Category Archives: 3D Integration

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU) today launched the Micron 5200 series of SATA solid state drives (SSDs), maintaining performance, consistency, capacity, reliability, and overall infrastructure value. Built on Micron’s new 64-layer 3D NAND technology, the Micron 5200 series of SSDs offers a cost-optimized SATA platform for business-critical virtualized workloads that cripple on a hard drive, such as OLTP, BI/DSS, VDI, block/object and media streaming.

Leveraging the proven architecture, performance and capacity of the well-regarded 5100 SATA SSDs, the Micron 5200 series is engineered to deliver a fast, easy and cost-effective enterprise storage solution to replace existing hard drives and legacy SSDs. Micron 5200 SSDs immediately deliver better total cost of ownership and improve data center efficiency through server and storage platform consolidation, reducing IT costs and simplifying infrastructure and maintenance. Now it is easier than ever before for enterprises to add more flash into the data center and get more out of server deployments.

As the first SATA enterprise SSD available with 64-layer 3D NAND technology, the Micron 5200 SSDs deliver improved densities, throughput, consistency, and power efficiency — all at a better value. The quality of an SSD depends on the NAND it’s built on, and the Micron 5200 series of SSDs is engineered to deliver improved reliability with the industry’s lowest annualized drive failure rate for SATA enterprise SSDs according to data sheet specifications, offering better value with Micron’s known silicon-to-system quality advantage.

“Micron 5200 SSDs unleash market-leading performance, capacity and reliability, paired with a rich feature set and unprecedented flexibility, adding up to the ideal storage solution for business-critical workloads,” said Micron Storage Business Unite Vice President and General Derek Dicker. “We simplified the server qualification process by leveraging the same foundational architecture that’s currently available on Micron SATA SSDs. Customers can trust the same proven controller and firmware design while taking advantage of advanced flash media for better performance, quality of service, and value.”

“Today’s business-critical, virtualized workloads simply cannot run at peak, consistent performance on yesterday’s technology,” said Dedicated Computing Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Dave Guzzi. “Customers need advanced storage technology to achieve better performance and reliability — and a lower total cost of ownership. Fortunately, Micron offers all this along with the ease of a common platform that leverages the same proven controller and firmware design as previous SSD generations.”

“It says a lot that Micron chose to release its next-generation SSD based on the architecture of its prior generation while only changing the NAND from 32-layer to 64-layer technology,” said Jim Handy of Objective Analysis. “This shows that the company and its customers are pleased with the performance and reliability of the earlier 5100 series and are open to migrating to a new flash technology in a way that minimizes requalification costs.”

Join the SOLID Storage Revolution

Built on Micron’s industry-leading 64-layer 3D NAND technology for enterprise SATA SSDs, the Micron 5200 series of SSDs accelerates applications that need faster, more consistent performance, while offering overall infrastructure value and quality of service (QoS) at an improved total cost of ownership. Optimized for latency-sensitive, read-intensive workloads, these new SATA SSDs minimize storage bottlenecks with faster, predictable performance, making the move from hard drives to SSDs easier than ever before. Key features include:

  • Quality of Service — The Micron 5200 SSDs deliver extremely efficient QoS, offering up to 99.7 percent better QoS when compared to a mission-critical hard disk drive.1
  • Unmatched Capacity — Micron 5200 SSDs offer the industry’s broadest SATA portfolio with capacities up to 7.68TB, twice the capacity of other SSDs on the market.
  • Leading Performance — Engineered for fast random IO performance that fuels virtualized applications, Micron 5200 SSDs deliver up to 95k IOPS random reads and best-in-class 33,000 random writes, delivering strong performance in both areas. The drive is also highly flexible, as data center managers can use the innovative Flex Capacity feature to adjust the drive’s endurance, performance, and capacity to meet ever-changing workload demands.
  • Leader in MTTF Offering — Micron 5200 SSD data sheet specifications offer a mean time to failure (MTTF) of 3 million device hours, compared to the industry average for SATA enterprise SSD specifications of 2 million hours MTTF.
  • Easy to Manage — A fast, easy, affordable way to extend the life of existing server deployments, Micron 5200 SSDs are hot-swappable, easy to install, and only take minutes to configure, saving both time and money on setup and maintenance.

The Micron 5200 series of SSDs offers varying levels of performance and endurance to meet the diverse needs of low-latency, read-intensive workloads. Visit the Micron 5200 series SSD product flyer for additional information on the feature and function advantages. Micron 5200 SSDs are designed to replace 10K RPM hard drives and help IT managers deliver better performance and capacity – all while using less power. As an example, in an OLTP workload environment, a single Micron SSD allows you to get 3X more IOPS performance than an entire rack of 24 10K RPM hard drives.

  • 5200 ECO SATA SSD — Scale storage with fast, vast, built-to-last SSDs. Scale data center capabilities easily and efficiently. With capacities up to 7.68TB in a 2.5″ form factor, the Micron 5200 ECO SSD meets and surpasses the capacity per unit of rack space and cost advantages that had been previously owned by HDDs. Specially designed for read-intensive workloads, the Micron 5200 ECO SSD provides cloud services and content sharing companies a reliable, easy-to-deploy SATA storage solution that works within existing infrastructure deployment models to deliver radically faster performance than an HDD − and a significantly better value.
  • 5200 PRO SATA SSD — An all-purpose drive to power read-intensive workload demands. Micron 5200 PRO SSDs are an all-purpose drive to power read-intensive workloads that require higher random write performance and endurance. The Micron 5200 PRO is quick to respond and deliver on the unforecasted demand of today’s application workloads, including burst-driven transaction waves or sudden high volume web traffic. For IT administrators needing to ensure fast data throughput to keep their business running smoothly at all times, the Micron 5200 PRO SSD is a known storage workhorse and is engineered to deliver consistently fast, leading performance.

Micron 5200 SSDs are available now for OEM qualification and for purchase through distributors, such as ASI, Avnet, CDW, Ingram, Microland, WPG-Americas, Synnex and others.

By Dan Tracy and Ji-Won Cho, SEMI

2017 proved to be record-setting year for the semiconductor industry. According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), worldwide semiconductor market will have grown 20 percent, exceeding $400 billion for the first time. Among all major product segments, memory is the strongest, with sales are on track to grow 60 percent year-over-year, contributing to 30 percent of worldwide semiconductor sales in 2017. The consensus is that the growth momentum in memory will continue in 2018, driven by stable market demand and a favorable pricing environment.

Korean memory makers are the biggest beneficiaries of this memory super cycle. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the memory export value from Korea grew 86 percent through November 2017 compared to a year earlier, indicating that Korean memory makers are gaining more market share. On the supply side of the market, both Samsung and SK Hynix saw record high capital expenditures in 2017, contributing to the revenue surge from Korean suppliers. The spending spree is expected to continue in 2018. Together, Samsung and SK Hynix are forecast to invest over $20 billion in fab tools worldwide in 2018. (Track fab projects in detail with the SEMI World Fab Forecast or SEMI FabView databases).

WFF-Dec2017-chart

Samsung’s anchor project in 2018 is the ramp of its new Fab P1 phase 2 line in Pyeongtaek. Samsung plans to add new 3D NAND as well as DRAM capacity at this fab, fortifying its leading position in memory market. Beyond 2018, Samsung’s Xian phase 2 plan is also underway for future expansion.

SK Hynix, on the other hand, will ramp up M14 fab in 2018, adding new capacity for both 3D NAND and DRAM. In the meantime, SK Hynix is building a new fab, M15, in Cheongju, Korea, for 3D NAND and Fab C3 in Wuxi, China, for DRAM.

Both of these leading memory makers plan to ride this memory cycle and intend to vault ahead of the competition. Future demand for 3D NAND will continue to be the strongest, driving new fab projects in Korea now and later in China. Nevertheless, DRAM supply will also see new capacity coming online this year, followed by rare new fab projects. Memory not only accounts for a major portion of worldwide semiconductor sales but will also propel the investment momentum in the coming years.

SEMICON Korea 2018

The strong memory growth sets the stage for SEMICON Korea, January 31 through February 2 in Seoul. The largest microelectronics event in Korea, with over 40,000 attendees expected, SEMICON Korea will focus on enabling participants to “Connect, Collaborate, and Innovate.”

Key SEMICON Korea highlights include:

  • The 1,919 booths are sold out as major equipment, materials, and subsystem/parts companies exhibit their new products and technology solutions at the show.
  • Industry giants including Samsung, Micron, Intel, Toshiba, Sony, SK Hynix and LAM Research will connect with Korean equipment, materials and subsystems/parts manufacturers through the Supplier Search Program.
  • Participation by engineers is expected to be strong this year, after more than 10,000 engineers from​ Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and DB Hitek attended SEMICON Korea 2017.

Major SEMICON Korea programs, including the following, will provide key insights into the Korea electronics manufacturing ecosystem:

  • Smart Automotive Forum
  • Smart Manufacturing Forum
  • Test Forum
  • SEMI Technology Symposium
  • Market Seminar

For a complete schedule of programs, visit www.semiconkorea.org/en/agenda-glance.

Everspin Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRAM), a developer and manufacturer of discrete and embedded MRAM, today announced the Company recorded revenue for its first 40nm 256Mb STT-MRAM products in the fourth quarter of 2017 and is in the process of ramping its volume production in 2018. This achievement represents an important milestone for STT-MRAM as it is the enabling step for bringing the persistent memory to market.

STT-MRAM is a significant advancement in magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) as the densities of this persistent memory technology open up new market opportunities beyond where MRAM has been deployed previously. While there are several companies committed to the MRAM market today, Everspin has the advantage of being the first to reach a volume production for STT-MRAM as well as the only company that is executing on both discrete and embedded MRAM (eMRAM) solutions. The 256Mb STT-MRAM also employs an innovative ST-DDR3 interface, unlocking performance previously unattainable in legacy MRAM components.

“Our 256Mb STT-MRAM is the first ever perpendicular MTJ STT-MRAM entering mass production. This is both a testament to the technical strength of Everspin’s team in design and technology as well as the joint productization strength provided by the collaboration with GLOBALFOUNDRIES,” said Kevin Conley, President and CEO of Everspin Technologies. “This is a bellwether milestone in the evolution of this disruptive technology and we are very excited about the advantages that the capacity and performance of this product brings to our customers.”

“GLOBALFOUNDRIES is excited to see the first STT-MRAM from the Everspin partnership reaching production. The movement of discrete STT-MRAM to volume production is an important milestone on the way to enabling our risk production release of 22FDX eMRAM for GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ customers later this year,” said Dave Eggleston, Vice President of Embedded Memory, GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

Kevin Conley, President and CEO, and Jeff Winzeler, CFO, will present tomorrow at Needham & Company’s 20th Annual Growth Conference from 12:50 – 1:30PM EST at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. Management will be available to meet with investors at the conference. Copies of any presentation materials will be made available on www.Everspin.com.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 2 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2016, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. For the year, 2017 PC shipments surpassed 262.5 million units, a 2.8 percent decline from 2016. It was the 13th consecutive quarter of declining global PC shipments, as well as the sixth year of annual declines. However, Gartner analysts said there were some signs for optimism.

“In the fourth quarter of 2017, there was PC shipment growth in Asia/Pacific, Japan and Latin America. There was only a moderate shipment decline in EMEA,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “However, the U.S. market saw a steep decline, which offset the generally positive results in other regions.

“The fourth quarter results confirmed again that PCs are no longer popular holiday gift items. This does not mean that PCs will disappear from households,” Kitagawa said. “Rather, the PC will become a more specialized, purpose-driven device. PC buyers will look for quality and functionality rather than looking for the lowest price, which will increase PC average selling prices (ASPs) and improve profitability in the long run. However, until this point is reached, the market will have to go through the shrinking phase caused by fewer PC users.”

HP Inc. moved into the No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2017, as its shipments grew 6.6 percent, and its market share totaled 22.5 percent (see Table 1). The company showed year-over-year growth in all regions, including the challenging U.S. market. For the fourth consecutive quarter, Lenovo experienced a decline in shipments. Lenovo had moderate growth in EMEA and Asia/Pacific, but shipments declined in North America.

Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q17 (Thousands of Units)

Company

4Q17 Shipments

4Q17 Market Share (%)

4Q16 Shipments

4Q16 Market Share (%)

4Q17-4Q16 Growth (%)

HP Inc.

16,076

22.5

15,084

20.7

6.6

Lenovo

15,742

22.0

15,857

21.7

-0.7

Dell

10,841

15.2

10,767

14.7

0.7

Apple

5,449

7.6

5,374

7.4

1.4

Asus

4,731

6.6

5,336

7.3

-11.3

Acer Group

4,726

6.6

4,998

6.8

-5.4

Others

13,990

19.6

15,599

21.4

-10.3

Total

71,556

100.0

73,015

100.0

-2.0

Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface), but not Chromebooks or iPads. All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels.
Source: Gartner (January 2018)

Dell’s shipments grew slightly in the fourth quarter of 2017. Dell did well in EMEA, Asia/Pacific and Latin America, but it had weak results in North America. Generally, Dell has put a higher priority on profitability over market share.

Steep PC shipment decline in the U.S.

In the U.S., PC shipments surpassed 15.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, an 8 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2016 (see Table 2). Four of the top five vendors experienced a decline in U.S. PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2017. HP Inc. was the only vendor to increase shipments in the quarter. The decline was attributed to weak consumer demand despite holiday season sales.

“U.S. consumer confidence was high in the fourth quarter of 2017, but that did not influence PC demand. U.S. holiday sales were filled with popular products, such as voice-enabled speakers, and newly released smartphones,” Kitagawa said. “PCs simply could not compete against these gift items during the holiday season. We did see some consistent growth of gaming and high-end PCs.”

Table 2
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q17 (Thousands of Units)

Company

4Q17 Shipments

4Q17 Market Share (%)

4Q16 Shipments

4Q16 Market Share (%)

4Q17-4Q16 Growth (%)

HP Inc.

5,130

33.7

5,049

30.5

1.6

Dell

3,691

24.3

4,209

25.4

-12.3

Apple

1,972

13.0

2,003

12.1

-1.6

Lenovo

1,792

11.8

2,344

14.2

-23.6

Acer Group

587

3.9

661

4.0

-11.2

Others

2,042

13.4

2,276

13.8

-10.3

Total

15,214

100.0

16,543

100.0

-8.0

Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface), but not Chromebooks or iPads. All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels.
Source: Gartner (January 2018)

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 21.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 1.4 percent decline year over year. PC demand in the U.K. was still ailing and unit shipments into Germany were weaker than expected. PC revenue is expected to be up year over year in Western Europe. The rise in ASPs is due to currency fluctuations, the need for vendors to offset rising component costs, and a product-mix shift toward higher-value items, such as gaming systems and high-performing notebooks.

The Asia/Pacific PC market totaled 25 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 0.6 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2016. The consumer market stabilized with fourth-quarter online promotions in many countries, which drove demand for gaming PCs and thin and light notebooks. China experienced its first positive PC shipment growth since the first quarter of 2012. The success of the 11.11 shopping festival and the continuing demand for PCs in the commercial market drove the China PC market to 1.1 percent growth in the quarter.

PC market consolidation in 2017

For the year, worldwide PC shipments totaled 262.5 million units in 2017, a 2.8 percent decrease from 2016 (see Table 3). As the PC industry continues to consolidate, the top four vendors in 2017 accounted for 64 percent of global PC shipments. In 2011, the top four vendors accounted for 45 percent of PC shipments.

“The top vendors have taken advantage of their volume operations to lower production costs, pushing small to midsize vendors out of the market,” Kitagawa said.

Table 3
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2017 (Thousands of Units)

Company

2017

Shipments

2017 Market

Share (%)

2016

Shipments

2016 Market Share (%)

2017-2016 Growth (%)

HP Inc.

55,162

21.0

52,734

19.5

4.6

Lenovo

54,714

20.8

55,951

20.7

-2.2

Dell

39,871

15.2

39,421

14.6

1.1

Apple

19,299

7.4

18,546

6.9

4.1

Asus

17,967

6.8

20,496

7.6

-12.3

Acer Group

17,088

6.5

18,274

6.8

-6.5

Others

58,435

22.3

64,683

23.9

-9.7

Total

262,537

100.0

270,106

100.0

-2.8

Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface), but not Chromebooks or iPads. All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels.
Source: Gartner (January 2018)

These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner’s PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe.

 

By Emir Demircan, Senior Manager Advocacy and Public Policy, SEMI Europe

Electronic manufacturing is becoming cool to today’s youth. STEM skills are hot in the global job market – though the number of females pursuing a STEM education continues to lag. Work-based learning is key to mastering new technologies. And the electronics industry needs a global talent pipeline more than ever.

These were key highlights from a SEMI Member Forum in December that brought together industry representatives and students in Dresden to weigh in on job-skills challenges facing the electronics manufacturers and solutions for the industry to consider. Here are the takeaways:

1) Electronics is much more than manufacturing

For many years, working in the manufacturing industry was not an appealing prospect for millennials. This picture is certainly changing. The pivotal role of electronics manufacturing in helping solve grand societal challenges in areas such as the environment, healthcare and urban mobility is reaffirmed by countries around the world. Electronics is the lifeblood of game-changing technologies such as autonomous driving, AI, IoT, and VR/AR, enticing more young employees into careers in research, design, technology development, production, cyber security and international business, and in disciplines ranging from engineering and data analytics to software development and cyber security.

What’s more, the drudgery of many factory jobs is disappearing thanks to automation, digitization and robotization. According to CEDEFOP, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, low-skilled jobs in electro-engineering and machine operations/assembly in the European Union (EU) is projected to decrease 6.98 percent and 2.03 percent, respectively, between 2015 and 2025.

In parallel, the industry will need more high-skilled workers. For instance, within the same period, CEDEFOP forecasts a 12.51 percent increase in jobs for EU researchers and engineers. Soft skills will see high demand too. As the electronics industry continues to globalize and drive the integration of vertical technologies, workers proficient in communicating in an international environment, leading multicultural teams, developing tailor-made solutions and making data-driven decisions will see higher demand.

2) STEM skills will remain under the spotlight

Continuous innovation is the oxygen of the electronics manufacturing industry, powering the development of highly customized solutions by workers with technical expertise in chemistry, materials, design, mechanics, production and many other fields. In addition, capabilities such as smart manufacturing require workers with growing technical sophistication in areas such as software, information and communications technology (ICT) and data analytics, stiffening the challenge the electronics industry faces in finding skilled workers. Little wonder that employers in Europe struggle to build a workforce with the right technical expertise. The findings of the study “Encouraging STEM Studies for the Labour Market” conducted by the European Parliament underscores the difficulty of hiring enough workers with adequate STEM skills:

  • The proportion of STEM students is not rising at the European level and the underrepresentation of women persists.
  • Businesses are expected to produce about 7 million new STEM jobs, an uptick of 8 percent, between 2013 and 2025 in Europe.

3) The women-in-tech gap is becoming more persistent 

The global manufacturing industry suffers from strikingly low female participation in STEM education and careers. According to UNSECO, in Europe and North America, the number of female graduates in STEM is generally low. For instance, women make up just 19 percent of engineers in Germany and the U.S. The European Parliament study confirms that STEM employment remains stubbornly male-dominated, with women filling just 24 percent of science and engineering jobs and 15 percent of science and engineering associate positions in Europe. According to an article by Guardian, a mere 16 percent of computer science undergraduates in the United Kingdom and the U.S. are female. This yawning gender gap is a deep concern for electronics manufacturing companies in Europe, hampering innovation in a sector that relies heavily on diversity and inclusion and shrinks the talent pipeline critical to remaining competitive.

4) Coping with new technologies: work-based learning is the key

The evolution of the electronics industry since the 1980s has been swift. PCs emerged largely as islands of communication, then became networked. Networking bred the proliferation of social platforms and mobile devices and, today, is giving rise to IoT. Education curricula in Europe, however, have not matured at the same pace, opening a gap between the worlds of industry and education and imposing a formidable school-to-work transition for many young graduates. Work-based learning, which helps students develop the knowledge and practical job skills needed by business, is one solution. The industry reports that work-based learning is vital to remaining competitive in the long run. Innovative dual-learning programmes, apprenticeships and industrial master’s and doctorates are shining examples that are already paying off in some parts of Europe. Such work-based learning models can be extended as a common pillar of education in Europe.

5) A global industry needs a global talent pipeline

The electronics value chain workforce needs an international and multicultural talent pipeline, chiefly spanning the U.S., Europe and Asia. However, many European manufacturers, in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs), report that building an international workforce remains a challenge due to employment and immigration law barriers as well as cultural and linguistic differences. The EU’s Blue Card initiative, designed to facilitate hiring beyond Europe, is a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, with the exception of Germany, EU member states have made little or no use of the EU Blue Card scheme.

SEMI drives sector-wide initiatives on workforce development

Understanding the urgency, SEMI is accelerating its workforce development activities at global level. Contributing to this initiative, the SEMI talent pipeline Forum in Dresden served as an effective platform for the industry to share its challenges and opportunities with students at various education levels. Led by industry representatives, the sessions enabled the exchange of workforce-development best practices and paved the way for further collaboration among industry, academia and government in Europe. For example, in the Career Café session, students networked with hiring managers. Other workforce development initiatives include:

To help position the skills challenges faced by SEMI members high on the public policy agenda, SEMI in 2017 joined several policy groups including Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and Expert Group on High-Tech Skills. Last year SEMI also launched Women in Tech, an initiative that convenes industry leaders to help increase female representation in the sector. SEMI also educates its members about key EU resources such as the Blue Card and Digital Opportunity Internship programmes aimed at hiring international talent. In 2018, SEMI will reach out to even more young people through its High Tech U programme to raise awareness of careers in electronics. SEMICON Europa 2018 will host dedicated talent pipeline sessions to help the industry tackle its skills challenges. ISS Europe 2018 sessions on Gaining, Training and Retaining World Class Talent will disseminate best practices to the wider industry. Also this year, SEMI Europe plans to start a new advisory group, “Workforce 4.0,” dedicated to bringing together human resources leaders in the sector to give the electronics manufacturing industry a stronger voice on workforce development.

 

The SEMI European 3D Summit will make its Dresden, Germany, debut  22-24 January, 2018, featuring a broader scope of 3D topics driving innovation and business opportunities in the 3D market. The event will highlight the latest 3D technologies including 3DIC Through-Silicon-Via (TSV), 2.5D, 3D FO-WLP/ e-WLB, glass interposers, thermal management and 3D alternative technologies for heterogeneous integration and high-density systems.

A market briefing on the latest business challenges and opportunities in the 3D sector will kick off the summit, with 3D and packaging industry experts presenting their exclusive business and market insights and analysis confirming the huge forecast growth of advanced packaging. Keynotes and presentations on the current adoption of 3D applications such as high-end memory, performance, mobile, imaging and automotive will highlight this 6th edition of SEMI European 3D Summit.

Sold-out for five years straight, the European 3D Summit will showcase the leading names in 3D integration microelectronics manufacturing and offer numerous networking opportunities including a gala dinner and cocktail hour, along with frequent coffee and lunch break mixers. In addition, attendees will meet emerging new talent engaged in the future of 3D integration including Sabrina Fadloun, PhD student and senior field process engineer, SPTS Technologies, and September 2017 winner of the international competition “My Thesis in 180 Seconds.”

The European 3D Summit will showcase speakers from companies such as Third Millennium Test Solutions (3MTS), Amkor Technology, CEA-Leti, Chipworks, Epcos, Fraunhofer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Hewlett Packard, Huawei, IBM, IMEC, Intel, ProPrincipia, Qualcomm, Silex, ST Microelectronics, SMIC, TechSearch, Tessera Xperi, Université de Sherbrooke, Western Digital, X-Fab and Yole Développement.

Featuring a huge supplier base, Dresden is home to some of Europe’s largest fabs, from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon, and X-FAB to a new 300mm BOSCH fab.

Premium Sponsors of the European 3D Summit are SPTS Technologies (platinum sponsor), ASE Group (gold sponsor), Suss MicroTec Group (silver sponsor), EV Group and Trymax (event sponsor)

Please find more registration information at www.semi.org/eu/European-3D-Summit-2018-Register. For more information on the show, please visit www.semi.org/eu/european-3d-summit-2018 or contact Mr. Michael Kaiser, Senior Manager Business Development, SEMI Europe (email: [email protected] or tel. +49 30 3030 8077 10).

EPC announces the EPC2049 power transistor for use in applications including point of load converters, LiDAR, envelope tracking power supplies, class-D audio, and low inductance motor drives. The EPC2049 has a voltage rating of 40 V and maximum RDS(on) of 5 mΩ with a 175 A pulsed output current.

The chip-scale packaging of The EPC2049 handles thermal conditions far better than the plastic packaged MOSFETs since the heat is dissipated directly to the environment with chip-scale devices, whereas the heat from the MOSFET die is held within a plastic package. It measures a mere 2.5 mm x 1.5 mm (3.75 mm2). Designers no longer have to choose between size and performance – they can have both!

“The EPC2049 demonstrates how EPC and gallium nitride transistor technology is increasing the performance and reducing the cost of eGaN devices. The EPC2049 is further evidence that the performance and cost gap of eGaN technology with MOSFET technology continues to widen,” said Alex Lidow, EPC’s co-founder and CEO.

Invensas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Corporation (“Xperi”) (NASDAQ:XPER), today announced the successful technology transfer of its Direct Bond Interconnect to Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies company. This capability enables Teledyne DALSA to deliver next-generation MEMS and image sensor solutions that are more compact and higher performance to customers in the automotive, IoT and consumer electronics markets. Teledyne DALSA is a developer of high performance digital imaging and semiconductors and one of the world’s foremost pure-play MEMS foundries. Invensas and Teledyne DALSA announced the signing of a development license in February 2017.

“In partnership with Invensas, we have successfully completed the transfer of its revolutionary DBI technology to our manufacturing facilities in Bromont,” said Edwin Roks, president of Teledyne DALSA. “We are now ready to offer this enabling platform as part of our foundry services to customers, including our own business lines, seeking smaller, higher performance and more reliable MEMS and imaging solutions.”

“The manufacturing team at Teledyne DALSA has done a fantastic job bringing up our DBI process and is well-positioned to enable a new generation of high performance MEMS and image sensor solutions,” said Craig Mitchell, president of Invensas. “We are excited about the prospects for DBI to be integrated into a wide range of Teledyne DALSA’s branded products as well as those of their foundry customers.”

DBI technology is a low-temperature hybrid wafer bonding solution that allows wafers to be bonded with scalable fine pitch 3D electrical interconnect without requiring bond pressure. The technology is applicable to a wide range of semiconductor devices including MEMS, image sensors, RF front ends and stacked memory. DBI 3D interconnect can eliminate the need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) and reduce die size and cost while enabling pixel level interconnect for future generations of image sensors.

IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:IXYS), a global manufacturer of power semiconductors and integrated circuits (ICs) for energy efficiency, power management, transportation, medical, and motor control applications, today announced a new power semiconductor product line: 200V Ultra-Junction X3-Class HiPerFET Power MOSFETs. The current ratings range from 36A to 300A; a broad selection of devices are available in a number of international standard packages.

Fabricated using a charge compensation principle and IXYS’ own process technology, these new MOSFETs exhibit the lowest on-state resistances in the industry (3.5 milliohms in the SOT-227 package and 4 milliohms in the TO-264, for example). Along with gate charges as low as 21 nanocoulombs, these devices enable highest power densities and energy efficiencies in a wide variety of high-speed power conversion applications.

The fast body diodes of the devices are optimized and have low reverse recovery charge and time, thereby suppressing transients and enabling low-noise, high-efficiency power switching. Their low reverse recovery charge and time also boost efficiencies. In addition, these new MOSFETs are avalanche capable and exhibit a superior dv/dt performance (up to 20V/ns).

Targeted applications include synchronous rectification, battery chargers for light electric vehicles (LEVs), motor control (48V-110V systems), DC-DC converters, uninterruptible power supplies, electric forklifts, inverters, power solid state relays, and Class-D audio amplifiers.

The new 200V X3-Class Power MOSFETs with HiPerFET body diodes are available in the following international standard size packages: TO-3P, TO-220 (overmolded or standard), TO-247, PLUS247, TO-252, TO-263, TO-264, TO-268HV, SOT-227. Some example part numbers include IXFP36N20X3, IXFA72N20X3, IXFH90N20X3 and IXFN300N20X3, with current ratings of 36A, 72A, 90A and 300A, respectively.

Additional product information can be obtained by visiting the IXYS website at http://www.ixys.com or by contacting the company directly.

aveni S.A., developer and manufacturer of market-disrupting wet deposition technologies and chemistries for 2D interconnects and 3D through silicon via packaging, today announced it has obtained results that strongly support the continued use of copper in the back end of line (BEOL) for advanced interconnects, at and beyond the 5nm technology node.

“In this 20th-anniversary year of copper integration, our results validate the comments made by IBM Research Fellow Dan Edelstein in his keynote presentation at the recent IEEE Nanotechnology Symposium, discussing that copper integration is here to stay,” noted Bruno Morel, aveni CEO.

As devices inevitably continue to shrink to meet (and create) market demand, designers are exploring alternative integration schemes, not only for the front end of line, but also the BEOL. This includes, most notably, replacing the copper in dual-damascene interconnects, to compensate for the increased resistance-capacitance (RC) delay that accompanies the thinner copper wires and adversely affects device speed. Proposed replacement options for copper are cobalt, the most likely candidate, or more exotic materials like ruthenium, graphene or carbon nanotubes.

Advanced dual-damascene structures employ an atomic layer deposition tantalum nitride (TaN) copper diffusion barrier, a thin chemical vapor deposition (CVD) cobalt liner, and the electroplated copper fill layer, which makes up most of the wiring. Earlier generations (≥7nm node) also use a physical vapor deposition (PVD) copper seed layer between the cobalt and copper fill, but advanced devices are phasing out this film due to marginal seed coverage and integration hurdles.

Of particular interest is the thin TaN barrier, which prevents copper from diffusing into and poisoning the device. The integrity of the thin cobalt liner (on top of TaN) is critical to ensuring that the barrier functions properly. The reduced thickness of cobalt liners for the 5nm technology node is approaching 3nm, reducing process flexibility for conventional approaches to copper plating.

In a recent study, aveni compared its Sao™ alkaline-based copper electroplating chemistry performance with a conventional, commercially available acidic copper plating chemistry. The samples to be plated were 3nm CVD cobalt over TaN. The study results showed that the acidic copper chemistry attacked the cobalt liner, causing the plating chemistry to react with the underlying TaN film and form tantalum oxide (TaOx). TaOx formation is another failure mode of devices, because it creates an effective open circuit that prevents current flow.

With aveni’s Sao chemistry, the cobalt remained intact and TaOx was not formed, which enables the extension of copper interconnects to process nodes at 5nm and below.

Frédéric Raynal, chief technical officer at aveni, commented, “We were extremely excited about these results, because they substantiate our position that Sao alkaline-based chemistry for copper electroplating is superior to acidic chemistries, especially with the thinner cobalt liners used in advanced nodes.”

aveni will publish the complete findings in a report in early 2018.