Can Chiplets Serve Cost-Conscious Apps?


Chiplets are emerging as a significant new phase in the evolution of the semiconductor market, providing a way to continue scaling performance well beyond the size limitations of a reticle. But that improvement comes with a high price tag and a lot more complexity, which so far has limited adoption. One of the main reasons for the cost increase is the need for advanced packaging when employi... » read more

Packaging With Fewer People And Better Results


Advanced packaging has evolved far beyond the simple stacking of dies and connecting of interposers. Once a passive conduit between silicon and the outside world, it has become an active component of overall device performance. In today’s multi-die assemblies, the assembly and packaging lines are expected to maintain signal integrity at multi-gigahertz frequencies, manage heat in verticall... » read more

Benefits And Challenges In Multi-Die Assemblies


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss chiplets, hybrid bonding, and new materials with Michael Kelly, vice president of Chiplets and FCBGA Integration at Amkor; William Chen, fellow at ASE; Dick Otte, CEO of Promex Industries; and Sander Roosendaal, R&D director at Synopsys Photonics Solutions. What follows are excerpts of that discussion. To view part one of t... » read more

Big Changes Ahead For Interposers And Substrates


Interposers and substrates are undergoing a profound transformation from intermediaries to engineered platforms responsible for power distribution, thermal management, high-density interconnects, and signal integrity in the most advanced computing systems. This shift is being driven by AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and next-generation communications, where the need for heterogeneous ... » read more

Using Glass As A Dielectric In Electronic Packaging


As demand for higher-performance, more compact and energy-efficient electronics continues to escalate, traditional organic based substrates are approaching practical limitations, leading to industry experimentation with alternative materials. To this end, glass substrates have emerged as a promising alternative with distinct benefits for semiconductor packaging. Major chipmakers, including ... » read more

What Exactly Are Chiplets And Heterogeneous Integration?


The terms “chiplet” and “heterogeneous integration” fill news pages, conference papers, and marketing presentations, and for the most part engineers understand what they're reading. But speakers sometimes stumble during a presentation trying to figure out whether a particular die qualifies as a chiplet, and heterogeneous integration comes in different guises for different people. Both t... » read more

Challenges Grow For Medical ICs


Demand for medical ICs used inside and outside the body is growing rapidly, but unique manufacturing and functional requirements coupled with low volumes have turned this into a complex and extremely challenging market. Few semiconductor applications demand this level of precision, reliability, and long-term stability. Unlike consumer electronics, where failure might mean a reboot or chip re... » read more

Linear Pluggable Optics Save Energy In Data Centers


Linear pluggable optics (LPO) is garnering more attention as a way to quickly and efficiently move data in and out of server racks, but a lack of standards for connecting the optical modules is slowing adoption at a time when there is growing pressure to reduce power in data centers. LPO is the newest of two approaches to solving the power wall problem in data centers. Co-packaged optics (CP... » read more

FOPLP Gains Traction in Advanced Semiconductor Packaging


Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging (FOPLP) for advanced nodes, once hindered by manufacturability and yield challenges, is emerging as a promising solution to meet the industry’s demands for higher integration densities and cost efficiency. Traditionally, FOPLP has been a go-to solution for cost-sensitive applications in consumer electronics, IoT devices, and mid-tier automotive systems. Its ab... » read more

Custom Substrates Save Assembly Time, Resources


Time-to-market (TTM) and performance are two of the most pressing issues in chip design and manufacturing. Designing devices for high-speed, high-performance applications requires immediate access to substrates so that product development can proceed quickly. Quick substrate access is also vital to validating intellectual property (IP) cores used in application-specific ICs (ASICs) – all of w... » read more

← Older posts