tag: imec

Etch Processes Push Toward Higher Selectivity, Cost Control
By Laura Peters - 18 May, 2023 - Comments: 0

Plasma etching is perhaps the most essential process in semiconductor manufacturing, and possibly the most complex of all fab operations next to photolithography. Nearly half of all fab steps rely on a plasma, an energetic ionized gas, to do their work. Despite ever-shrinking transistor and memory cells, engineers continue to deliver reliable etch processes. “To sustainably create chips... » read more

Managing Yield With EUV Lithography And Stochastics
By Katherine Derbyshire - 18 May, 2023 - Comments: 1

Identifying issues that actually affect yield is becoming more critical and more difficult at advanced nodes, but there is progress. Although they are closely related, yield management and process control are not the same. Yield management seeks to maximize the number of functioning devices at the end of the line. Process control focuses on keeping each individual device layer within its des... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Gregory Haley - 05 May, 2023 - Comments: 0

The global sales slump in semiconductors but may be stabilizing, according to a new report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Worldwide sales of semiconductors fell 8.7% in Q1 2023 compared to the Q4 2022, and dropped 21.3% compared to the Q1 2022. Sales for the month of March 2023 increased 0.3% compared to February 2023. Meanwhile, SEMI reports worldwide silicon wafer shipment... » read more

Assist Layers: The Unsung Heroes of EUV Lithography
By Katherine Derbyshire - 20 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 0

Most discussions of advanced lithography focus on three elements — the exposure system, photomasks, and photoresists — but that's only part of the challenge. Successfully transferring a pattern from the photomask to a physical structure on the wafer also depends on a variety of films working together, including the underlayers, the developers, and a variety of surface treatments. In fact... » read more

Nanoimprint Finally Finds Its Footing
By Gregory Haley - 20 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 2

Nanoimprint lithography, which for decades has trailed behind traditional optical lithography, is emerging as the technology of choice for the rapidly growing photonics and biotech chips markets. First introduced in the mid-1990s, nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has consistently been touted as a lower-cost alternative to traditional optical lithography. Even today, NIL potentially is capable o... » read more

Chip Industry’s Technical Paper Roundup: Apr. 18
By Linda Christensen - 18 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 0

New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library: [table id=93 /]   If you have research papers you are trying to promote, we will review them to see if they are a good fit for our global audience. At a minimum, papers need to be well researched and documented, relevant to the semiconductor ecosystem, and free of marketing bias. There is no cost involv... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 14 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 0

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he launched an effort to establish rules on artificial intelligence to address national security and education concerns, Reuters reported. "Time is of the essence to get ahead of this powerful new technology to prevent potentially wide-ranging damage to society and national security and instead put it to positive use by advancing strong, bipartisan... » read more

What Designers Need To Know About GAA
By Brian Bailey - 13 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 3

While only 12 years old, finFETs are reaching the end of the line. They are being supplanted by gate-all-around (GAA), starting at 3nm [1], which is expected to have a significant impact on how chips are designed. GAAs come in two main flavors today — nanosheets and nanowires. There is much confusion about nanosheets, and the difference between nanosheets and nanowires. The industry still ... » read more

Digital Neuromorphic Processor: Algorithm-HW Co-design (imec / KU Leuven)
By Technical Paper Link - 11 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 0

A technical paper titled "Open the box of digital neuromorphic processor: Towards effective algorithm-hardware co-design" was published by researchers at imec and KU Leuven. "In this work, we open the black box of the digital neuromorphic processor for algorithm designers by presenting the neuron processing instruction set and detailed energy consumption of the SENeCA neuromorphic architect... » read more

Challenges Grow For CD-SEMs At 5nm And Beyond
By Gregory Haley - 11 Apr, 2023 - Comments: 1

CD-SEM, the workhorse metrology tool used by fabs for process control, is facing big challenges at 5nm and below. Traditionally, CD-SEM imaging has relied on a limited number of image frames for averaging, which is necessary both to maintain throughput speeds and to minimize sample damage from the electron beam itself. As dimensions get smaller, these limitations result in higher levels of n... » read more

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