Category Archives: 3D Integration

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that Dr. Paul E. Jacobs will no longer serve as Executive Chairman of the Qualcomm Board of Directors. Dr. Jacobs will continue to serve on the Qualcomm Board, but will no longer serve in an executive management capacity. The Board has discontinued the role of Executive Chairman, which was established in 2014 as part of a leadership transition plan, based on its belief that an independent Chairman is now more appropriate for Qualcomm. The Board has named Jeffrey W. Henderson, an independent Qualcomm director since 2016, to serve as Non-Executive Chairman.

Tom Horton, Lead Director, said, “The Board is committed to the principles of strong corporate governance and believes that having an independent director as Chairman at this important juncture in Qualcomm’s history is in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders. We are unanimous in our view that Jeff is the ideal choice for this role based on his deep financial, operational, and international experience as well as his strong stockholder orientation. We are focused on maximizing stockholder value, and will consider all options to achieve that objective, as we seek to move Qualcomm forward by closing the acquisition of NXP, strengthening our licensing business, and capitalizing on the enormous 5G opportunity before us.”

Mr. Horton continued, “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Paul for his tireless dedication to Qualcomm over many years. Paul is a technology visionary whose ideas and inventions have contributed significantly to the growth of both the Company and the industry.  Paul has led the development of generations of semiconductors that have fueled smart phones and the worldwide wireless revolution of the past 30 years. His deep expertise, coupled with a focus on innovation, have made Qualcomm a leader in critical technologies and positioned us at the forefront of the industry. We are grateful to have Paul’s continued contributions as a member of the Board.  His extensive knowledge of our business, products, strategic relationships and opportunities, as well as the rapidly evolving technologies and competitive environment in our industry, are invaluable to our Board.”

About Paul Jacobs

Dr. Jacobs has served as Chairman of the Board of Qualcomm since 2009, as Executive Chairman since 2014 and as a director since 2005. He served as Chief Executive Officer from 2005 to 2014, Group President of Qualcomm Wireless & Internet from 2001 to 2005, and as an executive vice president from 2000 to 2005. Dr. Jacobs serves on the Board of Directors for FIRST(R), OneWeb, Light and Dropbox. He holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and computer science, an M.S. degree in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.  Dr. Jacobs was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2016 and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2017.

About Jeffrey Henderson

Mr. Henderson has deep financial, operational, and international experience at major corporations.  He served as Chief Financial Officer of Cardinal Health Inc. from 2005 to 2014. Prior to joining Cardinal Health, Mr. Henderson held management positions at Eli Lilly and General Motors, including serving as President and General Manager of Eli Lilly Canada, Controller and Treasurer of Eli Lilly Inc., and in management positions with General Motors in Great Britain, Singapore, Canada and the U.S.  He is currently an Advisory Director to Berkshire Partners LLC, a private equity firm. He is also a director of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. and FibroGen, Inc. Mr. Henderson holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Kettering University and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced a collaboration with Samsung Foundry to develop DesignWare Foundation IP for Samsung’s 8 nanometer (nm) Low Power Plus (8LPP) FinFET process technology. Providing DesignWare Logic Library and Embedded Memory IP on Samsung’s latest process technology enables designers to take advantage of a reduction in power and area compared to Samsung’s 10LPP process. The DesignWare Foundation IP will be developed to meet strict automotive-grade requirements, enabling designers to accelerate ISO 26262 and AEC-Q100 qualifications of their advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and infotainment system-on-chips (SoCs). The DesignWare Logic Library and Embedded Memory IP will be available from Synopsys through the Foundry-Sponsored IP Program for the Samsung 8LPP process, enabling qualified customers to license the IP at no cost. The collaboration extends Synopsys’ and Samsung’s long history of working together to provide silicon-proven IP that helps designers meet their performance, power, and area requirements for a wide range of applications including mobile, automotive, and cloud computing.

“Samsung’s collaboration with Synopsys over the last decade has enabled first-pass silicon success for billions of ICs in mobile and consumer applications,” said Jongwook Kye, vice president of Design Enablement at Samsung Electronics. “As designs get more complex and migrate to smaller FinFET processes, Samsung’s advanced 8LPP process with Synopsys’ high-quality Foundation IP solutions will enable designers to differentiate their products for mobile, cryptocurrency and network/server applications, accelerate project schedules, and quickly ramp into volume production.”

“Samsung and Synopsys share a long and successful history of providing designers with silicon-proven DesignWare IP on Samsung’s processes ranging from 180 to 10 nanometer,” said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP at Synopsys. “As the leading provider of physical IP with more than 100 test chip tapeouts on FinFET processes, Synopsys continues to make significant investments in developing IP to help designers take advantage of Samsung’s latest process technologies, reduce risk and speed development of their SoCs.”

Historically, the DRAM market has been the most volatile of the major IC product segments.  A good example of this was displayed over the past two years when the DRAM market declined 8% in 2016 only to surge by 77% in 2017! The March Update to the 2018 McClean Report (to be released later this month) will fully detail IC Insights’ latest forecast for the 2018 DRAM and total IC markets.

In the 34-year period from 1978-2012, the DRAM price-per-bit declined by an average annual rate of 33%. However, from 2012 through 2017, the average DRAM price-per-bit decline was only 3% per year! Moreover, the 47% full-year 2017 jump in the price-per-bit of DRAM was the largest annual increase since 1978, surpassing the previous high of 45% registered 30 years ago in 1988!

In 2017, DRAM bit volume growth was 20%, half the 40% rate of increase registered in 2016.  For 2018, each of the three major DRAM producers (e.g., Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron) have stated that they expect DRAM bit volume growth to once again be about 20%.  However, as shown in Figure 1, monthly year-over-year DRAM bit volume growth averaged only 13% over the nine-month period of May 2017 through January 2018.

Figure 1 also plots the monthly price-per-Gb of DRAM from January of 2017 through January of 2018.  As shown, the DRAM price-per-Gb has been on a steep rise, with prices being 47% higher in January 2018 as compared to one year earlier in January 2017.  There is little doubt that electronic system manufacturers are currently scrambling to adjust and adapt to the skyrocketing cost of memory.

DRAM is usually considered a commodity like oil.  Like most commodities, there is elasticity of demand associated with the product.  For example, when oil prices are low, many consumers purchase big SUVs, with little concern for the vehicle’s miles-per-gallon efficiency.  However, when oil prices are high, consumers typically look toward smaller or alternative energy (e.g., hybrid or fully electric) options.

Figure 1

Figure 1

While difficult to precisely measure, it is IC Insights’ opinion that DRAM bit volume usage is also affected by elasticity, whereby increased costs inhibit demand and lower costs expand usage and open up new applications.  As shown in Figure 1, the correlation coefficient between the DRAM price-per-bit and the year-over-year bit volume increase from January 2017 through January 2018 was a strong -0.88 (a perfect correlation between two factors moving in the opposite direction would be -1.0).  Thus, while system manufacturers are not scaling back DRAM usage in systems currently shipping, there have been numerous rumors of some smartphone producers scaling back DRAM in next-generation models (i.e., incorporating 4GB of DRAM per smartphone instead of 5GB).

In 2018, IC Insights believes that the major DRAM suppliers will be walking a fine line between making their shareholders even happier than they are right now and further alienating their customer base.  If, and it is a BIG if, the startup Chinese DRAM producers can field a competitive product over the next couple of years, DRAM users could flock to these new suppliers in an attempt to get out from under the crushing price increases now being thrust upon them—with the “payback” to the current major DRAM suppliers being severe.

Each year, Solid State Technology turns to industry leaders to hear viewpoints on the technological and economic outlook for the upcoming year. Read through these expert opinions on what to expect in 2018.

Enabling the AI Era with Materials Engineering

Screen Shot 2018-03-05 at 12.24.49 PMPrabu Raja, Senior Vice President, Semiconductor Products Group, Applied Materials

A broad set of emerging market trends such as IoT, Big Data, Industry 4.0, VR/AR/MR, and autonomous vehicles is accelerating the transformative era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI, when employed in the cloud and in the edge, will usher in the age of “Smart Everything” from automobiles, to planes, factories, buildings, and our homes, bringing fundamental changes to the way we live

Semiconductors and semiconductor processing technol- ogies will play a key enabling role in the AI revolution. The increasing need for greater computing perfor- mance to handle Deep Learning/Machine Learning workloads requires new processor architectures beyond traditional CPUs, such as GPUs, FPGAs and TPUs, along with new packaging solutions that employ high-density DRAM for higher memory bandwidth and reduced latency. Edge AI computing will require processors that balance the performance and power equation given their dependency on battery life. The exploding demand for data storage is driving adoption of 3D NAND SSDs in cloud servers with the roadmap for continued storage density increase every year.

In 2018, we will see the volume ramp of 10nm/7nm devices in Logic/Foundry to address the higher performance needs. Interconnect and patterning areas present a myriad of challenges best addressed by new materials and materials engineering technologies. In Inter- connect, cobalt is being used as a copper replacement metal in the lower level wiring layers to address the ever growing resistance problem. The introduction of Cobalt constitutes the biggest material change in the back-end-of-line in the past 15 years. In addition to its role as the conductor metal, cobalt serves two other critical functions – as a metal capping film for electro- migration control and as a seed layer for enhancing gapfill inside the narrow vias and trenches.

In patterning, spacer-based double patterning and quad patterning approaches are enabling the continued shrink of device features. These schemes require advanced precision deposition and etch technologies for reduced variability and greater pattern fidelity. Besides conventional Etch, new selective materials removal technologies are being increasingly adopted for their unique capabilities to deliver damage- and residue-free extreme selective processing. New e-beam inspection and metrology capabilities are also needed to analyze the fine pitch patterned structures. Looking ahead to the 5nm and 3nm nodes, placement or layer-to-layer vertical alignment of features will become a major industry challenge that can be primarily solved through materials engineering and self-aligned structures. EUV lithography is on the horizon for industry adoption in 2019 and beyond, and we expect 20 percent of layers to make the migration to EUV while the remaining 80 percent will use spacer multi- patterning approaches. EUV patterning also requires new materials in hardmasks/underlayer films and new etch solutions for line-edge-roughness problems.

Packaging is a key enabler for AI performance and is poised for strong growth in the coming years. Stacking DRAM chips together in a 3D TSV scheme helps bring High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) to market; these chips are further packaged with the GPU in a 2.5D interposer design to bring compute and memory together for a big increase in performance.

In 2018, we expect DRAM chipmakers to continue their device scaling to the 1Xnm node for volume production. We also see adoption of higher perfor- mance logic technologies on the horizon for the periphery transistors to enable advanced perfor- mance at lower power.

3D NAND manufacturers continue to pursue multiple approaches for vertical scaling, including more pairs, multi-tiers or new schemes such as CMOS under array for increased storage density. The industry migration from 64 pairs to 96 pairs is expected in 2018. Etch (high aspect ratio), dielectric films (for gate stacks and hardmasks) along with integrated etch and CVD solutions (for high aspect ratio processing) will be critical enabling technologies.

In summary, we see incredible inflections in new processor architectures, next-generation devices, and packaging schemes to enable the AI era. New materials and materials engineering solutions are at the very heart of it and will play a critical role across all device segments.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

BY AJIT MANOCHA, President and CEO of SEMI

2017 was a terrific year for SEMI members. Chip revenues closed at nearly $440B, an impressive 22 percent year- over-year growth. The equipment industry surpassed revenue levels last reached in the year 2000. Semicon- ductor equipment posted sales of nearly $56B and semiconductor materials $48B in 2017. For semiconductor equipment, this was a giant 36 percent year-over-year growth. Samsung, alone, invested $26B in semiconductor CapEx in 2017 – an incredible single year spend in an incredible year.

MEMS and Sensors gained new growth in telecom and medical markets, adding to existing demand from automotive, industrial and consumer segments. MEMS is forecast to be a $19B industry in 2018. Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) is also experiencing significant product design and functionality growth with increasing gains in widespread adoption.

No longer isa single monolithic demand driver propelling the electronics manufacturing supply chain. The rapidly expanding digital economy continues to foster innovation with new demand from the IoT, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), automobile infotainment and driver assistance, artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data, among others. With the explosion in data usage, memory demand is nearly insatiable, holding memory device ASPs high and prompting continued heavy investment in new capacity.

2018 is forecast to be another terrific year. IC revenues are expected to increase another 8 percent and semiconductor equipment will grow 11 percent. With diverse digital economy demand continuing, additional manufacturing capacity is being added in China as fab projects come on line to develop and increase the indigenous semiconductor supply chain.

So, why worry?

The cracks starting to show are in the areas of talent, data management, and Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S).

Can the industry sustain this growth? The electronics manufacturing supply chain has demonstrated it can generally scale and expedite production to meet the massive new investment projects. The cracks starting to show are in the areas of talent, data management, and Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S).

Talent has become a pinch point. In Silicon Valley alone, SEMI member companies have thousands of open positions. Globally, there are more than 10,000 open jobs. Attracting new candidates and developing a global workforce are critical to sustaining the pace of innovation and growth.
Data management and effective data sharing are keys to solving problems faster and making practical novel but immature processes at the leading edge. It is ironic that other industries are ahead of semiconductor manufac- turing in harnessing manufacturing data and leveraging AI across their supply chains. Without collaborative Smart Data approaches, there is jeopardy of decreasing the cadence of Moore’s Law below the 10 nm node.

EH&S is critical for an industry that now uses the majority of the elements of the periodic table to make chips – at rates of more than 50,000 wafer starts per month (wspm) for a single fab. The industry came together strongly in the 1990s to develop SEMI Safety Standards and compliance methodologies. Since then, the number of EH&S profes- sionals engaged in our industry has declined while the number of new materials has exploded, new processing techniques have been developed, and manufacturing is expanding across China in areas with no prior semicon- ductor manufacturing experience.

HTU has been a very effective program with over 218 sessions run to date, over 7,000 students engaged, and over 70 percent of respondents pursuing careers in the STEM field.

To ensure we don’t slow growth, the industry will need to work together in 2018 in these three key areas:

Talent development needs to rapidly accelerate by expanding currently working programs and adding additional means to fill the talent funnel. The SEMI Foundation’s High Tech University (HTU) works globally with member companies to increase the number of high school students selecting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields – and provides orientation to the semiconductor manufacturing industry. HTU has been a very effective program with over 218 sessions run to date, over 7,000 students engaged, and over 70 percent of respondents pursuing careers in the STEM field. SEMI will increase the number of HTU sessions in 2018.

Plans have already been approved by SEMI’s Board of Directors to work together with SEMI’s membership to leverage existing, and pioneer new, workforce development programs to attract and develop qualified candidates from across the age and experience spectrum (high school through university, diversity, etc.). Additionally, an industry awareness campaign will be developed and launched to make more potential candidates attracted to our member companies as a great career choice. I’ll be providing you with updates on this initiative – and asking for your involvement
– throughout 2018.

Data management is a broad term. Big Data, machine learning, AI are terms that today mean different things to different people in our supply chain. What is clear is that to act together and take advantage of the unimaginable amounts of data being generating to produce materials and make semiconductor devices with the diverse equipment sets across our fabs, we need a common understanding of the data and potential use of the data.

In 2018, SEMI will launch a Smart Data vertical application platform to engage stakeholders along the supply chain to produce a common language, develop Standards, and align expectations for sharing data for mutual benefit. Bench- marking of other industries and pre-competitive pilot programs are being proposed to learn and, here too, we need the support and engagement of thought leaders throughout SEMI’s membership.

EH&S activity must intensify to maintain safe operations and to eliminate business interruptions from supply chain disruptions. There is potential for disruptions from material bans such as the Stockholm Convention action on PFOA and arising from the much wider range of chemicals and materials being used in advanced manufacturing. Being able to reliably identify these in time to guide and coordinate industry action will take a reinvigorated SEMI EH&S stewardship and membership engagement.

As China rapidly develops new fabs in many provinces – some with only limited prior experience and infrastructure – SEMI EH&S Standards orientation and training will accelerate the safe and sustainable operation of fabs, enabling them to keep pace with the ambitious growth trajectory our industry is delivering. In 2018, we’ll be looking for a renewed commitment to EH&S and sustainability for the budding challenges of new materials, methods, and emerging regions.

Remarkable results from a remarkable membership

Thank you all for a terrific 2017 and let’s work together on the key initiatives to ensure that our industry’s growth and prosperity will continue in 2018 and beyond.

In a quick review of 2017, I would like to thank SEMI’s members for their incredible results and new revenue records. Foundational to that, SEMI’s members have worked together with SEMI to connect, collaborate, and innovate to increase growth and prosperity for the industry. These founda- tional contributions have been in expositions, programs, Standards, market data, messaging (communications), and workforce development (with HTU).

The infographic below captures these foundational accom- plishments altogether. SEMI strives to speed the time to better business results for its members across the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. To do so, SEMI is dependent upon, and grateful for, the support and volunteer efforts of its membership. Thank you for a terrific 2017 and let’s work together on the key initiatives to ensure that our industry’s growth and prosperity will continue in 2018 and beyond.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES and eVaderis today announced that they are co-developing an ultra-low power microcontroller (MCU) reference design using GF’s embedded magnetoresistive non-volatile memory (eMRAM) technology on the 22nm FD-SOI (22FDX®) platform. By bringing together the superior reliability and versatility of GF’s 22FDX eMRAM and eVaderis’ ultra-low power IP, the companies will deliver a technology solution that supports a broad set of applications such as battery-powered IoT products, consumer and industrial microcontrollers, and automotive controllers.

eVaderis designed their MCU to leverage the efficient power management capabilities of the 22FDX platform, achieving more than 10 times the battery life and a significantly reduced die size compared to previous generation MCUs. The technology, developed through GF’s FDXcelerator Partner Program, will help designers push performance density and flexibility to new levels to achieve a more compact, cost-effective single-chip solution for power-sensitive applications.

“The innovative architecture of eVaderis’ ultra-low power MCU IP, designed around GF’s 22FDX eMRAM technology, is well suited for normally-off IoT applications,” said Jean-Pascal Bost, President and CEO of eVaderis. “Utilizing GF’s eMRAM as a working memory allows sections of the eVaderis MCU to power cycle frequently, without incurring the typical MCU performance penalty. eVaderis looks forward to making this silicon-proven IP available to our customers by the end of this year.”

“Wearable and IoT devices require long-lasting battery life, increased processing capability, and the integration of advanced sensors,” said Dave Eggleston, VP of Embedded Memory at GF. “As an FDXcelerator partner, eVaderis is developing an optimized MCU architecture in GF’s 22FDX with eMRAM that helps customers meet demanding requirements.”

The jointly developed reference design with GF’s 22FDX with eMRAM will be available in Q4 2018. Process design kits for 22FDX with eMRAM and RF solutions are available now. Customer prototyping of 22FDX eMRAM on multi-project wafers (MPWs) is underway, with risk production planned for 2018. Off-the-shelf eMRAM macros are available now, featuring easy design-in with both eFlash and SRAM interface options.

Customers that are interested in learning more about GF’s 22FDX with eMRAM solution, co-developed in partnership with Everspin Technologies, contact your sales representative or visit globalfoundries.com.

Entering 2018 on solid ground


February 22, 2018

By Walt Custer, Custer Consulting Group

2017 finished on an upturn – both in the USA and globally.  Based on consolidated fourth-quarter actual and estimated revenues of 213 large, global electronic manufactures, sales rose in excess of 7 percent in 4Q’17 vs. 4Q’16 (Chart 1).  This was the highest global electronic equipment sales growth rate since the third quarter of 2011. Because some companies in our sample didn’t close their financial quarter until the end of January, final results will take a few more weeks – but all evidence points to a very strong fourth quarter of last year.

Custer1-Electronic-Equipment

 

Using regional (country specific) data (Chart 2), the normal, consumer electronics driven seasonal downturn began again in January.  However the recent year-over-year growth is still substantial.  On a total electronic equipment revenue basis, January 2018 was up almost 19.5 percent over January 2017.

Custer2-World-Electronic

Because this regional data in local currencies was converted to U.S. dollars at fluctuating exchange, the dollar denominated-growth was amplified by currency exchange effects.  At constant exchange the January growth was only 14 percent.   That is, when the stronger non-U.S. currencies were converted to weakening dollars, the dollar-denominated January 2018 fluctuating exchange growth was amplified by 5.5 percent.

Chart 3 shows 4Q’17/4Q’16 growth of the domestic electronic supply chain.  U.S. electronic equipment shipments were up 9.1 percent.  Only computer equipment and non-defense aircraft sales declined in the fourth quarter.  And of note, SEMI equipment shipments to North America rose almost 31 percent!

Custer3-US-Electronic-Supply

 

Chart 4 shows estimated fourth-quarter growth for the world electronic supply chain.  Only “Business & Office” equipment revenues declined in 4Q’17 vs. 4Q’16.

Custer4-Global-Electronic

Total global electronic equipment sales increased more than 7 percent in the fourth quarter and SEMI equipment revenues rose 32 percent.

2017 was a strong year and 2018 is off to a good start!  The 2017 lofty growth rates will temper, but this current expansion will likely continue.  Watch the monthly numbers!

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

The success and proliferation of integrated circuits has largely hinged on the ability of IC manufacturers to continue offering more performance and functionality for the money.  Driving down the cost of ICs (on a per-function or per-performance basis) is inescapably tied to a growing arsenal of technologies and wafer-fab manufacturing disciplines as mainstream CMOS processes reach their theoretical, practical, and economic limits. Among the many levers being pulled by IC designers and manufacturers are: feature-size reductions, introduction of new materials and transistor structures, migration to larger-diameter silicon wafers, higher throughput in fab equipment, increased factory automation, three-dimensional integration of circuitry and chips, and advanced IC packaging and holistic system-driven design approaches.

For logic-oriented processes, companies are fabricating leading-edge devices such as high-performance microprocessors, low-power application processors, and other advanced logic devices using the 14nm and 10nm generations (Figure 1).  There is more variety than ever among the processes companies offer, making it challenging to compare them in a fair and useful way.  Moreover, “plus” or derivative versions of each process generation and half steps between major nodes have become regular occurrences.

For five decades, the industry has enjoyed exponential improvements in the productivity and performance of integrated circuit technology.  While the industry has continued to surmount obstacles put in front of it, the barriers are getting bigger.  Feature size reduction, wafer diameter increases, and yield improvement all have physical or statistical limits, or more commonly…economic limits.  Therefore, IC companies continue to wring every bit of productivity out of existing processes before looking to major technological advances to solve problems.

The growing design and manufacturing challenges and costs have divided the integrated circuit world into the haves and have-nots.  In the June 1999 Update to The McClean Report, IC Insights first described its “Inverted Pyramid” theory, where it was stated that the IC industry was in the early stages of a new era characterized by dramatic restructuring and change.  It was stated that the marketshare makeup in various IC product segments was becoming “top heavy,” with the shares held by top producers leaving very little room for remaining competitors. Although the Update described the emerging inverted pyramid phenomenon from a marketshare perspective, an analogous trend can be seen regarding IC process development and fabrication capabilities. The industry has evolved to the point where only a very small group of companies can develop leading-edge process technologies and fabricate leading-edge ICs.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN) announces that the SEMI Foundation has appointed Joseph Stockunas, Corporate Vice President for Electronics Systems at Nordson Corporation and the immediate past chair of the SEMI North America Advisory Board, to the SEMI Foundation Board of Trustees in accordance with the association’s by-laws.

“We are excited to leverage Joe’s passion for innovation and his desire to help young people make thoughtful education and career choices,” said Leslie Tugman, Executive Director of the SEMI Foundation. “As the Foundation’s vision is expanding to address the larger industry workforce development pipeline and leadership in the area of women’s issues, Joe’s talent, industry insight, and commitment will be a great asset.”

The mission of the SEMI Foundation is to support education and career awareness in the field of high technology. The SEMI Foundation produces SEMI High Tech U (HTU), a three-day interactive program that encourages high school students to pursue academic paths that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to expose them to high technology careers such as semiconductor manufacturing.

The Nordson Corporation Foundation sponsored its first HTU program February 12 – 15, 2018 at the Nordson facility in Carlsbad, California. This was one of the first HTU events to be held in Southern California. Forty high school students from five local high schools, including Carlsbad, Sage Creek, San Marcos, Rancho Buena Vista, and Mission Hills, attended the program, where they learned from industry instructors and visited the UC San Diego campus for a look at college life. The Nordson Corporation Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life in its communities by improving educational outcomes that enable individuals to become self-sufficient, active participants in the community.

Stockunas has a long history of engaging and supporting STEM activities and the workforce development pipeline. Stockunas sponsored SEMI High Tech U at Air Products in Pennsylvania where he had previously worked for 30 years. In 2013, he joined Nordson Corporation, and has helped facilitate the company’s sponsorship of SEMI High Tech U in 2018.

“I have been a long-time supporter of the SEMI Foundation’s High Tech U program, which helps students make the connection between familiar electronic products and future career choices in high tech,” said Joe Stockunas. “I look forward to working with the Board to help drive new initiatives to support young people and strengthen the industry workforce.”

By Emmy Yi, SEMI Taiwan

 

Since Apple unveiled iPhone X with face-recognition functionality in early November 2017, interest in 3D sensing technology has reached fever pitch and attracted huge investments across the related supply chains. The global market for 3D depth sensing is estimated at US$1.5 billion in 2017 and will grow at a CAGR of 209 percent to US$14 billion in 2020, Trendforce estimates. This trend pushes up demand for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), a key component for 3D depth sensing technology. SEMI estimates that the global VCSEL market will grow at a CAGR of 17.3 percent between 2016 and 2022, and the total value of the market is expected to reach US$1 billion by 2022.

This SEMI 3D Depth Sensing & VCSEL Technology Seminar attracted more than 600 industry experts.

This SEMI 3D Depth Sensing & VCSEL Technology Seminar attracted more than 600 industry experts.

In light of the significant market growth potential and business opportunities, SEMI Taiwan recently organized the 3D Depth Sensing & VCSEL Technology Seminar, where industry experts from Qualcomm, Lumentum, Himax, Vertilite and IQE gathered to explore the technology trends and potentials from different perspectives. Following are the key takeaways from the Forum:

Not just iPhoneX! Expect a boom in 3D depth sensing

The real-time and depth cue feature of the 3D sensor is essential to enable the next-generation computer vision (CV) applications. Improvements in 3D recognition, machine learning, and 3D image segmentation promise to stoke significant growth across a wide range of applications including long-range automotive LiDAR, short-distance AR/VR devices, facial recognition in the low-light environment inside a car and more.

SEMI_Member_Forum_2_450px

Improvements in component R&D, algorithm writing, and supply chain integration will further expand the 3D sensing market.

Why VCSELs?

Structured light and time of flight (TOF) are currently the two key approaches to 3D sensing, and VCSEL is the core light source for both technologies. VCSEL’s advantages of small footprint, low cost, low power consumption, circular beam shape, optical efficiency, wavelength stability over temperature and high modulating rate are all indispensable for 3D sensing to flourish. In the longer term, improvements in component R&D, algorithm writing, and supply chain integration will further expand the 3D sensing market.

Optimistic about the proliferation of 3D sensing applications, The SEMI Taiwan Power and Compound Semiconductor Committee plans to organize a special interest group to better respond to technology evolution and rising applications of the emerging optoelectronic semiconductor and to drive innovations and development of the industry. SEMICON Taiwan 2018 will also include a theme pavilion and a series of events to enable more communications and collaborations. To learn more, please contact Emmy Yi, SEMI Taiwan, at [email protected] or +886.3.560.1777 #205.