Inspection, Metrology Issues In Advanced Packages


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about how to inspect and measure smaller features across large areas in advanced packaging, with Frank Chen, director of applications and product management at Bruker Nano Surfaces & Metrology; John Hoffman, computer vision engineering manager at Nordson Test & Measurement; and Jiangtao Hu, senior technology director at O... » read more

Yield Tracking In RDL


Yield is a much bigger issue when it comes to panel-level packages, which may contain up to 24 RDL layers. Just finding the defects is a massive challenge, let alone understanding how they will impact the entire device. Many of these advanced packages are being used in data centers for generative AI, and killer defects caused by bridges and opens can cause serious problems. What happens, for in... » read more

Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging Hurdles


Fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) promises to significantly lower assembly costs over fan-out wafer-level packaging, providing the relevant processes for die placement, molding and redistribution layers (RDLs) formation can be scaled up with equivalent yield. There is still much work to be done before that happens. Until now, FOPLP has been adopted for devices that are manufactured in ve... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan Synopsys will acquire Ansys for about $35 billion in cash and stock. The deal will boost Synopsys' multi-physics simulation capabilities, which are essential for complex 3D-IC designs, where thermal density can have significant repercussions. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2025. Worldwide semiconductor revenue ... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 10


Keysight’s Jenn Mullen explains how ChatGPT’s tools can help quality assurance (QA) engineers and software testers overcome test automation debt, and become more productive and able to deliver consistently high-quality products to market faster. Siemens’ Keith Felton discusses how the paradigm of “shift-left” power delivery analysis has emerged as a critical methodology in addressi... » read more

Glass Substrates Gain Foothold In Advanced Packages


Glass substrates are starting to gain traction in advanced packages, fueled by the potential for denser routing and higher signal performance than the organic substrates used today. There are still plenty of problems to solve before this approach becomes mainstream. While glass itself is cheap and shares some important physical similarities to silicon, there are challenges with buildup, stre... » read more

Plugging Gaps In The IC Supply Chain


Multiple touch points in manufacturing and packaging are exposing gaps in the data used to track different components, making it difficult to identify the source of issues that can affect yield and reliability, and opening the door to counterfeit or sub-standard parts. This involves more than just assigning a simple identifying code to a chip. At different points in a device's lifecycle, new... » read more

Using FTIR To Improve SiC Power Device Performance


The figures alone are impressive: SiC power devices are experiencing an annual average growth rate approaching 34% through 2027, according to the Yole Group. However, the potential for this amongst other compound semiconductor-based power devices such as gallium nitride (GaN) to change the world around us is even more impressive. Thanks to the role that SiC-based devices play in the increase... » read more

Money Pours Into New Fabs And Facilities


Fabs, packaging, test and assembly, and R&D all drew major funding in 2023. Companies poured money into offshore locations, such as India and Malaysia, to access a larger workforce and lower costs, while also partnering with governments to secure domestic supply chains amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil. Looking ahead, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and data applications... » read more

Top Tech Videos of 2023


In 2023, heterogeneous integration, RISC-V, and advanced node logic scaling and advanced packaging dominated the semiconductor industry. All of those topics spurred deep discussions at conferences, and they were the subject of Semiconductor Engineering's most popular videos. Of the videos published in 2023, here are the highlights from our five channels: Manufacturing, Packaging & Mater... » read more

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