Challenges Grow For 5G Packages And Modules

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 0

The shift to 5G wireless networks is driving a need for new IC packages and modules in smartphones and other systems, but this move is turning out to be harder than it looks. For one thing, the IC packages and RF modules for 5G phones are more complex and expensive than today's devices, and that gap will grow significantly in the second phase of 5G. In addition, 5G devices will require an as... » read more

5G OTA Test Not Ready For Production

By Kevin Fogarty - 09 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 0

5G is poised to dominate the wireless world, but over-the-air (OTA) testing of 5G beamforming antennas is still not ready for volume production. Beamforming is a critical element in the millimeter wave version of 5G, because of the limitations of ultra-high-frequency signals. Unlike 4G and its predecessors, millimeter wave technology will not penetrate objects, so signals need to be directed... » read more

Edge Complexity To Grow For 5G

By Kevin Fogarty and Ed Sperling - 02 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 0

Edge computing is becoming as critical to the success of 5G as millimeter-wave technology will be to the success of the edge. In fact, it increasingly looks as if neither will succeed without the other. 5G networks won’t be able to meet 3GPP’s 4-millisecond-latency rule without some layer to deliver the data, run the applications and broker the complexities of multi-tier Internet apps ac... » read more

What’s Next In Advanced Packaging

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 3

Packaging houses are readying the next wave of advanced IC packages, hoping to gain a bigger foothold in the race to develop next-generation chip designs. At a recent event, ASE, Leti/STMicroelectronics, TSMC and others described some of their new and advanced IC packaging technologies, which involve various product categories, such as 2.5D, 3D and fan-out. Some new packaging technologies ar... » read more

Improvement Of Dopant Concentration Control With Acoustic Control System For B-SiGe Epitaxy Deposition

By Veeco - 19 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 0

Currently, SiGe-B epitaxy is a leading technology to induce strain in PMOS channel and improve the hole mobility to achieve better device performance. In practice, we observe that the device performance strongly depends on the dopant concentration, especially boron concentration. It is shown that the Acoustic Control System [ACS] is able to actively respond to instantaneous variations of incomi... » read more

Inspection, Metrology Challenges Grow For SiC

By Mark LaPedus - 11 Jun, 2019 - Comments: 2

Inspection and metrology are becoming more critical in the silicon carbide (SiC) industry amid a pressing need to find problematic defects in current and future SiC devices. Finding defects always has been a challenging task for SiC devices. But it’s becoming more imperative to find killer defects and reduce them as SiC device vendors begin to expand their production for the next wave of a... » read more

MicroLEDs: The Next Revolution In Displays?

By Mark LaPedus - 29 May, 2019 - Comments: 1

Flat-panel display technology is exploding on several fronts as more screens are required for more devices. But one type of display is generating an enormous amount of buzz in the market—microLEDs. Dozens of companies are working on micro-light emitting diodes (microLEDs), a technology that promises to provide better and brighter displays than current solutions in the market. Apple, Facebo... » read more

SiC Demand Growing Faster Than Supply

By Mark LaPedus - 23 May, 2019 - Comments: 2

The silicon carbide (SiC) industry is in the midst of a major expansion campaign, but suppliers are struggling to meet potential demand for SiC power devices and wafers in the market. In just one example of the expansion efforts, Cree plans to invest up to $1 billion to increase its SiC fab and wafer capacities. As part of the plan, Cree is developing the world’s first 200mm (8-inch) SiC f... » read more

One Micron Damascene Redistribution for Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging Using a Photosensitive Dielectric Material

By Veeco - 22 May, 2019 - Comments: 0

Authors: Warren W. Flack, Robert Hsieh, Ha-Ai Nguyen Ultratech, a division of Veeco 3050 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134 USA [email protected] John Slabbekoorn, Samuel Suhard, Andy Miller IMEC Kapeldreef 75 B-3001 Leuven, Belgium [email protected] Akito Hiro, Romain Ridremont JSR MICRO NV Technologielaan 8 B-3001 Leuven, Belgium [email protected] Abstract This... » read more

Controlling IC Manufacturing Processes For Yield

By Ed Sperling - 24 Apr, 2019 - Comments: 0

Equipment and tools vendors are starting to focus on data as a means of improving yield, adding more sensors and analysis capabilities into the manufacturing flow to circumvent problems in real time. How much this will impact the cost of developing complex chips at leading-edge nodes, and in 2.5D and 3D-IC packages, remains to be seen. But the race to both generate data during manufacturing ... » read more

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