The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Intel is in talks to buy Altera, according to The Wall Street Journal. If a deal is reached, Intel would enter the FPGA market amid a slowdown in its core processors business. Intel would also secure its largest foundry customer in Altera. For years, Altera’s sole foundry was TSMC. Then, not long ago, Altera selected Intel as its foundry partner for 14nm. TSMC still handles 20nm and above wor... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


For years, Altera’s sole foundry was TSMC. Then, not long ago, Altera selected Intel as its foundry partner for 14nm. TSMC still handles 20nm and above work for Altera. Now, Altera will soon select a foundry partner for 10nm. “Altera will make a decision on which foundry partner it will choose for 10nm finFET at the end of 1Q15, noting it will decide between Intel and TSMC,” said John Vin... » read more

Searching For 3D Metrology


In the previous decade, chipmakers made a bold but necessary decision to select the [getkc id="185" kc_name="finFET"] as the next transistor architecture for the IC industry. Over time, though, chipmakers discovered that the finFET would present some challenges in the fab. Deposition, etch and lithography were the obvious hurdles, but chipmakers also saw a big gap in metrology. In fact,... » read more

Challenges Mount For Patterning And Masks


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss lithography and photomask trends with Uday Mitra, vice president and chief technology officer for the Etch Business Unit at [getentity id="22817" e_name="Applied Materials"]; Pawitter Mangat, senior manager and deputy director for EUV lithography at [getentity id="22819" comment="GlobalFoundries"]; Aki Fujimura, chief executive at [getentity id="228... » read more

Issues And Options At 5nm


While the foundries are ramping up their processes for the 16nm/14nm node, vendors are also busy developing technologies for 10nm and beyond. In fact, chipmakers are finalizing their 10nm process offerings, but they are still weighing the technology options for 7nm. And if that isn’t enough, IC makers are beginning to look at the options at 5nm and beyond. Today, chipmakers can see a p... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Look out below! Intel has lowered its first-quarter revenue outlook. The company now expects first-quarter revenue to be $12.8 billion, plus or minus $300 million, compared to the previous expectation of $13.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. “Intel may be experiencing greater-than-expected seasonal declines in both notebooks and desktops,” said Doug Freedman, an analyst with RBC Capita... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


EUV lithography remains a mixed bag, according to analysts. "We are downgrading shares of ASML to 'Sector Perform' from 'Outperform' as we think shares appear fully valued based on midterm lithography demand and our view that meaningful EUV adoption is still several years out," said Weston Twigg, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, in a new report. "We think the reality is that it is not ... » read more

More Lithography Options?


Lithographers face some tough decisions at 10nm and beyond. At these nodes, IC makers are still weighing the various patterning options. And to make it even more difficult, lithographers could soon have some new, and potentially disruptive, options on the table. On one front, the traditional next-generation lithography (NGL) technologies are finally making some noticeable progress. For examp... » read more

IP Market Booms At Advanced Nodes


As [getkc id="81" kc_name="SoC"] design and manufacturing costs rise, system OEMs are wringing as much of that increase as they can from ASIC vendors. The result is that engineering teams on the design and test side are being constrained by budgets at a time when complexity is rising and time-to-market pressures are increasing. At least one segment is benefiting from directly this. Budgetary... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


For years, chipmakers have attempted to build fabs in India. So far, however, India has failed to set up modern fabs and for good reason. There are issues in terms of obtaining dependable power and water for a fab in India, according to Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, who added that India also suffers from government bureaucracy. India is still trying. Last week, Cricket Semicon... » read more

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