How To Lower LED Costs


The LED market remains hot, particularly in the solid-state lighting segment. In fact, solid-state lighting continues to expand amid a precipitous drop in LED prices. And LEDs are expanding into new fronts, such as automotive and intelligent lighting. The LED boom hasn’t been fun for all parties, however. Amid pressure to reduce their tool costs, LED equipment makers are still in the mids... » read more

Are LEDs Cool?


The high-brightness LED market is moving in several directions at once. On one front, LEDs are moving into automotive and solid-state lighting. Within solid-state lighting, there are different markets, such as industrial and residential. And in the supply chain, there are LED chips, equipment and fabs. And then, there is intelligent lighting, where the smartphone or tablet controls the lig... » read more

Why An IBM Sale Matters


The rumored sale of IBM’s semiconductor unit to GlobalFoundries could add some interesting capabilities for the foundry, including deep process technology and expertise. It also could have some far-reaching effects for the entire semiconductor industry. The reason revolves around ongoing U.S. government initiatives to improve visibility for components throughout its supply chain. IBM has b... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 1


Nanotubes in 4D The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has continued to advance its efforts in four-dimensional electron microscopy. In 4D microscopy, electrons bombard a sample. Each electron scatters off the sample. This produces an image at just a femtosecond in duration. Then, millions of the images are stitched together, which, in turn, produces a digital movie in 4D. [cap... » read more

Everyone Is A Programmer


There was a time when so many people didn’t know how to program their VCRs that OEMs stopped adding clocks because it was embarrassing to have them constantly blinking “12:00.” We’ve come a long way since VCRs. And that means all of us. While engineers have always enjoyed tinkering with technology, what’s changed is that everyone tinkers with technology now. Everyone programs phone... » read more

Will 7nm And 5nm Really Happen?


As leading-edge chipmakers continue to ramp up their 28nm and 20nm devices, vendors are also updating their future technology roadmaps. In fact, IC makers are talking about their new shipment schedules for 10nm. And GlobalFoundries, Intel, Samsung and TSMC are narrowing down the options for 7nm, 5nm and beyond. There is a high probability that IC makers can scale to 10nm, but vendors face a ... » read more

Has The IC Industry Hit A ‘Red Brick Wall’?


In the mid-1980s, the semiconductor industry was in a crisis. Chipmakers were looking for ways to break the magical one-micron barrier. Many thought X-ray lithography would be required to break the barrier, but as it turned out, traditional optical technology did the trick. And the industry marched on. Then, in 2000 or so, the IC industry was nearing the so-called “red brick wall,” which... » read more

Heterogeneous Multi-Processing Solution


With an increasing need for higher performance in mobile devices, the battery capacity must be increased accordingly, which is not easy because of the small size of mobile devices. Therefore, the demand for better power efficiency of mobile devices, which im- plies lower power consumption and higher performance is becoming critical. Recently, big.LITTLE architecture was introduced to fulfill th... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools Mentor Graphics rolled out embedded Linux software for AMD’s x86 G-series SoCs, code-named Steppe Eagle and its Crowned Eagle CPUs. Ansys-Apache and TowerJazz have created a power noise and reliability signoff design kit, including reference flow guidelines, test case examples and flow setup guidance. Synopsys updated its verification portfolio with static and formal tools for CD... » read more

Imec Launches R&D Tool Hub


The semiconductor industry is entering yet another inflection point. Consumers want faster mobile systems with more functions. So, chipmakers are under pressure to deliver new and low-power chips that are smaller and faster. The problem is that IC design and chip manufacturing costs continue to escalate. These costs, in turn, are fueling an ongoing shakeout in the chip and fab tool industrie... » read more

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