tag: finFETs

What’s After CMOS?
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 3

Chipmakers continue to scale the CMOS transistor to finer geometries, but the question is for how much longer. The current thinking is that the CMOS transistor could scale at least to the 3nm node in the 2021 timeframe. And then, CMOS could run out of gas, prompting the need for a new switch technology. So what’s after the CMOS-based transistor? Carbon nanotubes and graphene get the most a... » read more

The Road Ahead for 2014: Semiconductors
By Brian Bailey - 23 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 1

Last week, Semiconductor Engineering examined the 2014 predictions from several thought leaders in the industry and published those predictions that related to general market trends. Many of those predictions require some advances in semiconductor technologies and fabrications capabilities. It is those predictions that will be examined in this part, followed next week by the predictions related... » read more

Executive Viewpoint: Qualcomm On Process Technology
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 3

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss current and future process technology challenges with Geoffrey Yeap, vice president of technology at Qualcomm. SE: You have pointed out there is a fundamental shift taking place at the 28nm logic node. This is the first node in which mobile chips have been ramped up first within the foundries, ahead of computing-based ICs. Many believe that 28nm ... » read more

Germanium wedge-FETs pry away misfit dislocations
By Katherine Derbyshire - 23 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 1

Any approach to alternative channel integration must consider the lattice mismatch between silicon and other channel materials. Some schemes, such as IMEC’s selective epitaxy, view the lattice mismatch as an obstacle and look for ways to minimize its effects. This point of view certainly has merit: misfit dislocations do significantly degrade transistor performance. Still, back in 2011 Shu-Ha... » read more

Fab Tool Industry Has Lost Its Way
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 1

The relationship between chipmakers and fab tool vendors has always been a bit rocky, but the supply chain has generally worked. Chipmakers demand a tool for a particular application. Then, tool makers attempt to deliver the goods, and ask few, if any, questions. Now, fab tool executives are beginning to ask some tough questions about the industry. And the tension is mounting between equ... » read more

Industry Restructures Around Cost
By Ed Sperling - 19 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 1

Talk to any semiconductor executive these days about what’s next for their company and you’ll probably encounter the same perspective—cost will drive future design decisions. Dig a little further, however, and you’ll find no consistent strategy for reducing that cost. While the industry has three very viable solutions for improving the power and performance characteristics of SoCs—... » read more

Alternative Channel Materials For Post-Silicon FinFETs
By Katherine Derbyshire - 16 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 4

At first glance, other semiconductors always have looked more attractive to device designers than silicon. Both germanium and III-V compound semiconductors have higher carrier mobility, allowing faster switching at the same device size. And yet, as manufacturers begin to consider alternative channel materials for sub-10nm devices, the industry is remembering why silicon became a standard in ... » read more

Can Intel Dethrone The Foundry Giants?
By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 3

The leading-edge foundry business isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires deep pockets and sound technology to keep pace in the chip-scaling race. And despite pouring billions of dollars into new fabs and processes, foundries are competing for fewer customers at each node. Given the difficult business conditions, only a handful of vendors can afford to compete in the high-end foundry bus... » read more

Challenges Mount In Inspection And Metrology
By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are moving full speed ahead toward smaller process nodes, thereby driving up the costs and complexities in chip manufacturing. The migrations also are putting enormous stress on nearly all points of the fab flow, including a critical but unsung part of the business—process control. Process control involves 20 or so different segments in the inspection and metrology arena. Genera... » read more

What Just Happened?
By Brian Fuller - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Boy that went by fast. One minute, I’m waking up a little groggy on New Year’s Day, wondering whether the silicon industry is ever going to rebound. The next minute, it’s today and the industry had a good year, and is, in many ways, a completely different animal than it was 12 months ago. Innovation is evolutionary, sure. But if you really think about 2013, you can make an argument tha... » read more

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