Impact of CMOS Image Sensors Fabrication Processes On The Quality Of Smartphone Pictures


A technical paper titled “A Review of the Recent Developments in the Fabrication Processes of CMOS Image Sensors for Smartphones” was published by researchers at Texas A&M University. Abstract: "CMOS Image Sensors are experiencing significant growth due to their capabilities to be integrated in smartphones with refined image quality. One of the major contributions to the growth of ima... » read more

A Review on the Fabrication and Reliability of Three-Dimensional Integration Technologies for Microelectronic Packaging: Through-Si-via and Solder Bumping Process


Abstract "With the continuous miniaturization of electronic devices and the upcoming new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), fifth-generation cellular networks (5G), etc., the electronics industry is achieving high-speed, high-performance, and high-density electronic packaging. Three-dimensional (3D) Si-chip stacking using through-Si-via (TSV) and sol... » read more

Heterogeneous Integration Using Organic Interposer Technology


As the costs of advanced node silicon have risen sharply with the 7 and 5-nanometer nodes, advanced packaging is coming to a crossroad where it is no longer fiscally prudent to pack all desired functionality into a single die. While single-die packages will still be around, the high-end market is shifting towards multiple-die packages to reduce overall costs and improve functionality. This shif... » read more

Thermal Challenges In Advanced Packaging


CT Kao, product management director at Cadence, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about why packaging is so complicated, why power and heat vary with different use cases and over time, and why a realistic power map is essential particularly for AI chips, where some circuits are always on.   Interested in more Semiconductor Engineering videos? Sign-up for our YouTube channel here » read more

Is The 2.5D Supply Chain Ready?


A handful of big semiconductor companies began taking the wraps off 2.5D and fan-out packaging plans in the past couple of weeks, setting the stage for the first major shift away from Moore's Law in 50 years. Those moves coincide with reports of commercial [getkc id="82" kc_name="2.5D"] chips from chip assemblers and foundries that are now under development. There have been indications for... » read more

Electronics Butterfly Effect


Everyone has heard of the butterfly effect where a small change in a non-linear system can result in large difference in an outcome. For the past 40 years, the electronics industry has approximated a linear system, fed primarily by Moore’s Law. The incremental changes available at each new process node have led us to make incremental changes and improvements in many aspects of the design, its... » read more

Partition Lines Growing Fuzzy


For as long as most semiconductor engineers can remember, chips with discrete functions started out on a printed circuit board, progressed into chip sets when it made sense and eventually were integrated onto the same die. The primary motivations behind this trend were performance and cost—shorter distance, fewer mask layers, less silicon. But this equation has been changing over the past ... » read more

Designing For Security


Stacked die may improve performance and lower power, but the use of [getkc id="203" kc_name="through-silicon vias"] (TSVs) could add new security risks. As IC structures go, the vertical component of these chip packages is both a boon and a bust. Three-dimensional geometries allow for much less complexity in design by stacking two-dimensional dies and interconnecting them in the third dimens... » read more

3D-IC Testing With The Mentor Graphics Tessent Platform


Three-dimensional stacked integrated circuits (3D-ICs) are composed of multiple stacked die, and are viewed as critical in helping the semiconductor industry keep pace with Moore's Law. Current integration and interconnect methods include wirebond and flip-chip and have been in production for some time. 3D chips connected via interposers are in production at Xilinx, Samsung, IBM, and Sematec... » read more

The Impact of 3D Packaging


With semiconductor packaging becoming a more crucial piece of the Moore’s Law roadmap, the industry is still sorting out the impact of a 3D design and packaging approach on design time, cost and power. 3D is now commonly used for high volume applications such as cell phones and SD cards, and is accomplished at the packaging step either through chip stacking or package-on-package (PoP) stac... » read more