Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers TSMC has announced its intention to build and operate an advanced semiconductor fab in the U.S. The fab, to be built in Arizona, will utilize TSMC’s 5nm technology and will produce 20,000 wafers per month. TSMC’s total spending on this project will be approximately $12 billion from 2021 to 2029. Construction is planned to start in 2021 with production targeted to begin in 202... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab tools The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced new export control actions to prevent China, Russia, and Venezuela from obtaining U.S. technology for military purposes. This expands the “Military End Use/User Controls (MEU)” license requirement controls on China, Russia, and Venezuela, covering military end-users, as well as semiconductor equipment, sensors and other technologies. ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers TrendForce has released its projected foundry rankings in terms of sales for the first quarter. TSMC is still in first place, followed by Samsung, GlobalFoundries and UMC. Samsung has been ramping up chips based on its 7nm logic process using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Now, Samsung is ramping up its DRAM devices using EUV and plans to expand its capacity in the arena.... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


SPIE At the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, Lam Research has introduced a new dry resist technology for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Dry resist technology is a new approach to deposit and develop EUV resists. It is a dry deposition technique with alternate compositions and mechanisms. By combining Lam’s deposition and etch process expertise with partnerships with ASML a... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers A fire broke out this week at a joint NAND flash fab between Western Digital (WD) and Kioxia. Kioxia is the former Toshiba NAND flash unit that was recently spun out by the Japanese company. “On Monday, January 6, (morning, January 7 local time) a small fire occurred at one of our joint venture facilities in Yokkaichi, Japan. Local firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, and w... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Market research The worldwide semiconductor market is forecast to reach $409 billion in 2019, down 12.8% over 2018, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. Memory fell by 33.0% in 2019, while analog dropped 7.9% and logic declined by 4.3%, according to the WSTS. In 2020, the IC market is expected to recover and grow by 5.9%, according to the WSTS. Optoelec... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs TrendForce has released its projected foundry rankings for the fourth quarter of 2019. TSMC remains in first place, followed by Samsung, GlobalFoundries and UMC, according to the firm. “TrendForce projects the foundry industry’s 4Q19 revenue performance to exceed previous expectations,” according to the firm. “Nonetheless, the ongoing U.S-China trade war and uncerta... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) has announced the readiness of its new 22nm process. The process enables new 22nm designs or allows customers to migrate from 28nm to 22nm. UMC’s 22nm maintains its existing 28nm design architectures. UMC's 22nm process features a 10% area reduction, better power-to-performance ratio and enhanced RF capabilities, compared to the company’s 2... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Packaging and test TrendForce has released its top-10 OSAT rankings in terms of sales for the third quarter of 2019. ASE was in first place in the rankings, followed by Amkor and JCET. “According to the latest research from TrendForce, the decline in the global OSAT industry showed signs of a gradual halt in 3Q19, since the drop in memory prices began to slow down, and smartphone sales stead... » read more

DRAM Scaling Challenges Grow


DRAM makers are pushing into the next phase of scaling, but they are facing several challenges as the memory technology approaches its physical limit. DRAM is used for main memory in systems, and today’s most advanced devices are based on roughly 18nm to 15nm processes. The physical limit for DRAM is somewhere around 10nm. There are efforts in R&D to extend the technology, and ultimate... » read more

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