Big Changes At 10nm And Beyond


The move to 16/14nm finFETs is relatively straightforward. The move to 10nm and 7nm will be quite different. While double patterning with colors at 16/14nm has a rather steep learning curve, reports from chipmakers developing advanced chips is the technology and methodologies are manageable once engineering teams begin working with it. The hardest part is visualizing how different parts will... » read more

EDA Vendors Prepare For 7nm


It’s not too early to begin looking at design tools for the 7nm, even though the node is not expected to be production-ready until later this decade. While still in the early stages, foundries already in development with leading EDA companies, even though the water remains murky at this point. “7nm right now is in early definition, so we don't know exactly what it will be,” observed... » read more

Good Pattern Flow Ahead For 14, 10nm


By Ann Steffora Mutschler Given complexity, yield, power and other challenges with leading edge manufacturing, semiconductor foundries increasingly have been forced to require more and more restrictive design rules with each new process node. “They keep adding more design rules and more operations to a particular check to eliminate corner cases where in manufacturing they saw some variant... » read more

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