Big Changes Ahead For Photomask Technology

By Gregory Haley - 19 Oct, 2023 - Comments: 0

The move to curvilinear shapes on photomasks is gaining steam after years of promise as a way of improving yield, lowering defectivity, and reducing wasted space on a die — all of which are essential for both continued scaling and improved reliability in semiconductors. Interest in this approach ran high at this year's SPIE Photomask Technology + EUV Lithography Conference. Put simply, cur... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review

By The SE Staff - 06 Oct, 2023 - Comments: 0

By Jesse Allen, Liz Allan, and Gregory Haley A potential government shutdown beginning in November would be "massively disruptive" for the Commerce Department as it continues to disburse critical funding featured in the CHIPS Act to boost semiconductor research and development in the U.S., according to Secretary Gina Raimondo. Global semiconductor industry sales totaled $44 billion in Aug... » read more

Building Better Bridges In Advanced Packaging

By Laura Peters - 21 Sep, 2023 - Comments: 1

The increasing challenges and rising cost of logic scaling, along with demands for an increasing number of features, are pushing more companies into advanced packaging. And while that opens up a slew of new options, it also is causing widespread confusion over what works best for different processes and technologies. At its core, advanced packaging depends on reliable interconnects, well-def... » read more

Technical Paper Roundup: Sept 5

By Liz Allan - 05 Sep, 2023 - Comments: 0

New technical papers added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library this week. [table id=132 /] (more…) » read more

Investigating The Ru/Ta Bilayer As An Alternative EUV Absorber To Mitigate Mask 3D Effects

By Technical Paper Link - 28 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 0

A technical paper titled “Ru/Ta bilayer approach to EUV mask absorbers: Experimental patterning and simulated imaging perspective” was published by researchers at KU Leuven and imec. Abstract: "The optical properties and geometry of EUV mask absorbers play an essential role in determining the imaging performance of a mask in EUV lithography. Imaging metrics, including Normalized Imag... » read more

Formal Processor Model Providing Provably Secure Speculation For The Constant-Time Policy

By Technical Paper Link - 22 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 0

A new technical paper titled "ProSpeCT: Provably Secure Speculation for the Constant-Time Policy" was published by researchers at imec-DistriNet, KU Leuven, CEA, and INRIA. This paper was included at the recent 32nd USENIX Security Symposium. Abstract: "We propose ProSpeCT, a generic formal processor model providing provably secure speculation for the constant-time policy. For constant-tim... » read more

Week In Review: Automotive, Security and Pervasive Computing

By Linda Christensen - 18 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 0

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that between 2021 and 2050, ADAS technologies currently available to U.S. will prevent "approximately 37 million crashes, 14 million injuries, and nearly 250,000 deaths, which would represent 16% of crashes and injuries, and 22% of deaths that would otherwise occur on U.S. roads without these technologies," according to a new report. Governmen... » read more

Directed Self-Assembly Finds Its Footing

By Gregory Haley - 17 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 0

Ten years ago, when the industry was struggling to deliver EUV lithography, directed self-assembly (DSA) roared to the forefront of research and development for virtually every manufacturer determined to extend the limits of 193i. It was the hot topic at of the 2012 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, with one attendee from Applied Materials comparing its potential to disrupt the industry to ... » read more

MRAM Getting More Attention At Smallest Nodes

By Karen Heyman - 10 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 2

Magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM) appears to be gaining traction at the most advanced nodes, in part because of recent improvements in the memory itself and in part because new markets require solutions for which MRAM may be uniquely qualified. There are still plenty of skeptics when it comes to MRAM, and lots of potential competitors. That has limited MRAM to a niche role over the past couple de... » read more

Navigating the Metrology Maze For GAA FETs

By Gregory Haley - 08 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 1

The chip industry is pushing the boundaries of innovation with the evolution of finFETs to gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors at the 3nm node and beyond, but it also is adding significant new metrology challenges. GAA represents a significant advancement in transistor architecture, where the gate material fully encompasses the nanosheet channel. This approach allows for the vertical... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

3.5D: The Great Compromise

Pros and cons of a middle-ground chiplet assembly that combines 2.5D and 3D-IC.

by Ed Sperling

AI’s Role In Chip Design Widens, Drawing In New Startups

Focus is on letting engineers do much more with the same or fewer resources — and less drudgery.

by Karen Heyman

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms

Alongside high-NA EUV will be better-performing photoresists, reduced roughness using passivation and etch, and lateral etching to reduce tip-to-tip dimensions.

by Laura Peters

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?

by Brian Bailey

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

Why Small Fab And Assembly Houses Are Thriving

Megafabs churning out the most advanced processors are not the only game in town.

by Bryon Moyer

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