Book-To-Bill Ratio Strengthens


The book-to-bill ratio, which is a measure of orders received versus product billed, was positive for the first four months of the year, a sign that equipment sales are up as foundries prepare for manufacturing at advanced nodes and for the IoT. The three-month moving average for bookings was $1.57 billion in April for North America alone, which is up 9% year over year from $1.44 billion. Th... » read more

10nm Fab Watch


When will the 10nm logic node happen? Analysts believe that foundry vendors will move into 10nm finFET volume production around 2017. Still others say the 10nm finFET ramp could take place anywhere from 2018 to 2020. The predictions are all over the map. One way to predict the timing, progress and demand for 10nm is simple: Follow the fabs. In fact, Intel, Samsung, TSMC and GlobalFound... » read more

Next-Gen Metrology: Searching For A Bright X-Ray Source


By Debra Vogler Metrology for semiconductor applications is a broad topic regardless of whether one is talking about front-end-of-line (FEOL) or back-end-of-line (BEOL) technologies. Benjamin Bunday, project manager, CD Metrology and senior member of the technical staff at SEMATECH, broke down the topic of next-generation metrology at 10nm and below into four main categories for SEMI: • I... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Cypress Semiconductor has made a bid to buy U.S. memory maker Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI). In fact, Cypress may have started a bidding war against a Chinese consortium to buy ISSI. In March, a Chinese consortium of investors led by Summitview Capital entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire ISSI. The proposed transaction values ISSI’s equity at approximately $639.5 mi... » read more

The Roadmap To 5nm


By Debra Vogler Among the challenges the semiconductor industry will be facing as it moves down the path to node 5 are resistance-capacitance (RC) management and integration. SEMI is pleased to announce a SEMICON West 2015 STS technical program exploring these and other high-volume manufacturing challenges. According to An Steegen, SVP of Process Technology at imec, the list of RC managemen... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Investment firm TIG Advisors, a stockholder of Altera, has urged stockholders to vote against Altera’s lead independent director to the board. TIG also contends that Altera has failed stockholders by rejecting a recent acquisition bid from Intel. Altera’s 14nm foundry partner is Intel, while TSMC handles the 20nm and above foundry work. Soon, Altera will choose a 10nm foundry partner. “Sh... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


After several delays due to a myriad of complex regulatory issues, Applied Materials’ proposed deal to buy Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) has been scrapped. Now, Applied Materials and TEL are separately re-grouping, and are back to where they originally started as competitors in the fab tool market. Applied Materials held a conference call to explain the situation with TEL. Applied Materials... » read more

Industry Luminaries Outline China’s Semiconductor Growth Prospects


Industry and government luminaries participating at the SEMICON China 2015 Grand Opening Keynote session, the Semiconductor Market & China Opportunity Forum, and the Tech Investment Forum reviewed the expanding business opportunities and the key domestic policies aimed at growing the semiconductor industry ecosystem in China. This article primarily covers insights on the government’s new ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


For years, Altera’s sole foundry was TSMC. Then, not long ago, Altera selected Intel as its foundry partner for 14nm. TSMC still handles 20nm and above work for Altera. This quarter, Altera was supposed to select a foundry partner for 10nm. This week, Altera posted lackluster results in the quarter. Altera did not elaborate on its 10nm plans, nor did it discuss the Intel rumors. "Altera did n... » read more

50 Years Of Moore’s Law


The Industry at 50 This month marks the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law, an amazing milestone for the semiconductor industry. Looking back through our industry’s history, we must marvel at the speed, growth, technical sophistication and transformative changes computer chips have made over the past few decades. None of this would have been possible without semiconductor equipment and materi... » read more

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