Chip Industry Week in Review


Check out the Inside Chips podcast for our behind-the-scenes analysis of changes at Intel Foundry. Intel rolled out its updated process technology roadmap this week, along with early process design kit (PDK) for its 14A gate-all-around process technology. That node will utilize high-NA EUV, and include direct contact power delivery, the second generation of its backside power delivery techno... » read more

Cyber Threats Multiply With Commercial Chiplets


The commercialization of chiplets will significantly boost the potential for attacks on hardware, requiring a much broader set of security measures and processes at every level of the supply chain, including traceability from initial design to end of life. Much progress has been made in recent years on security measures, including everything from identifying unusual data traffic inside a chi... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


To listen to the podcast version, click here. TSMC unveiled an unusually detailed roadmap at this week's North America Technology Symposium, including future architectures for 3D-ICs for high-performance computing and small, extremely low-power chips for AR/VR glasses, and two implementations of system-on-wafer. Fig. 1: TSMC's future packaging and stacking roadmap. Source: TSMC The ... » read more

Backside Power Delivery Nears Production


Backside power delivery is being called a game changer — a breakthrough technology and the next great enabler in CMOS scaling. It promises significant PPA advances, including faster switching, lower voltage droop, and reduced power supply noise. And it is poised to deliver these benefits below the 2nm node, despite a substantial disruption in front-end processes from lithography pattern di... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Check out our new Inside Chips podcast. President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were announced this week. The executive order stated that semiconductors and copper imports are not directly subject to the reciprocal tariff, although the exemption may be short-lived. Semiconductor equipment and tools were not mentioned, leaving the industry searching for clarification. Regardless, hig... » read more

Startup Funding: Q1 2025


The first quarter of 2025 saw six companies raise at least $100 million in investment. Of those, three went to quantum hardware companies, with major investment into neutral atom, superconducting, and hybrid quantum control approaches. AI chips and enabling technology were another big winner in the quarter, with companies developing optical communications tech for chips and data center infra... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


McKinsey issued a new report on the state of the chemical supply chain for semiconductors in the U.S., citing potential shortages of high-purity materials such as tungsten, aluminum and copper, lack of access to CMP slurries and photoresists for EUV, and rising competition for high-k precursors that can fetch higher prices outside of the U.S. CSIS weighed in on the U.S. goverment's recent ... » read more

Many Options For EUV Photoresists, No Clear Winner


In EUV lithography, and especially high-numerical-aperture EUV, balancing tradeoffs between resolution, sensitivity and line-width roughness is becoming increasingly difficult. Lithography patterning using extreme UV exposure depends on a resist mask that can simultaneously meet targets of small feature resolution, high sensitivity to EUV wavelength, and acceptable linewidth roughness. Unfor... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


ASML and imec signed a five-year strategic partnership to advance semiconductor innovation and sustainable technology. The collaboration will leverage ASML’s full product portfolio, including high-NA EUV, DUV immersion, and advanced metrology tools, within imec’s pilot line for sub-2nm R&D. Supported by EU and national funding, it will also drive research in silicon photonics, memory, a... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


The Malaysian government signed a deal with Arm to kickstart a chip design ecosystem. Until now, Malaysia has focused on packaging and test. Adding chip design represents a major change in focus. The country will pay SoftBank $250 million over 10 years for Arm’s chip design IP and train 10,000 engineers. Global chip sales reached $56 billion in January, up nearly 18% from the same period i... » read more

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