Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 18


Molecular layer etch The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has made new advances in the field of molecular layer etching or etch (MLE). MLE is related to atomic layer etch (ALE). Used in the semiconductor industry, ALE selectively removes targeted materials at the atomic scale without damaging other parts of the structure. ALE is related to atomic layer deposition... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 10


Accelerating and cooling muons Using a novel particle accelerator, a group for the first time have observed a phenomenon called muon ionization cooling–an event that could give researchers a better understanding of matter and the universe. Muons are obscure sub-atomic particles. This experiment could pave the way towards the development of new and powerful muon particle accelerators. Thes... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 15


Sandia’s fab upgrade Sandia National Laboratories has completed the first phase of a three-year upgrade program in its semiconductor wafer fab. The goal of the program is to convert Sandia’s Albuquerque, N.M.-based fab from 150mm (6-inch) to 200mm (8-inch) wafer sizes. As part of the move, Sandia is converting its 0.35-micron (350nm) rad-hard process from 150mm to 200mm. The process is ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 24


Free flow electricity Researchers have made some new breakthroughs in the emerging field of Weyl fermions and semi-metals, a move that could one day enable free flow electricity in systems. In 2015, Princeton University and others finally proved a massless particle that had been theorized for 85 years--the Weyl fermion. A fermion is a subatomic particle. Proposed by the mathematician and... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs Delphi Technologies is in volume production with a 800 volt silicon carbide (SiC) inverter for next-generation electric and hybrid vehicles. The inverter extends electric vehicle (EV) ranges. It also halves the charging times compared with today's 400 volt systems. In a separate announcement, Delphi Technologies and Cree have announce a partnership to utilize SiC semicon... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 10


Semicon West It’s Semicon West time again. Here’s the first wave of announcements at the event: Applied Materials has unveiled a pair of tools aimed at accelerating the industry adoption for new memories. First, Applied rolled out the Endura Clover MRAM PVD system. The system is an integrated platform for MRAM devices. Second, the company introduced the Endura Impulse PVD platform for P... » read more

System Bits: May 14


Faster U.S. supercomputers on the way The U.S. Department of Energy awarded a contract for more than $600 million to Cray for an exascale supercomputer to be installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during 2021. Cray will provide its Shasta architecture and Slingshot interconnect for what is dubbed the Frontier supercomputer. Advanced Micro Devices will have a key role in building the... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 16


Water that won’t freeze ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich have developed water that doesn’t freeze at cold temperatures. Using various molecules with water, researchers have been able to cool the substance down to minus 263 degrees Celsius. Even then, there were no ice crystals formed in the substance. This technology could be used to develop new biomolecules and membranes for ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 2


Bright particle accelerators The High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) has reached a major milestone in the world’s most luminous or brightest particle accelerator. KEK has recently made the first physics run in the SuperKEKB, a storage ring that combines an electron-positron collider with a new and advanced detector. Electron-positron collisions have restarted at the SuperK... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 19


Exascale computers Intel and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have set plans to develop and deliver the first exascale supercomputer in the United States. The system, called Aurora, will provide an exaFLOP of performance or a quintillion floating point computations per second. Targeted for delivery in 2021, the system is being developed at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory. The system ... » read more

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