Challenges At Advanced Nodes


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss finFETs, 22nm FD-SOI and how the how the market will segment over the next few years with Marie Semeria, CEO of [getentity id="22192" e_name="Leti"]; Patrick Soheili, vice president of product management and corporate development at [getentity id="22242" e_name="eSilicon"]; Paul Boudre, CEO of Soitec; and Subramani Kengeri, vice president of global ... » read more

5 Technologies To Watch


The industry is developing a dizzying array of new technologies. In fact, there are more new and innovative technologies than ever before. And the list is countless. At least from my vantage point, I have come up with my own list of the top five technologies to watch in 2015 and beyond. They are listed in alphabetical order. (See below). Obviously, there are more than just five technologi... » read more

System Bits: June 9


Optical constraints Stanford University researchers have discovered strong constraints to optical data transmission but hope it can guide future research in this area. As a reminder, optics, a form of data transmission that utilizes beams of light, has the promise to outperform the beams of electrons that drive computers or smartphones. And as engineers have long looked for a way to miniatu... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 9


Making rare earths Rare earths are chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust. They are used in cars, consumer electronics, computers, communications, clean energy and defense systems. The big market for rare earths is magnets. In semiconductor production, rare earths are used in high-k dielectrics, CMP slurries and other applications. China has a monopoly in rare earths, accounting for... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 25


Direct-write diamond patterning Purdue University has devised a new technique that uses a pulsing laser to create synthetic nanodiamond films and patterns on a graphite substrate. The ability to pattern diamond surfaces could one day be used to make chips, biosensors and fuel cells. In the lab, researchers devised a multi-layered film, which includes a layer of graphite topped with a glass ... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 18


Phase transitions between liquid, gas Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Tokyo Institute of Technology reminded that materials change their form between three states -- solid, liquid, and gas -- depending on factors such as temperature and pressure. However, a phase transition does not necessarily occur between liquid and gas, and they can continuously transform from the one to the o... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 4


World’s fastest IC amplifier Northrop Grumman has set a record for the world’s fastest integrated circuit amplifier. The record has been recognized by officials from Guinness World Records. The amplifier uses 10 transistor stages to reach an operating speed of one terahertz, or one trillion cycles per second. This surpassed the company's own record of 850 billion cycles per second set i... » read more

Confusion Does Not Equal Paralysis


After attending the two biggest semiconductor conferences in the world, along with a long list of notable conferences targeted to a wide variety of technologies and engineering disciplines, it’s clear the industry is racing ahead. But “ahead” is now a relative term. While Moore’s Law satisfied both economic and technological requirements, it was easy to figure out what “ahead” me... » read more

Tech Talk: Photonics, Take 2


Mentor Graphics’ John Ferguson explains why light is getting so much attention for inter-chip communications, where it excels, and why it has limitations. This is the second part in a two-part series. [youtube vid=4-5FbxIpIk4] To view part 1, click here. » read more

SEMICON West Preview


By Paula Doe The fast growing demand for bandwidth is driving telecomm and data center user interest in moving high speed optical connections closer and closer to the chips, as recent advances in packaging technology, from microbumping to bonding to wafer-level redistribution now help make it possible. Chip-to-chip and chip-to-board optical connections increasingly look like a viable soluti... » read more

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