tag: imec

Manufacturing Bits: August 18
By Mark LaPedus - 18 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

Making quantum robots Quantum dots are inorganic semiconductor nano-crystals. The technology can be used to boost the color gamut in LCD TVs. It can also be used in LEDs and other products. The problem? Quantum dots are expensive to fabricate. With funding from Dow Chemical, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a new fabrication process. In doing so, researchers a... » read more

2.5D Creeps Into SoC Designs
By Ed Sperling - 13 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

A decade ago top chipmakers predicted that the next frontier for SoC architectures would be the z axis, adding a third dimension to improve throughput and performance, reduce congestion around memories, and reduce the amount of energy needed to drive signals. The obvious market for this was applications processors for mobile devices, and the first companies to jump on the stacked die bandwag... » read more

Pathfinding Beyond 10nm
By Paula Doe - 10 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

After higher aspect-ratio finFETs and higher mobility SiGe and III-V materials, the industry will move to lateral nanowires and then to vertical nanowire transistors, and to new tunnel junction FETs or spin wave architectures ─ or to various combinations of these technologies for different applications, reported An Steegan, Imec senior vice president of process technology, during SEMICON West... » read more

Multiple Lithography Options Still Remain in Play
By Paula Doe - 03 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 1

The throughput and uptime of EUV, and the overlay accuracy of 193nm immersion lithography, continue to steadily improve, though neither is yet ready for 10nm production, according to speakers at SEMICON West. Mike Lercel, ASML director, Product Marketing, reported several EUV tool sites achieved 70 percent uptime for more than a week, and one customer site had done so for more than four ... » read more

Reliability After Planar Silicon
By Katherine Derbyshire - 29 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 2

Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) poses a very serious reliability challenge for highly scaled planar silicon transistors, as previously discussed. However, the conventional planar silicon transistor appears to be nearing the end of its life for other reasons, too. The mobility of carriers in silicon limits switching speed even as it becomes more difficult to maintain sufficient elec... » read more

Fab Issues At 7nm And 5nm
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 2

The race toward the 7nm logic node officially kicked off in July, when IBM Research, GlobalFoundries and Samsung jointly rolled out what the companies claim are the industry’s first 7nm test chips with functional transistors. They're not alone, of course. Intel and TSMC also are racing separately to develop 7nm technology. And in the R&D labs, chipmakers also are working on technologies f... » read more

What Will 7nm And 5nm Look Like?
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

Citing an assortment of undisclosed manufacturing issues, Intel in July pushed out the introduction of its 10nm chip and process technology to the second half of 2017. This is roughly six or more months later than expected. With the delay at 10nm, [getentity id="22846" e_name="Intel"] also pushed out its process cadence from 2 to 2.5 years. Other foundries, meanwhile, are struggling to keep ... » read more

Dealing With Atoms
By Mark LaPedus - 13 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are ramping up a new range of device architectures, such as 3D NAND and finFETs. But to enable current and future devices, IC vendors will require new breakthroughs, including tools that can process tiny structures and films, even at the atomic level. The problem? There are gaps in terms of techniques that can process chips at the atomic level. Looking to help fill part of the ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 7
By Mark LaPedus - 07 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

Silicon photonics prototyping A group of European and other research organizations have put the finishing touches on a project to help propel the development of silicon photonics into the commercial market. The project, dubbed ESSenTIAL, enables small- to mid-sized enterprises to develop prototypes and products based on silicon photonics. Funded by the European Commission, the project inclu... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 02 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

GlobalFoundries completed its acquisition of IBM’s Microelectronics Group, creating a behemoth that is expected to extend well beyond the combined footprint of the existing companies. As part of the deal, GlobalFoundries will get two additional fabs, one of which makes RF SOI chips. But while IBM was hesitant to expand that business by adding new fab capacity, GlobalFoundries already has t... » read more

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