Consumer And Med Tech Mushroom As Quantum Closes In


Key Takeaways: Universities and companies are making devices inspired by biology and the human senses to help with health monitoring, semiconductor materials development, human-computer interfaces, and more. When this nascent technology becomes a viable product, government regulations will be needed to ensure consumer safety in tracking or treating their body and the environment. Qua... » read more

Flexible ICs, MEMS, Metal Oxides Solve Fresh Problems


Key Takeaways: Flexible ICs are durable and form-fitting, but they add manufacturing challenges to already complex processes, while printed flex sensors lack infrastructure. MEMS are finding new popularity in massively parallel systems, on one device, or in many devices distributed across a network. Metal oxide-based sensors are more scalable than those relying on photonic crystals, ... » read more

Environmental Sensors Catch More Data For A Greener World


Sensors to detect temperature, pressure, and gases, such as CO2, have been around for centuries. However, the latest devices can measure a growing list of substances and process the data in real-time. Likewise, single-use sensors to measure pH levels in water are well established, but the latest water sensors can be deployed all along the pipeline from source to processing to outlet or tap, sav... » read more

Can Cheaper Lasers Handle Short Distances?


Optical technology is well established for long-haul communications, but the distances it serves are shrinking — especially in the data center. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) already drive short fiber links. But efforts are underway to further scale them down to provide more connections through waveguides than fiber can provide. “We have seen the transition from long... » read more

Co-Packaged Optics Reaches Power Efficiency Tipping Point


Commercialization has started for network switches based on co-packaged optics (CPO), which are capable of routing signals at terabits per second speeds, but manufacturing challenges remain regarding fiber-to-photonic IC alignment, thermal mitigation, and optical testing strategies. By moving the optical-to-electronic data conversion as close as possible to the GPU/ASIC switch in data center... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Podcast: imec's roadmap and a one-on-one interview with the European research house's chief strategy officer. China's Xiaomi debuted an in-house-designed 10-core mobile SoC built on a 3nm process. The company did not identify the foundry. It also announced plans to invest 50 billion yuan (~$7B) over the next decade to develop high-end smartphone chips, as part of a 200 billion yuan (~$28B) c... » read more

Cooling Chips Still A Top Challenge


Increasing levels of semiconductor integration means more work needs to be done in smaller spaces, which in turn generates more heat that needs to be dissipated. Managing heat dissipation in advanced node dies and in multi-die assemblies is critical to their functionality and their longevity. And while much of the focus has been on improving power efficiency, which reduces the rate of power ... » read more

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

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