already have started construction, or will start by end of this year, and another 10 are scheduled in 2022. “Equipment spending for these 29 fabs is expected to surpass $140 billion over the next few years as the industry pushes to addre... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 22


5G metasurface antennas At the recent 2021 IEEE 71st Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC), the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) presented a paper on a low-profile broadband metasurface antenna for 5G antenna-in-package applications. The National Center for Advanced Packaging and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences also contri... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab tools TEL plans to ship its leading-edge coater/developer system to the joint Imec-ASML research lab, which is working on high-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The equipment will be integrated with the EXE:5000, ASML’s next-generation high-NA EUV lithography system. The 0.55 numerical aperture (NA) tool is slated to be operational in 2023. Today's EUV is in production, but there... » read more

Fan-Out Packaging Options Grow


Chipmakers, OSATs and R&D organizations are developing the next wave of fan-out packages for a range of applications, but sorting out the new options and finding the right solution is proving to be a challenge. Fan-out is a way to assemble one or more dies in an advanced package, enabling chips with better performance and more I/Os for applications like computing, IoT, networking and sma... » read more

Geopolitical And Economic Outlook For Chips And Equipment


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss geopolitical and economic changes and how they affect the chip industry with Jean-Christophe Eloy, CEO of Yole Developpement; Risto Puhakka, president of VLSI Research; Carolyn Evans, chief economist at Intel; Duncan Meldrum, chief economist at Hilltop Economics; and Rozalia Beica, head of the semiconductor business at AT&S... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers SiFive has received a takeover offer from Intel, according to a report from Bloomberg. The asking price is more than $2 billion. ------------------------------------------------------------------ IBM has filed suit against GlobalFoundries (GF), alleging fraud and breach of contract committed by GF. IBM’s suit, filed in the Supreme Court of the state of New York, seeks relief... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 7


High-voltage superjunction SiC devices The University of Warwick and Cambridge Microelectronics have presented a paper on the latest effort to develop of a new type silicon carbide (SiC) power device called a SiC superjunction Schottky diode. Researchers have simulated and optimized the development of 4H-SiC superjunction Schottky diodes at a voltage class of 1700 volts, aiming for breakdow... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Government policy The Malaysian government has extended its lockdown due to the pandemic until June 14, a move that may impact the global electronics supply chain, according to TrendForce. Malaysia recently implemented MCO 3.0 (Movement Control Order), the nation’s pandemic control measure. Malaysia is home to many fab equipment, packaging and testing facilities, as well as passive compon... » read more

Making Chip Packaging More Reliable


Packaging houses are readying the next wave of IC packages, but these products must prove to be reliable before they are incorporated into systems. These packages involve several advanced technologies, such as 2.5D/3D, chiplets and fan-out, but vendors also are working on new versions of more mature package types, like wirebond and leadframe technologies. As with previous products, packaging... » read more

The Race To Much More Advanced Packaging


Momentum is building for copper hybrid bonding, a technology that could pave the way toward next-generation 2.5D and 3D packages. Foundries, equipment vendors, R&D organizations and others are developing copper hybrid bonding, which is a process that stacks and bonds dies using copper-to-copper interconnects in advanced packages. Still in R&D, hybrid bonding for packaging provides mo... » read more

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