tag: Tignis

Legacy Process Nodes Going Strong
By Bryon Moyer - 23 Jul, 2024 - Comments: 0

While all eyes tend to focus on the leading-edge silicon nodes, many mature nodes continue to enjoy robust manufacturing demand. Successive nodes stopped reducing die cost at around the 20nm node. “In the finFET era of processes, esoteric process requirements necessary to move technology forward with each generation have added significant cost and complexity,” explained Andrew Appleby, p... » read more

Single Vs. Multi-Patterning Advancements For EUV
By Gregory Haley - 20 Jun, 2024 - Comments: 0

As semiconductor devices become more complex, so do the methods for patterning them. Ever-smaller features at each new node require continuous advancements in photolithography techniques and technologies. While the basic lithography process hasn’t changed since the founding of the industry — exposing light through a reticle onto a prepared silicon wafer — the techniques and technology ... » read more

Precise Control Needed For Copper Plating And CMP
By Anne Meixner - 20 Jun, 2024 - Comments: 0

Chipmakers are relying on machine learning for electroplating and wafer cleaning at leading-edge process nodes, augmenting traditional fault detection/classification and statistical process control in order to extend the usefulness of copper interconnects. Copper is well understood and easy to work with, but it is running out of steam. At 5nm and below, copper plating tools are struggling to... » read more

AI: Great, But Somehow Still Not Very Good
By Charlie Parker - 20 Jun, 2024 - Comments: 0

In an invited presentation at CS Mantech 2024, Charlie Parker, senior machine learning engineer at Tignis, provides context for the AI hype cycle with a high-level overview of machine learning concepts, then explores how the technology fits into the fab, from inventory management to institutional knowledge capture, but warns that it is worth being aware of the ways in which machine learning mod... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review
By The SE Staff - 07 Jun, 2024 - Comments: 0

Rapidus and IBM are jointly developing mass production capabilities for chiplet-based advanced packages. The collaboration builds on an existing agreement to develop 2nm process technology. Vanguard and NXP will jointly establish VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC) in Singapore to build a $7.8 billion, 12-inch wafer plant. This is part of a global supply chain shift “Out... » read more

Navigating The Talent Crunch: AI Solutions For A Thriving Semiconductor Manufacturing Sector
By David Park - 23 May, 2024 - Comments: 0

The CHIPS and Science Act is a historic piece of legislation passed by the US government in 2022 aimed at regaining American leadership in semiconductor manufacturing. Supported by an unprecedented $52 billion in federal funding, this investment will also address supply chain vulnerabilities and national security concerns that were made glaringly public by the COVID epidemic. In addition to ... » read more

Using Predictive Maintenance To Boost IC Manufacturing Efficiency
By Laura Peters - 14 May, 2024 - Comments: 0

Predicting exactly how and when a process tool is going to fail is a complex task, but it's getting a tad easier with the rollout of smart sensors, standard interfaces, and advanced data analytics. The potential benefits of predictive maintenance are enormous. Higher tool uptime correlates with greater fab efficiency and lower operating costs, so engineers are pursuing multiple routes to boo... » read more

Predicting And Preventing Process Drift
By Gregory Haley - 22 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

Increasingly tight tolerances and rigorous demands for quality are forcing chipmakers and equipment manufacturers to ferret out minor process variances, which can create significant anomalies in device behavior and render a device non-functional. In the past, many of these variances were ignored. But for a growing number of applications, that's no longer possible. Even minor fluctuations in ... » read more

AI Takes Aim At Chip Industry Workforce Training
By Liz Allan - 04 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

When all the planned fabs become operational, the semiconductor industry is likely to face a worker shortage of 100,000 each in the U.S. and Europe, and more than 200,000 in Asia-Pacific, according to a McKinsey report. Since the dawn of technology, people have worried that robots, automation, and AI will steal their jobs, but these tools also can be put to use to help fill the chip industry ta... » read more

Digital Twins Target IC Tool And Fab Efficiency
By Laura Peters - 21 Mar, 2024 - Comments: 0

Digital twins have emerged as the hot "new" semiconductor manufacturing technology, enabling fabs to create a virtual representation of a physical system on which to experiment and optimize what's going on inside the real fab. While digital twin technology has been in use for some time in other industries, its use has been limited in semiconductor manufacturing. What's changing is the breadt... » read more

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