Ensuring Reliability Becomes Harder In Multi-Die Assemblies


Multi-die assemblies are bringing together a variety of materials and processes with distinctly different physical properties, creating significant challenges in manufacturing and packaging that can impact yield at time zero and reliability in the field. What passes electrical screening at the end of the line may look good on paper, but these devices can still fail once exposed to rapid and ... » read more

Digital Twins For Packaging: Bridging Design, Fab, Test, And Reliability


Digital twins dominated discussions at SEMICON West this year, appearing in keynote presentations, panel sessions, and workshops. The conversation reflected a noticeable shift in how the industry views the technology. What once was mainly associated with design exploration now spans the manufacturing lifecycle. In packaging and assembly, digital twins are emerging as a way to connect design ... » read more

Powering Efficiency: AI Transforms IC Manufacturing As ICs Fuel AI


The push to grow today’s $500 billion-plus semiconductor industry to $1 trillion in annual revenue is challenging every aspect of the broader supply chain to embrace AI. Artificial intelligence is transforming the way fabs are architected and run, how devices are manufactured, and how server farms are constructed going forward. At the same time, all of this is being enabled by advancements... » read more

Using ML For Improved Fab Scheduling


Expanding fab capacity is slow and expensive even under ideal circumstances. It has been still more difficult in recent years, as pandemic-related shortages have strained equipment supply chains. When integrated circuit demand rises faster than expansions can fill the gap, fabs try to find “hidden” capacity through improved operations. They hope that more efficient workflows will allow e... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


TSMC is delaying construction on its $40 billion fab in Arizona due to a shortage of U.S. semiconductor workers and higher-than-expected expenses, Bloomberg reported. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) urged the U.S. government to refrain from further restrictions on semiconductor technology to China “until it engages more extensively with industry and experts to assess the impac... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


SEMICON West returned in force this week, with a focus on AI and deep learning  in semiconductor manufacturing, security, heterogenous ICs, and the march toward a $1 trillion chip market. Lam Research President and CEO, Tim Archer, opened with the keynote presentation. Fig. 1: SEMICON West panel: AI’s influence on growth, China-U.S. trade war, and the importance of climate policy were... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Starting in 2025, SEMICON West will move to Phoenix for a five-year annual rotation. And in 2024, it will shift dates from July to October. This year’s conference will still take place July 11 to 13 at the Moscone Center. Phoenix will first host SEMICON West on October 7-9, 2025. Thereafter, it will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on the alternating years and over the long term... » read more

Covid Masks And Forecasts At Semicon


Semicon West 2021 was certainty different, if not surreal, this year. The annual event was held in-person from Dec. 7-9, although there is a virtual component that runs until Jan. 7, 2022. In comparison, Semicon West was an all-virtual event in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this year’s in-person event in San Francisco, attendees, exhibitors and speakers were all required to wea... » read more

58th DAC Online Program Is Now Live


We did it. After more than a year’s worth of hard work the DAC Executive Committee finally released the 58th DAC program, despite a mountain of challenges and hurdles we encountered along the way this past year. We started planning the 58th DAC a little over a year ago, and we were confronted with a lot of uncertainty on what to expect for the coming year. Would submissions be down? Would ... » read more

Semiconductors And The Climate Curve


On July 22 I participated in a panel at the virtual SEMICON West conference called “Bending the Climate Curve: Enabling Sustainable Growth of Big Data, AI, and Cloud Computing.” Virtual conferences are mandatory these days, but give a different experience than physical ones. They are very good at disseminating information and are reasonably effective at networking. But, in my experience... » read more

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