Luminary Panel Sees Multi-Beam Mask Writers And Curvilinear Masks Key To 193i And EUV


Attendance was up and the mood was optimistic at this year’s SPIE Photomask and EUV conference held September 29 through October 3, 2024. The optimism was apparent as well for multi-beam mask writers and curvilinear masks during the eBeam Initiative’s 15th annual reception and meeting held on October 1. In the eBeam Initiative’s annual Luminaries survey, 93% of those surveyed said that pu... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 21


Cadence's Reela Samuel explores the critical role of PCIe 6.0 equalization in maintaining signal integrity and solutions to mitigate verification challenges, such as creating checkers to verify all symbols of TS0, ensuring the correct functioning of scrambling, and monitoring phase and LTSSM state transitions. Siemens' John McMillan introduces an advanced packaging flow for Intel's Embedded ... » read more

CD Spec For Curvilinear Masks


Within the photomask industry, there's a major transformation from conventional Manhattan masks to more advanced curvilinear masks. Researchers from D2S and Micron Technology propose an equivalent CD spec for the curvy masks and use this spec to show that curvy masks have smaller mask variations than Manhattan masks. Find the technical paper here. Published June 2024. Linyong (Leo) Pang, ... » read more

Memory System Benchmarking, Simulation, And Application Profiling Via A Memory Stress Framework


A technical paper titled “A Mess of Memory System Benchmarking, Simulation and Application Profiling” was published by researchers at Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Unversitat Politecnica de Catalunya, and Micron Technology (Italy). Abstract: "The Memory stress (Mess) framework provides a unified view of the memory system benchmarking, simulation and application profiling. The Mess benc... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


SK hynix and TSMC plan to collaborate on HBM4 development and next-generation packaging technology, with plans to mass produce HBM4 chips in 2026. The agreement is an early indicator for just how competitive, and potentially lucrative, the HBM market is becoming. SK hynix said the collaboration will enable breakthroughs in memory performance with increased density of the memory controller at t... » read more

Make The Impossible Possible: Use Variable-Shaped Beam Mask Writers And Curvilinear Full-Chip Inverse Lithography Technology For 193i Contacts/Vias With Mask-Wafer Co-Optimization


Abstract: "Full-chip curvilinear inverse lithography technology (ILT) requires mask writers to write full reticle curvilinear mask patterns in a reasonable write time. We jointly study and present the benefits of a full-chip, curvilinear, stitchless ILT with mask-wafer co-optimization (MWCO) for variable-shaped beam (VSB) mask writers and validate its benefits on mask and wafer at Micron Tec... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan Renesas will acquire Transphorm, which designs and manufactures gallium nitride power devices, for about $339 million. GaN, which is a wide-bandgap technology, is used for high-voltage applications in a slew of markets, including EVs and EV fast chargers, as well as data centers and industrial applications. Cadence acquired Invecas, a provider o... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order to restrict U.S. investment in Chinese companies, targeting semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence systems with military or intelligence applications. Specific technologies within these groups will be defined later. Some will only require investors to notify the Department of the Tre... » read more

HBM’s Future: Necessary But Expensive


High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is becoming the memory of choice for hyperscalers, but there are still questions about its ultimate fate in the mainstream marketplace. While it’s well-established in data centers, with usage growing due to the demands of AI/ML, wider adoption is inhibited by drawbacks inherent in its basic design. On the one hand, HBM offers a compact 2.5D form factor that enables... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


The CHIPS for America team at the U.S. Department of Commerce named the selection committee who will select board members for the nonprofit entity that will likely be managing the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). Members include John Hennessy, chairman of Alphabet; Jason Matheny, president and CEO of the RAND Corporation; Don Rosenberg, fellow in residence at UCSD’s School of ... » read more

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