Next Steps For Panel-Level Packaging


Tanja Braun, group manager at Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about III-V device packaging, chiplets, fan-out and panel-level processing. Fraunhofer IZM recently announced a new phase of its panel-level packaging consortium. What follows are excerpts of that discussion. SE: IC packaging isn’t new, but years a... » read more

GaN Application Base Widens, Adoption Grows


Gallium nitride (GaN) is beginning to show up across a broad range of power semiconductor applications due to its wide bandgap, enabling fast-charging, very high speeds, and much smaller form factors than silicon-based chips. Unlike silicon carbide (SiC), another wide-bandgap technology, GaN is a lateral rather than a vertical device. GaN tops out at about 900 volts, which limits its use in ... » read more

Revving Up SiC And GaN


Silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are becoming more popular for power electronics, particularly in automotive applications, driving down costs as volumes scale up and increasing the demand for better tools to design, verify, and test these wide-bandgap devices. Both SiC and GaN are proving essential in areas such as battery management in electric vehicles. They can handle much ... » read more

Innovative Technology Drives Rapid Deployment Of New 5G Products, Services, And Business Models


The wireless future is about developing the most compelling products using a combination of advanced technologies to maximize system performance, while optimizing both cost and power. Doing so will unlock deployment of new 5G products and services for mobile operators and the whole 5G ecosystem, from businesses to consumers to the economy. With 5G offering so much potential, how can the industr... » read more

China Accelerates Foundry, Power Semi Efforts


China has unveiled several initiatives to advance its domestic semiconductor industry, including a new and massive fab expansion campaign in the foundry, gallium-nitride (GaN), and silicon carbide (SiC) markets. The nation is making a big push into what it calls “third-generation semiconductors,” which is a misnomer. The term actually refers to two existing and common power semiconductor... » read more

Apple’s First GaN Charger


It has been heavily rumored and anticipated for a few years now, but we have finally seen Apple make the switch to using gallium nitride (GaN) as the power transistor in one of their charging products: the 140 W charger for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. As has been the case with many innovations in the past, Apple may not be the first, but when they do adopt a technology people take notice! A... » read more

Substitutional synthesis of sub-nanometer InGaN/GaN quantum wells with high indium content


Abstract "InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) with sub-nanometer thickness can be employed in short-period superlattices for bandgap engineering of efficient optoelectronic devices, as well as for exploiting topological insulator behavior in III-nitride semiconductors. However, it had been argued that the highest indium content in such ultra-thin QWs is kinetically limited to a maximum of 33%, narro... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 2


GaN CMOS ICs Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) are working to increase the functionality available to wide bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) electronics. GaN is frequently used in power electronics, such as power converters and supplies. However, GaN CMOS technology has been hampered by the difficulties in implementing p-channel transistors and integrat... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 26


GaN finFETs, scaling GaN At the upcoming IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco, a slew of entities will present papers on the latest technologies in R&D. The event, to be held Dec. 11–15, involve papers on advanced packaging, CMOS image sensors, interconnects, transistors, power devices and other technologies. At IEDM, Intel will present a paper on a GaN-... » read more

Inspecting, Testing, And Measuring SiC


Achieving the auto industry's stringent zero defect goals is becoming a big challenge for makers of silicon carbide substrates, which are struggling to achieve sufficient yields and reliability as they migrate from 150mm to 200mm wafers and shift their focus away from pure silicon. SiC is a combination of silicon and harder carbide materials, and it has emerged as a key technology for batter... » read more

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