Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire Arm from Softbank, according to numerous reports. In addition, TSMC and Foxconn are looking at possible investments or stakes in Arm, according to a report from Nikkei Asia Review. Infineon posted mixed results for the third quarter of the 2020 fiscal year. "Infineon has so far coped well with the challenging situation caused by the coronavi... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs As reported, Intel this week reorganized its operations following delays with its 7nm technology. Intel is behind TSMC and Samsung in technology. As a result, TSMC’s foundry customers, such as AMD, Nvidia and others, are also pulling ahead of Intel. In addition, reports have surfaced that Intel will outsource some of its leading-edge chip production to TSMC. To solve t... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing — data center, edge, IoT, 5G Qualcomm settled its 5G licensing disagreement with Huawei, which will pay $1.8 billion in back royalties and will pay for licensing going forward. Huawei is also now the world’s largest supplier of smartphones, surpassing Samsung Electronics Co. Qualcomm also announced a super-fast charging platform this week for Android devices that is sup... » read more

Next Challenge: Parts Per Quadrillion


Requirements for purity of the materials used in semiconductor manufacturing are being pushed to unprecedented — and increasingly unprovable — levels as demand for reliability in chips over increasingly longer lifetimes continues to rise. And while this may seem like a remote problem for many parts of the supply chain, it can affect everything from availability of materials needed to make t... » read more

No Two Chips Are Alike


As semiconductor processes continue to shrink it’s becoming increasingly challenging to manage the parameters of individual devices not only across the diameter of the wafer, but also across the length of a single chip, especially for a complex chip with a large area. Today’s standard approach to this problem is to assume the worst case and to create a sub-optimal design that accommodates t... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Semicon recap The virtual version of Semicon West took place this week. Virtual events have their places. It’s no substitute for an in-person event. Nonetheless, the virtual version of Semicon West is still a place to get an update on the latest equipment, test and packaging technologies. It is also interesting to visit the virtual booths. It’s a fast way to meet people. I chatted with ... » read more

Speeding Up The R&D Metrology Process


Several chipmakers are making some major changes in the characterization/metrology lab, adding more fab-like processes in this group to help speed up chip development times. The characterization/metrology lab, which is generally under the radar, is a group that works with the R&D organization and the fab. The characterization lab is involved in the early analytical work for next-generati... » read more

Atomic Layer Etch Expands To New Markets


The semiconductor industry is developing the next wave of applications for atomic layer etch (ALE), hoping to get a foothold in some new and emerging markets. ALE, a next-generation etch technology that removes materials at the atomic scale, is one of several tools used to process advanced devices in a fab. ALE moved into production for select applications around 2016, although the technolog... » read more

Copper Electrodeposition For Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging


As integrated circuit designers bring more sophisticated chip functionality into smaller spaces, heterogeneous integration, including 3D stacking of devices, becomes an increasingly useful and cost-effective way of mixing and connecting various functional technologies. One of the heterogeneous integration platforms gaining increased acceptance is high density fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWL... » read more

China Speeds Up Advanced Chip Development


China is accelerating its efforts to advance its domestic semiconductor industry, amid ongoing trade tensions with the West, in hopes of becoming more self-sufficient. The country is still behind in IC technology and is nowhere close to being self-reliant, but it is making noticeable progress. Until recently, China’s domestic chipmakers were stuck with mature foundry processes with no pres... » read more

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