Multi-Die Packaging Gains Steam


By Herb Reiter Many readers will be familiar with my extensive background and focus in the emerging field of 3D IC technology, including both 3D stacked die and 2.5 interposer design flows. Now, I am excited to bring my expertise and passion to Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2), where I am now Director of 3D Programs, helping Si2’s members in the Open3D Technical Advisory Board develop pr... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Jimmy Kimmel, comedian and late night host of Jimmy Kimmel Live, replaces Lily Collins (Mirror, Mirror) as McAfee’s most dangerous celebrity to search for online. Cybercriminals are looking for ways to take advantage of consumer interest around popular cultural events. These criminals capitalize on the public’s fascination with celebrities to lure them to sites laden with malware, which ena... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Is the sky falling on the ATE market? The ATE market is expected to hit $2.8 billion in 2014, up from $2.28 billion in 2013, according to Pacific Crest Securities. “Overall, we are now modeling overall semiconductor test demand to decline by 2% in 2015, a significant change from our previous estimate of up 10%,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, in a report. “Te... » read more

Which Comes First?


Methodologies in IC design typically follow tools. The tools enable the methodologies, and chipmakers' businesses are built around both of them. That has been the rock-solid foundation for the design and production of chips since well before the impenetrable 1-micron wall. But that approach is falling apart at 28nm, and it will continue to crumble at 16/14nm and 10nm. It simply isn't fast en... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 23


The annual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) will take place in San Francisco from Dec. 15-17. As usual, there will be presentations on the latest technologies in a number of fields, such as semiconductors, bio‐sensors, energy harvesting, power devices, sensors, magnetics, spintronics, two-dimensional electronics, among others. Here’s just some of the papers that will be pr... » read more

Why Investments At Advanced Nodes Matter


Despite all the talk about rising costs of development, uncertainties about lithography and talk about the death of Moore’s Law, a record number of companies are developing chips at 16nm/14nm. That may sound surprising, but asking why that’s happening is probably the wrong question. The really critical question is what they’re going to do with those chips. What’s become quite evident... » read more

One-On-One: Mark Bohr


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss process technology, transistor trends, chip-packaging and other topics with Mark Bohr, a senior fellow and director of process architecture and integration at Intel. SE: Intel recently introduced chips based on its new 14nm process. Can you briefly describe the 14nm process? Bohr: It’s our second-generation, tri-gate technology. So it has al... » read more

Navigating The Used Equipment Market


For years, the used semiconductor equipment market has been an important but obscure part of the IC manufacturing supply chain. In fact, nearly all chipmakers have bought used tools over the years. Buying used equipment is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to fill a particular need in both 200mm and 300mm fabs. But after years of flying under the radar, the used IC equipment market is h... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Front-end fab equipment spending is projected to increase by 20% in 2015 to $42 billion, according to SEMI. In 2015, equipment spending could mark a historical record high, surpassing the previous peak years of 2007 ($39 billion) and 2011 ($40 billion). In 2014, the report predicts growth of approximately 21% for front-end fab equipment spending, for total spending of $34.9 billion. SEMI rep... » read more

Making Chips Run Faster


For all the talk about low power, the real focus of most chipmakers is still performance. The reality is that OEMs might be willing to sacrifice increasing performance for longer battery life, but they will rarely lower performance to reach that goal. This is more obvious for some applications than others. A machine monitor probably isn’t the place where performance will make much of a dif... » read more

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