Chip Industry Week in Review


The IEEE ISSCC conference was held this week in San Francisco. Among the highlights: IBM detailed an AI accelerator based on its new inferencing dataflow architecture. CEA-Leti presented a chip-scale, ultra-fast, battery-operated EPR spectrometer. QuTech introduced a cryo-CMOS SoC with NV centers in diamond. UTokyo showed its low-jitter PLL architecture for beyond 5G/6G. Imec d... » read more

Annual Global IC Fabs And Facilities Report


Semiconductor companies announced a significant number of facilities in 2025 as global onshoring efforts continued across manufacturing, materials, packaging, design, and R&D. Investments came from both industry and government sources. Organizations worked together to solve current technology challenges, including soaring demand for AI chips and advanced memory, as well as complex applic... » read more

Research Bits: Dec. 2


Ionothermoelectric cooling Researchers from the University of Osaka, University of Tokyo, and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology proposed an ionothermoelectric cooling strategy for chips that enhances cooling by driving the flow of ions through nanoscale channels. “We fabricated a nanosized pore in a semiconductor membrane and surrounded the nanopore ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


China's Hefei Lumiverse Technology reportedly has developed a desktop-sized High Harmonic Generation light source that generates wavelengths as small as 1nm. One customer already has used it to produce 14nm chips, which was the original target node for EUV, according to one report. As a point of comparison, TSMC and Samsung didn't start using EUV until the 7nm node, relying instead on immersion... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 7


Doping oxide insulator improves SiGe conductivity Researchers from TU Wien, Johannes Kepler University Linz, and TU Bergakademie Freiberg manufactured a silicon-germanium (SiGe) transistor using an alternative approach that involves doping the insulating oxide layer to produce a long-range effect that extends into the semiconductor. Called modulation acceptor doping (MAD), the technique ena... » read more

Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: Apr. 22


New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library: [table id=421 /] Find more semiconductor research papers here. » read more

Board-Level Packaging Method For Device Encapsulation To Enable Water Immersion Cooling


A new technical paper titled "Thermally Conductive Electrically Insulating Electronics Packaging for Water Immersion Cooling" was published by researchers at University of Illinois, Urbana, University of Arkansas and UC Berkeley. Abstract "Power densification is making thermal design a key step in the development of future electrical devices. Systems such as data centers and electric vehicl... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Intel aims to quadruple capacity for its most advanced chip packaging services by 2025, including with a new facility in Malaysia, per Nikkei Asia. Huawei is building a collection of secret semiconductor fabrication facilities across China to let the company skirt U.S. sanctions, SIA warned in a presentation seen by Bloomberg. It’s acquired at least two existing plants and is building at l... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Packaging Amkor plans to build a packaging plant in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The first phase of the new factory will focus on providing system-in-package (SiP) assembly and test services for customers. The investment for the first phase of the facility is estimated to be between $200 million and $250 million. “This is a strategic, long-term investment in geographical diversification and factory... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Government policy Hoping to resolve the ongoing worldwide chip shortage situation, the U.S. Department of Commerce late last month launched a “request for information (RFI)” initiative, which involved sending questionnaires to various semiconductor companies. The U.S. government is asking all parts of the supply chain – producers, consumers, and intermediaries – to voluntarily share in... » read more

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