Chip Industry Week In Review


By Adam Kovac, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan.  China introduced strict procurement guidelines aimed at blocking the use of AMD and Intel processors in government computers. Meanwhile, China urged the Netherlands to ease restrictions on deep ultraviolet (DUV) litho equipment, according to Nikkei Asia. DUV is an older technology, based on 193nm ArF lasers, but in conjunction with multi-p... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Adam Kovac, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan. The U.S. government released a 61-page report, titled "National Strategy on Microelectronics Research,” by the Subcommittee On Microelectronics Leadership. It provides a framework for government, industry, academia, and international allies to address four major goals. Synopsys  acquired Intrinsic ID, which develops physical unclonable func... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Adam Kovac, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan. Europe's semiconductor footprint is growing in areas that previously had little association with chips. Silicon Box plans to build a panel-level foundry in northern Italy, funded in part by the Italian government. The deal is worth around €3.2 billion ($3.6B). In addition, imec will establish a specialized 300mm chip technology pilot line in M... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Susan Rambo, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan. Renesas plans to acquire Altium, maker of PCB design software, for $5.9 billion. In a conference call, Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata cited Altium's PCB design software and digital twin virtual modeling as key components of its future strategy. "I believe it will generate transformational value for our combined customers and our stakeholders," Shib... » read more

Research Bits: September 19


Measuring lithography plasma sources Researchers from the University of Twente developed a tool that can measure the size of a plasma source and the color of the light it emits simultaneously, which they say could be used to improve lithography machines. “Traditionally, we could only look at the amount of light produced, but to further improve the chipmaking process, we also want to study... » read more

Research Bits: September 11


Combining digital and analog Researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) propose integrating 2D semiconductors with ferroelectric materials for joint digital and analog information processing, which could improve energy efficiency and support new functionality. The device uses a 2D negative-capacitance tungsten diselenide/tin diselenide tunnel FET (TFET), which consu... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 4


2D electrode for ultra-thin semiconductors Researchers from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Japan's National Institute for Materials Science, and Kunsan National University designed two-dimensional semiconductor-based electronic and logic devices, with electrical properties that can be selectively controlled through a new 2D electrode material, chlorine-doped tin diseleni... » read more

Research Bits: July 26


Photonic computing with polarization Researchers at the University of Oxford and University of Exeter developed a method that uses the polarization of light to maximize information storage density and computing performance using nanowires. The researchers note that different polarizations of light do not interact with each other, allowing each to be used as an independent information channe... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: June 28


Making uniform wafers Scientists from the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) propose a technique that combines nanotransfer printing with metal-assisted chemical etching to improve wafer uniformity and increase yield. The researchers used a chemical-free nanotransfer printing technique that transfers gold nanost... » read more

Research Bits: May 9


Optical oscilloscope Researchers from the University of Central Florida developed an optical oscilloscope to measure the electric field of light. The high speed at which light oscillates has made reading its electric field challenging, with current instruments able to resolve an average signal associated with a pulse of light rather than individual peaks and valleys within the pulse. “... » read more

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