What Are FeFETs?

By Mark LaPedus - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 1

The memory market is going in several different directions at once. On one front, the traditional memory types, such DRAM and flash, remain the workhorse technologies in systems despite undergoing some changes in the business. Then, several vendors are readying the next-generation memory types in the market. As part of an ongoing series, Semiconductor Engineering will explore where the new a... » read more

New Embedded Memories Ahead

By Mark LaPedus - 25 Jan, 2017 - Comments: 0

The embedded memory market is beginning to heat up, fueled by a new wave of microcontrollers (MCUs) and related chips that will likely require new and more capable nonvolatile memory types. The industry is moving on several different fronts in the embedded memory landscape. On one front, traditional solutions are advancing. On another front, several vendors are positioning the next-generatio... » read more

Choosing Power-Saving Techniques

By Ann Mutschler - 16 Jan, 2017 - Comments: 1

Engineers have come up with a long list of ways to save power in chip and system designs, but there are few rules to determine which approaches work best for any given design. There is widespread confusion about what techniques should be used where, which IP or subsystem is best, and how everything should be packaged together. The choices include everything from the proper level of clock and... » read more

Foundries See Mixed Future

By Mark LaPedus - 21 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 1

Amid a tumultuous business environment, the silicon foundry industry is projected to see steady growth in a number of process segments in 2017. As in past years, the foundry market is expected to grow faster than the overall IC industry in 2017. But at the same time, the IC industry—the foundry customer base—continues to witness a frenetic wave of merger and acquisition activity. Basical... » read more

Tech Talk: FD-SOI vs. FinFET

By Ed Sperling - 15 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 0

Jamie Schaeffer, 22FDX program director at GlobalFoundries, talks about the future of FD-SOI, what the tradeoffs are in performance, power and cost compared with finFETs, how many mask layers and patterning steps are required for each, and when 12nm FD-SOI will be introduced. Related Stories To 7nm And Beyond GlobalFoundries’ top technologists open up on next-gen FD-SOI, the economi... » read more

Timing Closure Issues Resurface

By Ed Sperling - 07 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 1

Timing closure has resurfaced as a major challenge at 10nm and 7nm due to more features and power modes, increased process variation and other manufacturing-related issues. While timing-related problems are roughly correlated to rising complexity in semiconductors, they tend to generate problems in waves—about once per decade. In SoCs, timing closure problems have spawned entire methodolog... » read more

Optimizing Multiple IoT Layers

By Ann Mutschler - 01 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 0

As the number of connected devices rises, so do questions about how to optimize them for target markets, how to ensure they play nicely together, and how to bring them to market quickly and inexpensively. [getkc id="76" kc_name="IoT"] is broad term that encompasses a lot of disparate pieces for devices, systems, and connected systems. At the highest levels are hardware and software, but with... » read more

Tech Talk: Embedded Memories

By Ed Sperling - 25 Oct, 2016 - Comments: 0

Dave Eggleston, vice president of embedded memory at GlobalFoundries, talks about the pros and cons of new types of embedded memory, including which work best for certain applications and with various advanced packaging options. [youtube vid=7D9zoA9FFIw] » read more

To 10nm And Beyond

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Oct, 2016 - Comments: 0

Hong Hao, senior vice president of the foundry business at Samsung Semiconductor, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss the future direction of transistors, process technology, lithography and other topics. What follows are excerpts of those conversations. SE: Samsung recently rolled out its 10nm finFET technology. It appears that Samsung is the world’s first company to ship 1... » read more

Will There Be Enough Silicon Wafers?

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Oct, 2016 - Comments: 3

The silicon wafer industry, a critical part of the IC supply chain, is undergoing a new and perhaps alarming wave of merger and acquisition activity. While consolidation in this sector is not new, the pace of M&A activity is picking up and there are fewer companies left. Silicon wafer makers produce and sell raw silicon wafers to chipmakers, which process them into chips. But despite con... » read more

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