tag: Lam Research

How To Compare Chips
By Ed Sperling - 15 Sep, 2022 - Comments: 0

Traditional metrics for semiconductors are becoming much less meaningful in the most advanced designs. The number of transistors packed into a square centimeter only matters if they can be utilized, and performance per watt is irrelevant if sufficient power cannot be delivered to all of the transistors. The consensus across the chip industry is that the cost per transistor is rising at each ... » read more

The High Price Of Smaller Features
By Katherine Derbyshire - 15 Sep, 2022 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry’s push for higher numerical apertures is driven by the relationship between NA and critical dimension. As the NA goes up, the CD goes down: Where λ is the wavelength and k1 is a process coefficient. While 0.55 NA exposure systems will improve resolution, Larry Melvin, principal engineer at Synopsys, noted that smaller features always come with a process cos... » read more

MicroLEDs Move Toward Commercialization
By Laura Peters - 29 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 1

The market for MicroLED displays is heating up, fueled by a raft of innovations in design and manufacturing that can increase yield and reduce prices, making them competitive with LCD and OLED devices. MicroLED displays are brighter and higher contrast than their predecessors, and they are more efficient. Functional prototypes have been developed for watches, AR glasses, TVs, signage, and au... » read more

Big Changes In Architectures, Transistors, Materials
By Ed Sperling - 18 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are gearing up for fundamental changes in architectures, materials, and basic structures like transistors and interconnects. The net result will be more process steps, increased complexity for each of those steps, and rising costs across the board. At the leading-edge, finFETs will run out of steam somewhere after the 3nm (30 angstrom) node. The three foundries still working at th... » read more

Fan-Out Packaging Gets Competitive
By Karen Heyman and Laura Peters - 18 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

Fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) is a key enabler in the industry shift from transistor scaling to system scaling and integration. The design fans out the chip interconnects through a redistribution layer instead of a substrate. Compared to flip-chip ball grid array (FCBGA) or wire bonds, it creates lower thermal resistance, a slimmer package, and potentially lower costs. Yet, if the h... » read more

Equipment Suppliers Brace For GaN Market Explosion
By Adele Hars - 18 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

A huge GaN market is opening up, driven by consumer devices and the need for greater energy efficiency across many applications. Suppliers are ready, but to fully compete with SiC in high-voltage automotive applications will require further technological developments in power GaN (gallium nitride). Still, the 2020s mark a very high-growth phase for GaN markets. Revenues in the power GaN mark... » read more

Scaling, Advanced Packaging, Or Both
By Ed Sperling - 01 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are facing a growing number of challenges and tradeoffs at the leading edge, where the cost of process shrinks is already exorbitant and rising. While it's theoretically possible to scale digital logic to 10 angstroms (1nm) and below, the likelihood of a planar SoC being developed at that nodes appears increasingly unlikely. This is hardly shocking in an industry that has heard pr... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test
By Karen Heyman - 29 Jul, 2022 - Comments: 1

The U.S. Congress approved the CHIPS Act, a mammoth bipartisan achievement the New York Times called “the most significant government intervention in industrial policy in decades.” As passed, the full package — now called the Chips and Science Act — contains $52 billion in direct assistance for the semiconductor industry, along with $24 billion in tax incentives. In addition, the bill c... » read more

Fab Investments Head Toward Record High
By Marie C. Baca - 27 Jul, 2022 - Comments: 0

Corporations and governments around the globe are making record-breaking investments in chip manufacturing plants amid a major push to make the semiconductor supply chain more robust and less prone to shortages caused by everything from market variations to geopolitical interruptions. These investments — which range from updating existing fabrication facilities to building entirely new fab... » read more

How Quickly Can SiC Ramp?
By Adele Hars - 21 Jul, 2022 - Comments: 0

Device makers across the globe are ramping silicon carbide (SiC) manufacturing, with growth set to really take off starting in 2024. It’s been almost five years since Tesla and STMicroelectronics threw down the gauntlet with SiC in the Model 3. Now, no one doubts the market pull for electric vehicles, but consumers are still clamoring for better range and faster charging. SiC devices are a... » read more

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