tag: KLA-Tencor

Finding Defects Is Getting Harder
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 1

Chipmakers are plotting out a strategy to scale the transistor to 10nm and beyond. Migrating to these nodes presents a number of challenges, but one issue is starting to gain more attention in the market—killer defects. Defects have always been problematic in the yield ramp for chip designs, but the ability to find them is becoming more difficult and expensive at each node. And it will be... » read more

We Must Teach Chips To Feel Pain
By Imec - 17 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

By Guido Groeseneken When I was a doctorate student in the 1980s there was lots of wild speculation about Moore’s Law: give it another 10 years and transistors will stop getting smaller, they were saying back then. But in the end, the creativity of engineers turned out to be greater than the pessimism of the forecasters. Yet today I believe that we are close to the end of Moore’s Law.... » read more

Memory Hierarchy Shakeup
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Sep, 2015 - Comments: 0

It’s no secret that today’s memory chips and storage devices are struggling to keep up with the growing demands in data processing. To solve the problem, chipmakers have been working on several next-generation memory types. But most technologies have been delayed or fallen short of their promises. But after numerous delays, a new wave of next-generation, nonvolatile memories are finally ... » read more

Advanced IC Packaging Biz Heats Up
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

After a number of false starts and lackluster adoption, the advanced IC packaging market is finally heating up. On one front, for example, a new wave of chips based on advanced [getkc id="82" kc_name="2.5D"]/[getkc id="42" kc_name="3D"] stacked-die is entering the market. And on another front, the momentum is building for new and advanced 2D packages, such as embedded package-on-package (PoP... » read more

Interconnect Challenges Grow
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 1

It’s becoming apparent that traditional chip scaling is slowing down. The 16nm/14nm logic node took longer than expected to unfold. And the 10nm node and beyond could suffer the same fate. So what’s the main cause? It’s hard to pinpoint the problem, although many blame the issues on lithography. But what could eventually hold up the scaling train, and undo Moore’s Law, is arguably t... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 07 Aug, 2015 - Comments: 0

IC Insights released its top-20 chip rankings in terms of sales for the first half of 2015. Samsung’s growth rate in 2Q ‘15 put the company closer to catching Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker. IC Insights also showed how the top-20 rankings would have looked if the proposed Avago/Broadcom and NXP/Freescale mergers were in place. Avago/Broadcom would have been ranked 7th and NXP/Freesc... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 31 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

According to Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments grew a lackluster 2% annually to reach 435 million units in the second quarter of 2015. China’s Huawei was the star performer, as it captured a 7% share and overtook Microsoft to become the world’s third largest mobile phone vendor for the first time ever. Samsung remains in first place, while Apple is second. Remember when t... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

German laser giant Trumpf is spending more than 70 million euros ($76.9 million) to build a new facility for its laser amplifier technology in EUV lithography applications. Trumpf has nothing to do with the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. But rather Trumpf is a German-based supplier of machine tools, lasers and electronics for industrial applications. Meanwhile, Trumpf’s new b... » read more

Rethinking Manufacturing Models
By Ed Sperling - 23 Jul, 2015 - Comments: 0

The perennial uncertainty surrounding EUV lithography and complications stemming from the most advanced nodes are creating a domino effect across the semiconductor industry. Rather than stalling the market, though, which is what happened with the transition to 20nm, vendors now are accelerating their product rollouts and adjusting business plans to capitalize on those delays. That includes m... » 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

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