The 5G Rollout: Solving Advanced RF Metrology Challenges


The global radio frequency (RF) semiconductor market size is growing rapidly at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5%, with an expected increase from $17.4 billion in 2020 to $26.2 billion in 2025, according to Research and Markets [1]. As many are aware, the rollout of 5G technology and the Internet of Things (IoT), which is enabled by 5G, are the main driving forces for this growth. Growth... » read more

Big Payback For Combining Different Types Of Fab Data


Collecting and combining diverse data types from different manufacturing processes can play a significant role in improving semiconductor yield, quality, and reliability, but making that happen requires integrating deep domain expertise from various different process steps and sifting through huge volumes of data scattered across a global supply chain. The semiconductor manufacturing IC data... » read more

Extremely Large Exposure Field With Fine Resolution Lithography Technology To Enable Next Generation Panel Level Advanced Packaging


The growing demand for heterogeneous integration is driven by the 5G market that includes smartphones, data centers, servers, HPC, AI and IoT applications. Next-generation packaging technologies require tighter overlay to accommodate a larger package size with finer pitch chip interconnects on large format flexible panels. Heterogeneous integration enables next-generation device performance ... » read more

Enablers And Barriers For Connecting Diverse Data


More data is being collected at every step of the manufacturing process, raising the possibility of combining data in new ways to solve engineering problems. But this is far from simple, and combining results is not always possible. The semiconductor industry’s thirst for data has created oceans of it from the manufacturing process. In addition, semiconductor designs large and small now ha... » read more

More Errors, More Correction in Memories


As memory bit cells of any type become smaller, bit error rates increase due to lower margins and process variation. This can be dealt with using error correction to account for and correct bit errors, but as more sophisticated error-correction codes (ECC) are used, it requires more silicon area, which in turn drives up the cost. Given this trend, the looming question is whether the cost of ... » read more

Coping With Parallel Test Site-to-Site Variation


Testing multiple devices in parallel using the same ATE results in reduced test time and lower costs, but it requires engineering finesse to make it so. Minimizing test measurement variation for each device under test (DUT) is a multi-physics problem, and it's one that is becoming more essential to resolve at each new process node and in multi-chip packages. It requires synchronization of el... » read more

Advanced Modeling In FTIR Offers New Applications For HVM


In the leading high-volume manufacturing (HVM) process flows, materials-enabled scaling has increased inline applications for compositional metrology. A previous blog discussed how Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for inline composition measurements. These measurements informed advanced process control for the wafer-level processing of selectively etched 3D NAND wordli... » read more

Imaging Of Overlay And Alignment Markers Under Opaque Layers Using Picosecond Laser Acoustic Measurements


Optically opaque materials present a series of challenges for alignment and overlay in the semi-damascene process flow or after the processing of the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) of a Magnetic Random-Access Memory (MRAM). The overlay and alignment of a lithographically defined pattern on top of the pattern and the underlying layer is fundamental to device operation in all multi-layer patterne... » read more

Strategies For Meeting Stringent Standards For Automotive ICs


It may surprise you, but when it comes to chips in electronic braking systems, airbag control units, and more, automotive manufacturers are still using 10-year-old technology — and with good reason. For the automotive industry, the reliability, stability, and robustness of electronic components are critical, especially when it comes to meeting the stringent Automotive Electronics Council (... » read more

Scaling Bump Pitches In Advanced Packaging


Interconnects for advanced packaging are at a crossroads as an assortment of new package types are pushing further into the mainstream, with some vendors opting to extend the traditional bump approaches while others roll out new ones to replace them. The goal in all cases is to ensure signal integrity between components in IC packages as the volume of data being processed increases. But as d... » read more

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