Gearing Up For High-NA EUV


The semiconductor industry is moving full speed ahead to develop high-NA EUV, but bringing up this next generation lithography system and the associated infrastructure remains a monumental and expensive task. ASML has been developing its high-numerical aperture (high-NA) EUV lithography line for some time. Basically, high-NA EUV scanners are the follow-on to today’s EUV lithography systems... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Packaging and test Advantest and PDF Solutions have launched their first jointly developed offering since forming a partnership in 2020. The new product is called the Advantest Cloud Solutions Dynamic Parametric Test (ACS DPT) solution. It integrates PDF Solutions’ Exensio portfolio of data analytics with Advantest’s V93000 Parametric Test System. The ACS DPT solution is designed to op... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


OEMs For some time, the automotive industry has suffered due to chip shortages in the market. And the chip shortages are spreading into other markets. In the latest news, GM plans to idle key truck plants amid chip shortages, according to a report from Bloomberg. “GM said eight of its 14 North American assembly plants will experience shutdowns this month because of chip shortages, includi... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs Samsung has announced its latest foldable smartphones--the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip3 5G. The systems are based on Samsung’s 5nm application processor. One system is the company’s most affordable foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Fold3 is $1,799.99, while the Galaxy Z Flip3 is $999.99. Samsung also announced two smartwatches—the Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4... » read more

In-Line Airborne Particle Sensing Supports Faster Response To Contamination Excursions


Fine particles (less than 5 micrometers in diameter) do not affect most industrial processes, but they can have a disastrous impact on semiconductor manufacturing. From the earliest days, manufacturing facilities have deployed air filtering and recirculation to remove particles from the cleanroom, but particles may still be generated inside process tools, where they can cause defects and yield ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Taiwan’s Foxconn continues to expand its efforts in the semiconductor business. Foxconn has acquired a 6-inch wafer fab and the equipment from Taiwan’s Macronix for NT$2.52 billion (US$90.76 million). With the fab, Foxconn plans to enter the wideband gap semiconductor market, namely silicon carbide (SiC). SiC devices are used in electric vehicles, a market that Foxconn is making... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Intel has outlined its new process technology roadmap with plans to regain the leadership position in the market. As part of the move, Intel has changed the way it designates the nodes, revealed its new gate-all-around (GAA) transistor, and disclosed a customer for the GAA technology--Qualcomm. And not to be outdone, Intel has broadened its packaging portfolio. Intel is changing ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs The industry is still wondering if Intel will buy GlobalFoundries (GF). In the meantime, GF has announced a fab expansion plan in upstate New York. These plans include immediate investments at its existing Fab 8 facility as well as construction of a new fab on the same campus. That will double the capacity at the site. Intel has reported its second-quarter 2021 financial... » read more

Innovative Dual Mark Design For Alignment Verification And Process Monitoring In Advanced Lithography


Improving on product overlay is one of the key challenges when shrinking technology nodes in semiconductor manufacturing. . . . With smart placement of alignment mark pairs in the X and Y direction, it is possible to determine intra-wafer distortion wafer-by-wafer. Both the measurement and modeled results are applied directly as a feed-forward correction to enable wafer level control. In this p... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers The chip industry is buzzing over a Wall Street Journal report that Intel is in talks to buy GlobalFoundries (GF) for $30 billion. In March, Intel re-entered the foundry business, positioning itself against Samsung and TSMC at the leading edge, and against a multitude of foundries working at older nodes. Intel planned to jumpstart its foundry business within its own fabs. But it... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →