Making Chips At 3nm And Beyond


Select foundries are beginning to ramp up their new 5nm processes with 3nm in R&D. The big question is what comes after that. Work is well underway for the 2nm node and beyond, but there are numerous challenges as well as some uncertainty on the horizon. There already are signs that the foundries have pushed out their 3nm production schedules by a few months due to various technical issu... » read more

MOCVD Vendors Eye New Apps


Several equipment makers are developing or ramping up new metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems in the market, hoping to capture the next wave of growth applications in the arena. Competition is fierce among the various MOCVD equipment suppliers in the market, namely Aixtron, AMEC and Veeco. In addition, MOCVD equipment suppliers are looking for renewed growth in 2020, but b... » read more

Finding Defects In EUV Masks


Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is finally in production at advanced nodes, but there are still several challenges with the technology, such as EUV mask defects. Defects are unwanted deviations in chips, which can impact yield and performance. They can crop up during the chip manufacturing process, including the production of a mask or photomask, sometimes called a reticle. Fortunately... » read more

Outlook For Masks, Materials and Wafers


After a slowdown in the first half of 2019, chipmakers and equipment vendors face a cloudy outlook for the second half of this year, with a possible recovery in 2020. But what about other key technologies like materials, photomasks and silicon wafers? These are also critical for the semiconductor supply chain and are key indicators where the market is heading. In the first half of 2019, m... » read more

Materials M&A Mania


The electronics materials business has seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions in recent times. Clearly, it’s important to keep tabs on this industry. Vendors in the electronics materials business are critical to the supply chain—they provide the key gases, materials and other products for various industries, such as display, MEMS, packaging, semiconductor and others. But it takes a s... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Forrester Research released its 2019 Internet of Things predictions. Some key points: Bundled service offerings will catalyze a sleepy consumer IoT market; cybercriminals will lay siege to a smart-city implementation; and a market for IoT managed services will emerge in 2019. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up. Those days present some opportunities to purchase ... » read more

Looming Issues And Tradeoffs For EUV


Momentum is building for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, but there are still some major challenges to solve before this long-overdue technology can be used for mass production. [gettech id="31045" comment="EUV"] lithography—a next-generation technology that patterns tiny features on a chip—was supposed to move into production around 2012. But over the years, EUV has encountered se... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Toshiba is still looking for a buyer for its prized NAND flash memory business. The leading contenders for the business are a consortium with Western Digital. Meanwhile, Toshiba’s memory unit is expanding its Fab 6 facility at its Yokkaichi Operations, based in Japan. And now, it has selected a site for its next fab in Japan, this time in Kitakami City, Iwate. Construction is expe... » read more

Fab Tool Biz Faces Challenges In 2015


After a slight downturn in 2013, the semiconductor equipment industry rebounded and experienced a solid upturn in 2014. The recovery was primarily driven by tool spending in the foundry and [getkc id="93" kc_name="DRAM"]sectors. Another big and ongoing story continued to unfold in 2014. In late 2013, [getentity id="22817" e_name="Applied Materials"] announced a definitive agreement to acquir... » read more

Ion Implanter Market Heats Up


The ion implanter market has been a stable, if not a sleepy, business. The last big event took place in 2011, when Applied Materials re-entered the ion implanter market by acquiring Varian, the world’s leading supplier of these tools. The acquisition gave Applied Materials a commanding 80% share of the implanter business, with the other players fighting for the crumbs. But after year... » read more