The Race To Replace Silicon


For over 75 years, silicon has been the dominant material in the evolution of modern electronics, powering everything from smartphones to satellites. But as chipmakers push toward smaller nodes, higher power efficiency, and quantum-scale precision, a pressing question is echoing across fabs and R&D labs worldwide: Is it time to move beyond silicon? In this blog post, we explore the growi... » read more

Critical Minerals Due Diligence And The Semiconductor Supply Chain


“Critical minerals our world needs for electric vehicles and semiconductors can be found here. Clean energy we need to power artificial intelligence data centers and economic growth can be built here.”[1] This statement was made by former US President Joseph Biden during his visit to Angola in December 2024 to support a US-funded railroad project called the Lobito Corridor. The railroad wou... » read more

Research Bits: June 9


InGaOx GAA transistor Researchers from the University of Tokyo created a gate-all-around transistor made from gallium-doped indium oxide (InGaOx). Doping indium oxide with gallium suppressed oxygen vacancies, improving transistor reliability. "We wanted our crystalline oxide transistor to feature a 'gate-all-around' structure, whereby the gate, which turns the current on or off, surrounds t... » read more

Research Bits: May 27


Tracking ferroelectric domain walls Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and National Cheng Kung University developed a technique called scanning oscillator piezoresponse force microscopy to observe how domain walls move in ferroelectric materials under rapidly fluctuating electric fields. “Domain walls can have completely different properties from the neighboring domains they s... » read more

Revolutionizing Semiconductor Development With GPU-Enhanced Atomistic Modeling


There are many challenges in the development of a modern semiconductor chip, from front-end architecture simulation to final signoff. Volume manufacturing has its own set of challenges, while silicon lifecycle management (SLM) extends into field deployment and aging concerns. Underlying this entire development flow, however, lie the materials used to build the actual chips. Guiding the explorat... » read more

Four Things Every Engineer Should Know About PFAS


What are PFAS chemicals? “PFAS” is an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These man-made chemicals migrate into soil, water, and air when produced and used. There are many ways humans come in contact with PFAS, such as in non-stick cookware or cosmetics, but by far the most significant impact on human health is when PFAS is consumed in drinking water. Exposure to PFAS may resu... » read more

Challenges Grow For Medical ICs


Demand for medical ICs used inside and outside the body is growing rapidly, but unique manufacturing and functional requirements coupled with low volumes have turned this into a complex and extremely challenging market. Few semiconductor applications demand this level of precision, reliability, and long-term stability. Unlike consumer electronics, where failure might mean a reboot or chip re... » read more

Research Bits: Feb. 18


Predicting band gap with neural networks Researchers from Kyoto University developed a machine learning model to predict the band gap of novel semiconductor materials. Using data from almost 2,000 semiconductor materials, the team tested six different neural networks. They found that the incorporation of conditional generative adversarial networks (CGAN) and message passing neural networks ... » read more

Innovations Driving The Advanced Packaging Roadmap: Part Two


As the advanced packaging world enters the AI era, manufacturers are exploring ways to extend the life cycle of organic substrates and successfully introduce glass substrates to high volume manufacturing. In last month’s blog, “Innovations Driving The Advanced Packaging Roadmap: Part One,” we discussed the challenges of organic and glass substrates as the industry marches toward sub-2µm ... » read more

Research Bits: Feb. 4


High-power diamond transistors Researchers from the University of Glasgow, RMIT University, and Princeton University created a new diamond transistor for high-power electronics that remains switched off by default. The performance of the diamond was improved by coating it in hydrogen atoms followed by layers of aluminum oxide. “The challenge for power electronics is that the design of the... » read more

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