Chip Industry Week in Review


Samsung and SK hynix joined OpenAI's Stargate initiative to ensure there will be enough memory chips to meet the needs of AI data centers. The goal is to produce up to 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month. OpenAI also inked agreements to explore the development of next-gen data centers in Korea. Axcelis Technologies (ion implantation systems) will merge with Veeco Instruments (compound semic... » read more

Smarter Packaging: How AI is Reshaping Assembly and Materials Control


When a multi-die package worth $500 fails final test because of a defect that originated three process steps earlier, the economics of advanced packaging become painfully clear. Each excursion carries downstream costs that ripple across assembly, final test, and even system qualification. As packaging margins tighten, the industry is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) to catch those pro... » read more

Collaboration Is Key To Growing Semiconductor Industry


John Kibarian, CEO and co-founder of PDF Solutions and a member of the ESD Alliance (ESDA) Governing Council, will deliver a keynote during the CEO Summit at SEMICON West in October titled “Revolutionizing Semiconductor Collaboration: The Emergence of AI-Driven Industry Platforms.” He recently shared with me a summary of what his talk will cover and his perspective on why collabora... » read more

Lessons From 30 Years In The Trenches On The Future Of Semiconductor Manufacturing


The semiconductor industry has always been a story of constant evolution, titans rising and falling, technologies advancing at breakneck speed, and billions of dollars riding on the difference between first and second place. And today, AI, geopolitics and the increased need for collaboration are reshaping the chip industry once again. After more than three decades navigating the complexities... » read more

Infusing Trust Into The Supply Chain


An expanding supply chain of dies feeding multi-die products is prompting chipmakers to reassess and expand on ways to instill trust from end to end. This reaches deeper than just connecting disparate data. It requires integrating complex systems across vendors and protecting vendor data while instilling confidence in their customers and partners. Yet despite the time and effort that has bee... » read more

Blog Review: September 3


Cadence's Sriram Sharma Kalluri compares convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and transformers to show how their different architectures give them particular strengths and why the choice between them depends on the specific task, the available data, and the computational resources. Siemens' John McMillan provides a primer on the major IC package types, how they influence system design, therm... » read more

Secure Data Sharing To Promote Collaboration


As the semiconductor industry evolves toward a $1-trillion revenue milestone by 2030, fueled largely by AI applications, its challenges have magnified—a globalized supply chain, increasingly complex chip architectures and mounting cybersecurity demands. Assessing how data collaboration occurs within the ecosystem is essential, while secure data collaboration facilitated by cutting-edge pla... » read more

Metrology Under Pressure: Detecting Defects in Fine-Pitch Hybrid Bonding


As advanced packaging pushes deeper into the sub-10µm realm, traditional inspection and metrology systems are being forced to evolve with it. Hybrid bonding, a critical enabler of vertical integration and 3D system performance, relies on exceptionally tight alignment and defect-free bonding surfaces. But as interconnect pitch shrinks, even nanometer-scale variations in height, tilt, or cont... » read more

End-to-End Yield Management for Compound Semiconductors Manufacturing


Abstract: Progress in compound semiconductors is hindered by the high level of defectivity of the initial material. Here we take Silicon Carbide manufacturing technology as an example and provide an overview of manufacturing analytics tools and methodologies used to drive yield ramp and capacity expansion. We focus on 2 examples of site-to-site handoff: substrates handoff to IC front-end fab or... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Apple plans to increase its U.S. investment by an additional $100 billion over four years, which includes the launch of an advanced manufacturing supply chain program, spurring a number of related chip industry announcements, including: Apple will invest in Amkor's new packaging and test facility in Arizona as its first and largest customer, and Amkor will package and test Apple silicon pr... » read more

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