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Is 7nm The Last Major Node?
A growing number of design and manufacturing issues are prompting questions about what scaling will really look like beyond 10/7nm, how many companies will be involved, and which markets they will...
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Foundries Accelerate Auto Efforts
Foundries are ramping up their efforts in automotive chip production in preparation for a surge in semiconductors used in assisted and autonomous driving. All of the major foundry vendors are...
View Article5 Takeaways From Semicon
At the recent Semicon West trade show in San Francisco, there were a multitude of presentations on a number of subjects. The event, sponsored by SEMI, had presentations on the outlook for ICs,...
View ArticleThe Week In Review: Manufacturing
Fab equipment ASML posted strong sales in the quarter and is apparently nearly sold out of scanners based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, according to analysts. “ASML posted strong 2Q results...
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What’s After FinFETs?
Chipmakers are readying their next-generation technologies based on 10nm and/or 7nm finFETs, but it’s still not clear how long the finFET will last, how long the 10nm and 7nm nodes for high-end devices...
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Manufacturing Bits: July 25
Metrology for the intelligence community The semiconductor industry continues to move full speed ahead with traditional chip scaling. There are several challenges in the arena. One of the big but...
View ArticleThe Week In Review: Manufacturing
Chipmakers UMC has generated sales from its recently-announced 14nm finFET technology. The foundry vendor also plans to enter the 22nm process technology market. UMC will join other players in the 22nm...
View ArticleBlog Review: Aug. 9
Cadence’s Paul McLellan digs into a recently discovered vulnerability in the Broadcom Wi-Fi chip used in many smartphones and why it should be a wakeup call for SoC designers. Mentor’s Craig Armenti...
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Why Fabs Worry About Tool Parts
Achieving high yields with acceptable costs is becoming much more difficult as chipmakers migrate to next-generation 3D NAND and finFET devices—but not just because of rising complexity or lithography...
View ArticleThe Week In Review: Manufacturing
Chipmakers Taiwan on Tuesday suffered a blackout after an accident occurred at a gas-fired plant, according to a report from Bloomberg. The outage, which lasted from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., impacted more...
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Four Foundries Back MRAM
Four major foundries plan to offer MRAM as an embedded memory solution by this year or next, setting the stage for what finally could prove to be a game-changer for this next-generation memory...
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The 200mm Equipment Scramble
An explosion in 200mm demand has set off a frenzied search for used semiconductor manufacturing equipment that can be used at older process nodes. The problem is there is not enough used equipment...
View ArticleBlog Review: Aug. 30
Cadence’s Meera Collier explains machine learning, unsupervised algorithms, and why Facebook’s recently publicized AI chatbot conversation isn’t as inscrutable as it sounds. Synopsys’ Robert Vamosi...
View ArticleThe Week In Review: Manufacturing
Fab tools In a move to expand its product portfolio, Lam Research has acquired Coventor, a provider of simulation and modeling solutions for the semiconductor and MEMS industries. Lam Research held an...
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Challenges Mount For Photomasks
Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss photomask technologies with Naoya Hayashi, research fellow at Dai Nippon Printing (DNP); Banqiu Wu, principal member of the technical staff and chief...
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What Happened To ReRAM?
Resistive RAM (ReRAM), one of a handful of next-generation memories under development, is finally gaining traction after years of setbacks. Fujitsu and Panasonic are jointly ramping up a...
View Article5 Takeaways From SEMI’s SMC
At the recent Strategic Materials Conference (SMC), there were a multitude of presentations on a number of subjects. The event, sponsored by SEMI, had presentations on the IC industry, market drivers,...
View ArticleThe Week In Review: Manufacturing
Chipmakers GlobalFoundries has asked European antitrust regulators to investigate TSMC over alleged unfair competition, according to a report from Reuters. Commenting on the report, a spokeswoman for...
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Looming Issues And Tradeoffs For EUV
Momentum is building for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, but there are still some major challenges to solve before this long-overdue technology can be used for mass production. EUV lithography—a...
View ArticleBlog Review: Sept. 27
Synopsys’ Mukul Dawar highlights the biggest changes coming to the PCIe 4.0 specification, plus a peek at what’s new in PCIe 5.0. Cadence’s Paul McLellan considers why EDA startups are less common than...
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