2014 eBeam Survey Results

By eBeam Initiative - 18 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

An industry-wide poll highlights what the industry is thinking about EUV and mask writing at advanced nodes. To view the poll, click here. » read more

Wanted: Multi-beam E-Beam Inspection

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

The IC industry is making a giant leap from planar devices to a range of next-generation architectures, such as 3D NAND and finFETs. But it’s taking longer than expected to ramp up these new technologies in the market. And the challenges are expected to mount for the next round of chips. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact issues with 3D NAND and finFETs. On the manufacturing front alo... » read more

What Happened To Next-Gen Lithography?

By Mark LaPedus - 03 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 2

Chipmakers continue to march down the process technology curve. Using today’s optical lithography and multiple patterning, the semiconductor industry is scaling its leading-edge devices far beyond what was once considered possible. The question is how far can the industry extend 193nm immersion [getkc id="80" comment="lithography"] and multiple patterning before these technologies become t... » read more

Blog Review: June 25

By Ed Sperling - 25 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Is the Amazon Fire smart phone a paradigm shift? Cadence’s Brian Fuller looks at the first application-specific smart phone and why it’s noteworthy—regardless of how well it fares against phones made by Apple and Samsung. Rambus’ Deepak Chandra Sekar digs deep into interconnect technology and where the prevailing winds are blowing—copper barrier/cap/liner optimization, a slowdown i... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

According to one analyst, the capital spending picture looks gloomy. “We expect finFET and 3D NAND to ramp over the next two years. However, foundry and memory customers are showing great restraint with respect to spending plans, limiting the rate of new node transitions and overall capex upside. In the near term, we see no evidence of meaningful equipment orders to support high-volume finFET... » read more

From The Whiteboard: David Lam

By eBeam Initiative - 19 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 1

Multibeam's David Lam looks at changes in semiconductor lithography, how CVD and etch improve pitch resolution that is not attainable using optical lithography, and how e-beam direct-write can finish the job. [youtube vid=2ZCF-o7DXlU] » read more

Multi-beam Sees The Light

By Mark LaPedus - 19 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 2

The multiple-beam electron-beam market is going in two separate directions at once. Multi-beam for photomask writing is set to take off. The other market--multi-beam for direct-write lithography applications—is still in the early stages and remains in flux. In the multi-beam direct-write segment, for example, multiple sources indicate that KLA-Tencor is exiting this market to focus on its ... » read more

Billions And Billions Invested

By Mark LaPedus - 17 Apr, 2014 - Comments: 4

Over the years, next-generation [getkc id="80" kc_name="lithography"] (NGL) has suffered various setbacks and delays. But until recently, the industry basically shrugged its shoulders and expressed relatively little anxiety about the NGL delays. After all, optical lithography was doing the job in the fab and NGL would eventually materialize. Today, however, the mood is different. In fact, th... » read more

Under The Radar At SPIE

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Mar, 2014 - Comments: 2

At the SPIE Advanced Lithography symposium, the best and brightest minds in the lithography, metrology, resist and design-for-manufacturing (DFM) fields assemble for a week. The annual event is a good way to get a pulse on the current state of lithography. At this year’s SPIE, it was simple to get a reading. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography remains delayed. The other next-generation l... » read more

Defective R&D Funding Models

By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

For years, the semiconductor equipment industry has been dealing with an R&D funding gap. Here’s the basic problem: Chipmakers demand certain tools for their next-generation processes, but they are not always willing to foot a large percentage of the R&D bill. And so, the equipment vendors develop the tools and assume a large part of R&D funding--and the risks. Fair or unf... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
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