Category Archives: Applications

Unprecedented opportunities in automotive electronics

October 3, 2017

Providing deep insights and perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in automotive electronics, the second edition of “FUTURECAR: New Era of Automotive Electronics Workshop” will be held November 8-10 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. SEMI (http://www.semi.org) and Georgia Tech, collaborators for the event, see unprecedented technical challenges and opportunities in electrical, mechanical and thermal designs, and new digital, RF, radar, LiDAR, camera, millimeter wave, high-power and high-temp technologies. The workshop will highlight rapid advancements in automotive electronics technologies and applications, and explore technical and business barriers and opportunities that are best addressed collectively across the supply chain.

The focus of the 2017 FUTURECAR workshop is on electronics in the car of the future. Autonomous driving, in-car smartphone-like infotainment, privacy and security, and all-electric cars will be among the topics presented, with particular emphasis on how these advancements impact devices and packaging with respect to materials, tools, processes, substrates, packages, components and integrated functions in R&D and in manufacturing. This event provides a unique opportunity for the semiconductor manufacturing and automotive supply chains to connect, collaborate and identify areas for new solutions.

The plenary session on November 8 will feature presentations from leading experts from Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Bosch, Qualcomm, SAE International and Yole Développement. The workshop sessions on November 9-10 include:

Power devices and packaging
High-temperature materials and reliability
Sensing electronics
Computing and communications
Student posters

FUTURECAR draws on the synergy between Georgia Tech in R&D and its industrial partners, as well as SEMI in global electronics manufacturing stewardship across the supply chain. Key to the depth of the workshop is support and expertise from the technical co-sponsors International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), IEEE Electronics Packaging Society (IEEE EPS) and International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging (IMAPS), as well as SAE International, the global association representing engineers and experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial vehicle industries.

Workshop co-chairs are Prof. Rao Tummala, Georgia Tech; Bettina Weiss, SEMI; Grace O’Malley, iNEMI; Christian Hoffman (Qualcomm), IMAPS; and Patrick McCluskey, IEEE.

For more information on FUTURECAR 2017 and to register, please visit http://www.prc.gatech.edu/FUTURECAR

Robotics and chip industries in Japan

October 2, 2017

By Yoichiro Ando, SEMI Japan

Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, plans to stage a Robot Olympics in 2020 alongside the summer Olympic Games to be hosted in Tokyo. Abe said he wants to showcase the latest global robotics technology, an industry in which Japan has long been a pioneer. Japan’s Robot Strategy developed by the Robot Revolution Initiative Council plans to increase Japanese industrial robot sales to 1.2 trillion JPY by 2020. This article discusses how the robotics industry is not just a key pillar of Japan’s growing strategy but also a key application segment that may lead Japan’s semiconductor industry growth.

Japan leads robotics industry

According to International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the 2015 industrial robot sales increased by 15 percent to 253,748 units compared to the 2014 sales. Among the 2015 record sales, Japanese companies shipped 138,274 units that represent 54 percent of the total sales according to Japan Robot Association (JARA). The robotics companies in Japan include Yaskawa Electric, Fanuc, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujikoshi and Epson.

Source: International Federation of Robotics (global sales) and Japan Robot Association (Japan shipment)

The automotive industry was the most important customer of industrial robots in 2015 that purchased 97,500 units or 38 percent of the total units sold worldwide. The second largest customer was the electrical/electronics industry (including computers and equipment, radio, TV and communication devices, medical equipment, precision and optical instruments) that showed significant growth of 41 percent to 64,600 units.

Semiconductors devices used in robotics industry

Robotics needs semiconductor devices to improve both performance and functionality. As the number of chips used in a robot increases and more advanced chips are required, the growing robotics market is expected to generate significant semiconductor chip demands.

Semiconductor devices in robots are used for collecting information; information processing and controlling motors and actuators; and networking with other systems.

Sensing Devices: Sensors are used to collect information including external information such as image sensors, sound sensors, ultrasonic sensors, infrared ray sensors, temperature sensors, moisture sensors and pressure sensors; and movement and posture of the robot itself such as acceleration sensors and gyro sensors.
Enhancing these sensors’ sensitivity would improve the robot performance. However, for robot applications, smaller form factors, lighter weight, lower power consumption, and real-time sensing are also important. Defining all those sensor requirements for a specific robot application is necessary to find an optimal and cost-effective sensor solution.

In addition, noise immunity is getting more important in selecting sensors as robot applications expand in various environments that include noises. Another new trend is active sensing technology that enhances sensors’ performance by actively changing the position and posture of the sensors in various environments.
Data Processing and Motor Control Devices: The information collected by the sensors is then processed by microprocessors (MPUs) or digital signal processors (DSPs) to generate control signals to the motors and actuators in the robot. Those processors must be capable of operating real-time to quickly control the robot movement based on processed and analyzed information. To further improve robot performance, new processors that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and ability to interact with the big data cloud database are needed.

As robotics is adapted to various industry areas as well as other services and consumer areas, the robotics industry will need to respond to multiple demands. It is expected that more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) will be used in the industry to manufacture robots to those demands.
In the control of motors and actuators, power devices play important roles. For precise and lower-power operation of the robot, high performance power devices using high band gap materials such as Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride will likely used in the industrial applications.
Networking Devices: Multiple industrial robots used in a production line are connected with a network. Each robot has its internal network to connect its components. Thus every robot is equipped with networking capability as a dedicated IC, FPGA or a function incorporated in microcontrollers.

Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0 requires all equipment in a factory to be connected to a network that enables the machine-to-machine (M2M) communication as well as connection to the external information (such as ordering information and logistics) to maximize factory productivity. To be a part of such Smart Factories, industrial robots must be equipped with high-performance and high-reliability network capability.

Opportunities for semiconductor industry in Japan

Japanese semiconductor companies are well-positioned in the key semiconductor product segments for robotics such as sensors, microcontrollers and power devices. These products do not require the latest process technology to manufacture and can be fabricated on 200mm or smaller wafers at a reasonable cost. Japan is the region that holds the largest 200mm and smaller wafer fab capacity in the world and the lines are quite versatile in these product categories.

The robotics market will likely be a large-variety and small-volume market. Japanese semiconductor companies will have an advantage over companies in other regions because they can collaborate with leading robotics companies in Japan from early stages of development. Also, Japan may lead the robotics International Standards development which would be another advantage to Japanese semiconductor companies.

For more information about the robotics and semiconductor, attend SEMICON Japan on December 13 to 15 in Tokyo. Event and program information will be available at www.semiconjapan.org soon.

TowerJazz and Crocus expand presence in magnetic sensors market

September 27, 2017

TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry, and Crocus, a developer of TMR magnetic sensor technology and embedded MRAM, today announce volume manufacturing of Crocus TMR (Tunnel MagnetoResistance) sensors, using TowerJazz’s 0.13um CMOS process with a dedicated magnetic module in the Cu BEOL. With Crocus’ magnetic process, know-how and IP, and TowerJazz’s process technology and integration expertise, Crocus has successfully licensed the TMR technology to an automotive Tier 1 customer, bringing increased business to both companies.

According to a 2016 MarketsandMarkets report, the overall magnetic field sensors market was valued at USD $2.25 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach S4.16 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.87% between 2016 and 2022. The growth of this market is driven by the rising demand for MEMS-based sensors across industry verticals, surge in the automotive industry, increasing demand for high-quality sensing devices, and continuous growth in consumer electronics applications.

Magnetic transducers which sense magnetic field strength are widely used in modern industry and electronics to measure current, position, motion, direction, and other physical parameters. Crocus’ TMR technology is a CMOS-based, robust technology capable of offering important advantages in sensitivity, performance, power consumption, size and full integration with CMOS to create monolithic single die ICs. Benefits to customers come in the form of low power, a robust design and high temperature performance. Crocus TMR solutions are ideally suited for many applications ranging from IoT to consumer, medical, automotive and industrial equipment.

“We selected TowerJazz because of their high flexibility and capabilities to adapt their TS13 platform to incorporate our TMR technology which includes magnetic materials that are typically not used in CMOS. TowerJazz’s vast manufacturing expertise is enabling us to successfully fulfill the needs of several market sectors combined with increased performance required in next-generation sensors. TowerJazz has been our development partner for many years and together we have achieved technology maturity leading to expanded business and successful licensing of Crocus IP,” said Michel Desbard, Crocus CEO.

“As the demand for IoT applications in our daily life is ever-increasing, there is an even greater need for intelligent sensing, low power and improved performance. Crocus’ successful licensing of their IP, along with TowerJazz’s manufacturing capability and know-how, enables us to deliver highly-advanced and competitive embedded-solutions to multiple customers in various markets. Through our partnership with Crocus, we are broadening our presence in the sensors’ market, complementing our MEMS and image sensing programs,” said Zmira Shternfeld-Lavie, VP of TOPS BU and R&D Process Engineering.”

Crocus’s TMR magnetic sensor is expected to displace existing sensor technologies in many applications. Crocus’ TMR magnetic sensor product family includes multiple architectures which are based on its Magnetic Logic Unit, a disruptive CMOS-based rugged magnetic technology.

Wearable sensors reach their first billion-dollar year, with growth coming in three waves

September 27, 2017

IDTechEx predict that 2017 will be the first billion dollar year for wearable sensors. These critical components are central to the core value proposition in many wearable devices. The “Wearable Sensors 2018-2028: Technologies, Markets & Players” report includes IDTechEx’slatest research and forecasts on this topic, collating over 3 years of work to provide a thorough characterisation and outlook for each type of sensor used in wearable products today.

Despite sales volumes from wearable products continuing to grow, creeping commoditisation squeezes margins, with hardware sales being particularly vulnerable. This has led to some consolidation in the industry, with several prominent failures and exits, and challenging time even amongst market leaders in each sector. As hardware margins are squeezed, business models are changing to increasingly focus on the valuable data generated once a device is worn. Sensors are responsible for the collection and quality of that data, so understanding the capabilities and limitations of different sensor platforms is critical to understanding the progress of the industry as a whole.

In the report, IDTechEx address 21 different types of wearable sensor across 9 different categories as follows: Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), optical sensors, electrodes, force/pressure/stretch sensors, temperature sensors, microphones, GPS, chemical & gas sensors & others. Hundreds of examples from throughout the report cover a breadth of technology readiness, ranging from long-established industries to early proof-of-concepts. The report contains information about the activities of over 115 different companies, with primary content (including interviews, exhibition or site visits by the authors) to more than 80 different companies, large and small.

IDTechEx describe wearable sensors in three waves. The first wave includes sensors that have been incorporated in wearable for many years, often being originally developed for wearable products decades ago, and existing as mature industries today. A second wave of wearable sensors came following huge technology investment in smartphones. Many of the sensors from smartphones could be easily adapted for use in wearable products; they could be made-wearable. Finally, as wearable technology hype and investment peaked, many organisations identified many sensor types that could be developed specifically with wearable products in mind. These made-for-wearablesensors often remain in the commercial evaluation or relatively early commercial sales today, but some examples are already becoming significant success stories.

Click to enlarge.

Billions of wearable electronic products are already sold each year today. Many have already experienced significant hardware commoditisation, with tough competition driving prices down. Even as wearable devices become more advanced, introducing more sensors and better components to enhance value propositions, lessons of history tell us that hardware will always be prone to commoditisation. As this happens the role of sensors only becomes more important; with hardware prices being constantly squeezed, increasing proportions of the value that companies can capture from products will be from the data that the products can generate.

The key hardware component for capturing this data is the sensors, so understanding the development and prospects of sensors today is critical to predicting the potential for this entire industry in the future. “Wearable Sensors 2018-2028: Technologies, Markets & Players” is written to address the needs of any company or individual looking to gain a clearer, independent perspective on the outlook for various types of wearable sensor. The report answers detailed questions about technology, markets and industry trends, and supported by years of primary research investment collated and distilled within.

Itâs gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day

September 26, 2017

BY ARABINDA DAS and JUN LU, TechInsights, Ottawa, ON

Last year was a great year for photovoltaic (PV) technology. According to Renewable Energy World magazine, since April 2016, 21 MW of solar PV mini-grids were announced in emerging markets [1]. The exact numbers of installed solar grids for 2016 has not been published yet but looking at the data for 2015, the PV industry is growing, helped by the $/watt for solar panels continuing to drop. The $/watt is obtained by taking the ratio of total cost of manufacturing and the number of watts generated. According to the Photovoltaic Magazine, the PV market continued to grow worldwide in 2015. The magazine also makes reference to the newly published report by the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System (IEA PVPS) programme’s “Snapshot of Global Photovoltaic Markets 2015,” which also states that the total capacity around the globe has crossed the 200 GW benchmark and is continuing to grow [2]. This milestone of 200 GW in installed systems is a remarkable achievement and makes us think of the amazing journey of PV technology. The technology was born in Bell Labs, around 1954, with a solar cell efficiency of just 4% [3]. By the end of the 20th century, the overall solar cell efficiency was close to 11% and the worldwide installed capacity of PV was only 1 GW [3]. Today, seventeen years later, it has soared to 200 GW, with single junction cells having efficiencies around 20% [2].

Si-based solar cells

To celebrate this important milestone, we put TechInsights’ analysis and technical databases to work to investigate the structure of solar cells of two leading manufacturers and compare them to earlier technologies. We chose to analyze Si-based solar cells only, as they represent over 85% of the global market. According to the 2016 IHS Markit report, the top three PV module suppliers in the world are Trina Solar, SunPower, and First Solar [4]. We procured panels from Trina Solar, a Chinese based company, and SunPower, an American company, and carried out a structural analysis of these panels. These analyses helped us take a snapshot of current PV technology. We compared these two types of panels with an older panel from our database. This panel is about eight years old and was made by Kaneka (Japan). We will provide an overview of each panel and their underlying structure.

Table 1 consolidates some of the important param- eters of the three panels. The SunPower panel is based on monocrystalline silicon and the Trina solar panels are based on polycrystalline silicon. The older Kaneka panel is based on amorphous Si thin film technology. The panel from Kaneka is an earlier product; their recent products are made using hybrid technology, a combination of amorphous films and polycrystalline substrates, The Kaneka panel complements very well the other two products which are based on Si crystalline wafers. The technology to fabricate the solar cells (thin film, multi-crystalline or mono-crystalline) has a direct impact on the efficiency of the cells and on their electrical parameters like the open circuit voltage (Voc) and the short circuit current (Isc), as can be seen in Table 1. This table also shows that the Kaneka thin-film based panel has the lowest nominal power among the three. The ratio of nominal power to the light power that is received by the PV panel is indicative of its efficiency. It can be seen also that Kaneka’s thin film panel has the highest open circuit voltage which is the maximum voltage available from the solar cell without any load connected to it.

Table 1 indicates that SunPower is the only one among the three that uses an n-type substrate and has the highest solar efficiency. SunPower has the lowest weight per meter-square of all the panels assessed (9.3kg).

Unlike SunPower panels, most installed Si solar panels employ a p-type substrate, even though the first silicon-based solar cells developed at Bell Labs were based on n-type Si substrates [3]. Researchers J. Libal and R. Kopecek posit that the industry transitioned to p-type substrates because the initial usage of solar cells was in space applications and p-type wafers demonstrated less degradation in the presence of cosmic rays. They suggest that for terrestrial applications there is growing evidence that n-type based solar panels are preferred over p-type based panels [5]. The reasons for choosing n-type Si substrates rather than p-type substrates are because the former are less sensitive to metallic impurities and thus are less expensive to fabricate. In general, the minority carrier diffusion lengths in n-type substrates are higher than p-type Si substrates. Also, n-type Si substrates can withstand higher processing temperatures than p-type substrates, which are prone to boron diffusion. According to the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), n-type based substrates will increase in prevalence and may eventually replace the p-type monocrystalline Si cells [6].

Thin film based solar panels are very different from monocrystalline Si cells. Thin film cells have the lowest efficiency and yet they too have a role to play in the PV industry. They are the most versatile; they can be coated on different substrates such as glass, plastic or even flexible substrates. The other big advantage of amorphous solar films is that they can be manufac- tured in a range of shapes, even non-polygonal shapes, thus they can be used in various applications. Also, thin film solar panels are not affected by high temper- atures, unlike crystalline solar panels. Thin film based panels made from amorphous Si are more effective for wavelengths between 400 nm to 700 nm, which is also the sensitive spectrum of the human eye; thus they can be used as light sensors [7]. Usually, thin film panels are almost half the price of monocrystalline panels. Amorphous silicon solar cells only require 1% of the silicon used in crystalline silicon solar cells [7].

Multi-crystalline (MC) solar panels are also cheaper than monocrystalline solar panels. MC panels are made by melting raw silicon and confining them into square molds, where they are cooled. This MC-Si process does not require the expensive Czochralski process. In the early days, the cost of fabrication of MC-Si panels was higher than thin film based panels. Now, due to the major advances in fabrication technologies, these panels often have the best $/ watt, which represent the ratio of cost to manufacture to energy output [8]. It is difficult to compare $/watt directly from different manufacturers and different types of solar panels as the technology is manufacturing is changing rapidly and often the most recent products of a manufacturer are not compared. A more sensible factor of comparison would be the ratio of total kilowatt-hours the system generates in its lifetime divided by the cost per square unit of the panel. To make a detailed estimation even the installation cost and tolerance to shade, overall reliability must be included in the calculations, which is beyond the scope of this article.

Solar panel overview

FIGURE 1 shows the panel from Kaneka. It indicates that the Kaneka solar panel cells are long strips that run across the whole length of the panel. The color of the panels is a shade of purple. The Kaneka Solar which is amorphous Si-based, has a very uniform color. The inherent structure of amorphous Si-films has many structural defects because they are not crystalline and thus are tolerant to other defects like impurities during manufacturing, unlike crystalline based panels [7]. The color of the thin film panels is strongly thickness dependent because thickness affects the light absorption. A solar cell’s outward appearance can range from blue to black and is dependent on the absorption and reflectivity of their surface. Ideally, if the cell absorbs all the light impinging on the surface it should be black. FIGURE 2 shows the panels from Trina solar and Sunpower. The Trina Solar panel has a blueish color and each cell is perfectly square. The SunPower SPR-X20- 250-BLK solar cell has a uniform blackish color. The spacing between the cells, the interconnect resis- tance, the top contacts and the materials used for the connections affect the overall performance of the panel. All three manufacturers connect their cells within a PV module and PV modules within an array in a series configuration.

Table 2 summarizes the cell dimensions for the three manufacturers. Kaneka panels have the narrowest space (0.55mm) between the cells. The Trina solar panel has a 3 mm wide gap and a 5 mm gap, between two adjacent solar cells, in the horizontal and vertical direction respectively. These gaps are used for bus electrodes. In the SunPower solar panel, the metal grid is placed on the back surface eliminating metal finger width as a layout constraint. This design significantly reduces the finger resistance and improves the series resistance.

For all panels, interconnects are made between the cells. The metallization and interconnects between the cells is a field of technology on its own. There are various techniques like lithography, laser grooving and printed contacts and these details are discussed more in detail elsewhere [9, 10, 11].

Solar panel cross-sections

In this section, we look into the layers deposited on the substrates. Cross-sectioning these big panels is not a trivial feat. These panels are covered with tempered glass and shatter during sawing and cross-sectioning. To extract a small rectangular piece requires patience and involves sawing and grinding processes. In most cases, the glass was removed before doing the cross-section. FIGURE 3 illustrates two SEM cross-sectional images and one schematic drawing. The SEM cross-sectional images show the top and bottom part of the Kaneka solar cell. In figure 3(a), the active layers comprise indium- tin- oxide, an amorphous silicon layer capped with zinc oxide, silver and a very thin layer of Ni-Al. On top of the Ni-Al film, solder is deposited. Ni-Al provides better adhesion to solder. Two electrical contacts are made between the cells, one to the indium-tin-oxide for the back contact and the other to the Ni-Al layer. Figure 3(b) exposes the layers under the glass substrate. The rear surface of the glass substrate is covered by a soft material such as EVA (ethyl-vinyl-acetate), which in turn is covered by a rear Polyvinyl Fluoride (PVF) layer called the backsheet (Tedlar or similar). EVA is also used on the top surface (figure 3(a)). The usage of these layers is standard practice in the PV industry. The main function of these layers is that they are impervious to moisture and are stable under prolonged exposure to sunlight. On the front side, EVA also helps to reduce reflection and provides good adhesion between the top glass and the solar panels. Figure 3(c) shows the complete stack in the Kaneka solar cell.

FIGURE 4 presents the stack of materials on the multi- crystalline substrate of the Trina Solar panel. The substrate is p-type and has a very thin phosphorous doped region near the top surface. This n-doped region forms the PN junction. A silicon nitride anti-reflective coating layer is deposited on top of the substrate and in designated areas the passivation is opened and silver is deposited to make electrical contact to the n-doped regions. At the bottom of the multi-crystalline substrate, there is also a thin region of high p-doping concentration and this forms the back surface field layer. This solar cell module is fabricated using passivated emitter and full metal back-surface-field (BSF) technology. BSF technology is implemented to mitigate rear surface recombination and this is done by doping heavily at the rear surface of the substrate. This high doping concentration keeps minority carriers (electrons) away from the rear contact because the interface between the high and low doped areas of same conductivity acts like a diode and restricts the flow of the minority carriers to the rear surface. Passivated emitters in the front side and BSF layer on the rear side improve the efficiency of the cells. Figure 3(b) is the schematic repre- sentation of the cell without the EVA and PVF layers.

FIGURE 5 shows an optical cross-section of the SunPower cell. Figure 5(a) shows that SunPower employs a backside junction technology with interdigitated backside p-emitter and n-base metal. This means that both the contact’s n and p-electrodes are at the bottom of the substrate and are placed in in an alternating manner. Having all the metal contacts on the rear side has two big advantages:

1. Metallic contacts are reflective and occupy space that can be used to collect more sunlight; transferring these contacts to the rear side improves the cell efficiency and also leaves the front surface with a uniformly black color, which is more aesthetic for the home users.

2. It reduces bulk recombination. The mono-crystalline substrate is only 120 μm thick. It is designed so that the carrier is generated close to the junction. The substrate is n-type and p-electrodes are formed by localized doping on the bottom part of the substrate.

Figure 5(b) illustrates the general structure of the cell.

FIGURE 6 depicts a SEM cross-section of the metal fingers that connect to the interdigitated electrodes. The pitch between the metal fingers is 920 um and repeats over the entire back surface of the panel.

All three manufacturers employ some sort of surface texturing along with anti-reflective coatings to reduce reflection but SunPower uses the most advanced technology for surface texturing. FIGURE 7 illustrates a SEM topographical image of the front surface texture of the monocrystalline substrate having pyramids, which are etched into the silicon surface. These faceted surfaces increase the probability of reflected light entering back to the surface of the substrate. A similar concept is also applied to the back surface.

The future is sunny and bright

Of the three panels we analyzed, SunPower solar panels employ the most advanced technologies and they illustrate how the solar cell has evolved over the ages. It started from a simple PN junction, then passivated emitters were intro- duced along with local back-surface-field (BSF) technology, which came to be known as Passivated-Emitter with Rear Locally (PERL) diffused technology. In contrast, today the most advanced technology is interdigitated back contacts along with passivated contacts.

In addition to these advances, there is great progress in tandem cells and multi-junctions to capture the different wavelength regions of the sun’s rays. A recent article in IEEE spectrum magazine presented the state of art of record-breaking PV cells made with different techniques such as thin film, crystalline Si, single junction, multi-junction cells. PV cells especially the multi-junction cells, have now crossed the 50% efficiency barrier [12]. Similarly, a publication from the alterenergy.org has collected all the major advances made in PV technology and discusses concepts like colloidal quantum dots and GaAs for cell technology, along with new applications [13]. Today, we regularly read about new materials (like perovskites) and come across new techniques that improve solar panel efficiencies, including new manufacturing methods to reduce the overall cost of fabrication. Moreover, PV cells are used in an innovative manner. The installation of PV panels is no more restricted to isolated rooftops or solar farm. An article in the Guardian made a reference to a solar panel road in Normandy, France [14]. At TechInsights, we will continue to keep an eye on emerging solar cell technologies.

The efforts emerging from various organizations all over the world are very encouraging. There are indeed many challenges for renewable energy to overcome before fiscal parity with fossil fuels is achieved; particularly for PV energy. Nevertheless, there is an increased focus on climate change issues. This has resulted in a significant amount of resources being allotted to PV technology in many countries, especially in developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil [1, 2]. This optimistic scenario reminds us of the song “I Can See Clearly Now” by the 1970s American singer Johnny Nash, where the refrain runs optimistically, “It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day.”

References

1. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2017/01/21-mw- of-solar-pv-for-emerging-market-community-mini-grids-announced- since-april.html;
2. http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/iea-pvps— installed-pv-capacity-at-227-gw-worldwide_100024068/#ixzz4MB1 a44hq
3. The history of solar: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_ timeline.pdf
4. http://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/technology/ihs-markit- names-trina-solar-sunpower-first-solar-hanwha-q-cells-and-jinko-
5. www.pv-tech.org/guest…/n_type_silicon_solar_cell_technology_ ready_for_take_off
6. http://www.itrpv.net/; http://www.itrpv.net/Reports/Downloads/2016/ 7. http://www.solar-facts-and-advice.com/amorphous-silicon.html
8. http://energyinformative.org/solar-cell-comparison-chart-mono-
polycrystalline-thin-film/
9. RP_0706-14839-O-4CS-11Kaneka
10. RP_0616-41931-O-5SA-100_Trina
11. RP_0716-42662-O-5SA-100_SunPower
12. http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/what-makes-a-good-pv-
technology
13. http://www.altenergy.org/renewables/solar/latest-solar-technology.
html
14. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/solar-panel-
road-tourouvre-au-perche-normandy

Advancements in spintronics

September 25, 2017

BY HIDEO OHNO, MARK STILES, and BERNARD DIENY, IEEE

Spintronics is the concept of using the spin degree of freedom to control electrical current to expand the capabilities of electronic devices. Over the last 10 years’ considerable progress has been made. This progress has led to technologies ranging from some that are already commercially valuable, through promising ones currently in development, to very speculative possibilities.

Today, the most commercially important class of devices consists of magnetic sensors, which play a major role in a wide variety of applications, a particularly prominent example of which is magnetic recording. Nonvolatile memories called magnetic random access memories (MRAMs) based on magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), are commercial products and may develop into additional high impact applications either as standalone memories to replace other random access memories or embedded in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) logic.

Some technologies have appealing capabilities that may improve sensors and magnetic memories or develop into other devices. These technologies include three- terminal devices based on different aspects of spin-transfer torques, spin-torque nano-oscillators, devices controlled by electric fields rather than currents, and devices based on magnetic skyrmions. Even further in the future are Spintronics-based applications in energy harvesting, bioinspired computing, and quantum technologies.

But before we get into detail about where Spintronics is today, we need to cover the history of Spintronics.

The history of spintronics

Spintronics dates to the 1960s and was discovered by a group at IBM headed by Leo Esaki, a Japanese physicist who would later go on to win a share of the Nobel Prize I 1973 for discovering the phenomenon of electronic tunneling. Esaki and his team conducted a study which showed an antiferromagnetic barrier of EuSe sandwiched between metal electrodes exhibits a large magnetoresistance.

Subsequent advances of semiconductor thin film deposition techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy led to the development of semiconductor quantum structures, which prompted studies of magnetic multilayers. Ensuing studies of magnetic multilayers resulted in the discovery of giant magne- toresistance (GMR) in 1988. This effect was used to make magnetic sensors, which boosted the areal density of information stored on hard disk drives and led to the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg.

Since then rapid progress has continued to enhance both the role and the potential of Spintronics. So, let’s take a look at where we are now.

Where we are now

Applications now include nanoscale Spintronics sensors that further enhance the areal density of hard disk drives, through MRAMs that are seriously being considered to replace embedded flash, static random access memories (SRAM) and at a later stage dynamic random access memories (DRAM). Applica- tions also include devices that utilize spin current and the resulting torque to make oscillators and to transmit information without current.

Now let’s look at those applications and more in-depth.

Modern Hard Disk Drives: Two breeds of Spintronics sensors have replaced traditional anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) sensors. Those sensors include giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors (used in hard disk drives between 1998 and 2004) and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors (used since 2004).

Those sensors are part of the technology development that enabled the increase of storage density of hard disk drives by several orders of magnitude, laying the foundation of today’s information age in the form of data centers installed by the cloud computing industry.

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM): MRAM and particularly spin-transfer- torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) is a nonvolatile memory with very high endurance and scalability. The current STT-MRAM technology uses an array of MTJs with an easy axis of magnetization oriented out of the plane of the layers. These MTJs utilize interface perpendicular anisotropy at the CoFeB–MgO interface, along with the large TMR of the system, for reading the state of magnetization. The spin-transfer torque exerted by a spin polarized current is used to change the magneti- zation direction, offering an efficient way of rewriting the memory. FIGURE 1 show the main families of MRAM that have evolved since 1995.

Three Terminal Magnetic Memory Devices: Recent physics developments raise the prospect of three- terminal spintronic memory devices. These devices have an advantage over the standard two-terminal devices used in memory applications such as MRAM in that separating the read and write functions poten- tially overcomes several future roadblocks in the devel- opment of MRAM. There are two writing schemes: one is based on spin currents generated by an electrical current running through a heavy metal adjacent to the free layer of the MTJ. The current causes a spin current both in the bulk of the heavy metal and at the interface; this spin current then exerts a torque, called the spin-orbit torque, on the magnetization. In this scheme, the write current does not pass through the MTJ, separating the write and read functions. The other scheme uses current-induced domain wall motion to move a domain wall in the free layer of the MTJ from one side of the fixed layer to the other. In this scheme, the current passes through the free layer, but not the tunnel barrier, again separating the read and write functions.

Standby-Power-Free Integrated Circuits Using MTJ-Based VLSI Computing: Spintronic-based nonvolatile embedded working memory used in conjunction with CMOS-based logic applications is a crucial first step toward standby-power-free logic circuits that are much needed for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. MRAM based logic-in-memory reduces the overhead of having memory and logic apart and gives both minimized interconnection delay and nonvolatility.

Security: These devices have shown great promise for logic and memory applications due to their energy efficiency, very high write endurance, and nonvolatility. Besides, these systems gather
many entropy sources which can be advantageously used for hardware security. The spatial and temporal randomness in the magnetic system associated with complex micromagnetic configurations, the nonlinearity of magnetization dynamics, cell-to-cell process variations, or thermally induced fluctuations of magnetization can be employed to realize novel hardware security primitives such as physical unclonable functions, encryption engines, and true random number generators.

Spin-Torque and Spin-Hall Nano-Oscillators: Spin-torque nano-oscillators (STNO) and spin-Hall effect nano-oscillators (SHNO) are in a class of miniaturized and ultra-broadband microwave signal generators that are based on magnetic resonances in single or coupled magnetic thin films. These oscil- lators are based on magnetic resonances in single or combined magnetic thin films where magnetic torques are used to both excite the resonances and subsequently tune them. The torques can be either spin-transfer torques due to spin-polarized currents (STNOs) or spin Hall torques due to pure spin currents (SHNOs). These devices are auto-oscillators and so do not require any active feedback circuitry with a positive gain for their operation. The auto-oscillatory state is strongly nonlinear, causing phase– amplitude coupling, which governs a wide range of properties, including frequency tunability, modulation, injection locking, mutual synchronization, but also causes significant phase noise. STNOs and SHNOs can, in principle, operate at any frequency supported by a magnetic mode, resulting in a potential frequency range of over six orders of magnitude, from below 100 MHz for magnetic vortex gyration modes to beyond 1 THz for exchange dominated modes. Since STNOs and SHNOs can also act as tunable detectors over this frequency range, there is significant potential for novel devices and applications.

Beyond the applications listed, the spin degree of freedom is also being used to convert heat to energy through the spin Seebeck effect, to manipulate quantum states in solids for information processing and communication, and to realize biologically inspired computing. These may lead to new develop- ments in information storage, computing, communication, energy harvesting, and highly sensitive sensors. Let’s take a look at these new developments.

Thermoelectric Generation Based on Spin Seebeck Effects: The study of combined heat and spin flow, called spin caloritronics, may be used to develop more efficient thermoelectric conversion. Much of the focus of research in spin caloritronics has been the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect, which refers to spin-current generation by temperature gradients across junctions between metallic layers and magnetic layers. The generated spin current in the metallic layer gets converted into a charge current by the inverse spin Hall effect, making a two-step conversion process from a thermal gradient perpen- dicular to the interface into a charge current in the plane of the interface. This process can be used for thermoelectric conversion. Device structures using the spin Seebeck effect differ significantly from those using conventional Seebeck effects due to the orthog- onality of the thermal gradient and resulting charge current, giving different strategies for applications of the two effects.

Electric-Field Control of Spin-Orbit Interaction for Low-Power Spintronics: Control of magnetic properties through electric fields rather than currents raises the possibility of low energy magnetization reversal, which is needed for low-power electronics and Spintronics. One specific way to accomplish this low energy switching is through electric-field control of electronic states leading to modification of the magnetic anisotropy. By applying a voltage to a device, it is possible to change the anisotropy such that the magnetization rotates into a new direction. While such demonstrations of switching alone are not sufficient to make a viable device, voltage controlled reversal is a promising pathway toward low-energy nonvolatile memory devices.

Control of Spin Defects in Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors for Quantum Technologies: The spins in deep level defects found in diamond (nitrogen- vacancy center) and in silicon carbide (divacancy) have a quantum nature that manifests itself even at room temperature. These can be used as extremely sensitive nanoscale temperature, magnetic-field, and electric-field sensors. In the future, microwave, photonic, electrical, and mechanical control of these spins may lead to quantum networks and quantum transducers.

Spintronic Nanodevices for Bioinspired Computing: Bioinspired computing devices promises low-power, high-performance computing but will likely depend on devices beyond CMOS. Low-power, high performance bioinspired hardware relies on ultrahigh- density networks built out of complex processing units interlinked by tunable connections (synapses). There are several ways in which spin-torque-driven MTJs, with their multiple, tunable functionalities and CMOS compatibility, are very well adapted for this purpose. Some groups have recently proposed a variety of bioin- spired architectures that include one or several types of spin-torque nanodevices.

Skyrmion-Electronics: An Overview and Outlook: The concept of skyrmions derives from high energy physics. In magnetic systems, skyrmions are magnetic textures that can be viewed as topological objects. Theory suggests that they have properties that might make them useful objects in which to store and manip- ulate information. Many of the ideas are similar to ideas that were developed decades ago for bubble memory or, more recently, racetrack memory. There are several possible advantages for skyrmion devices as compared to other related devices. They are potentially higher density and lower energy, although the arguments for these remain to be experimentally verified.

So, what does the future of spintronics have in store?

The future

Spintronics will continue to have increasing impact, but the future is somewhat uncertain. The importance of magnetic sensors is likely to remain important while the importance of the magnetic sensors in hard disk drives appears to depend on the economics of mass storage in the cloud.

MRAM seems likely to play an increasing role both as standalone memory and embedded in CMOS. The degree of adoption still depends on a few technical and many economic considerations. The acceleration, over the past few months, of announcements and demonstrations related to STT-MRAM produced by major microelectronics companies, seems to indicate that large volume production of STT-MRAM is getting quite close. If the adoption of this technology by microelectronics industry becomes a reality, the whole field will be strongly boosted.

In the future, Spintronics can play a critical role in areas such as IoT, ultralow-power electronics, high-performance computing (HPC). Besides, in the next 10 to 15 years, we are likely to see a much greater role played by alternative forms of computing. The role that Spintronics plays in those technologies is likely to be strongly influenced by the success of MRAM. If MRAM is successful, we will have developed the ability to manufacture it making it easier to import into other technologies.

Some of the recent technical developments that have significant virtues for applications will likely play a role in technology 10 to 15 years from now but many will not. Research on many of these ideas will continue and will spawn related areas. Material research is key along this road.

Innovative materials allowing efficient charge to spin and spin to charge current conversion, or good control of magnetic properties by voltage, or efficient injection/manipulation/detection of spins in semicon- ductors can play major roles. Along with this idea, the use of oxide materials in spintronic devices can become quite important. Oxides share crystal- linity with semiconductors in distinction to metallic magnetic devices. Will the greater control that comes with crystallinity give advantages to oxides in future devices? These are some of the many topics that are likely to be addressed in the coming years.

Applied Materials focuses on enabling artificial intelligence era at 2017 Analyst Day

September 22, 2017

Applied Materials, Inc. will explore the future of computing in the era of artificial intelligence (A.I.) at its 2017 Analyst Day on Wednesday, September 27 in New York. In his presentation, Applied president and CEO Gary Dickerson will explain how the rapid increase in data generation, combined with A.I. and machine learning, creates the need for new system architectures and compute models in the years ahead.

“The move to artificial intelligence signals a new era for computing that is driving major changes to the way logic and memory chips are designed and manufactured,” said Gary Dickerson. “New materials and innovative chip architectures will increasingly be needed to bring faster processors and more efficient memory to market, and Applied Materials is at the foundation with the solutions that enable the A.I. revolution.”

Applied will also host a panel of technical experts for a discussion titled “Enabling the A.I. Era.” The panelists include:

Christos Georgiopoulos, Former Vice President at Intel Corporation and Professor of High Energy Physics at Florida State University and CERN
Matt Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager in Automotive, NXP Semiconductors
Mukesh Khare, Vice President of Semiconductor Research, IBM Research
Praful Krishna, CEO, Coseer
Jay Kerley, Group Vice President and CIO, Applied Materials

Applied Materials’ Analyst Day presentations will be webcast live beginning at 1:00 p.m. EDT (10:00 a.m. PDT) on the company’s investor relations website: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/company/investor-relations.

Leti develops proof of concept to test wireless systems in aircraft

September 20, 2017

Leti, a technology research institute of CEA Tech, announced today it has developed a methodology for testing high-speed wireless communications on airplanes that allows different system deployments in cabins, and assesses wireless devices before they are installed.

In a joint research project with Dassault Aviation, Leti demonstrated a channel-measurement campaign over Wi-Fi frequency in several airplanes, including Dassault’s Falcon business jet. Using a channel sounder and a spatial scanner, Leti teams determined a statistic model of the in-cabin radio channel, constructed from the antenna position and the configuration of the aircraft.

A radio-frequency channel emulator and the in-cabin channel model were used to test Wi-Fi designed for passenger communication and entertainment before installation in the aircraft. In that test, two different wireless access points and different antenna configurations for Wi-Fi networks deployed in an aircraft cabin were evaluated. Based on an extensive test campaign, mean values of performance parameters, together with the operating margin, were provided according to the device configuration, kind of traffic and channel conditions.

In addition, the technology gives aircraft designers key tools to define wireless communication systems that enhance passenger experience, without aircraft immobilization.

“This research collaboration with Dassault is a critical first step toward validating wireless connectivity systems before they are installed in aircraft,” said Lionel Rudant, Leti strategic marketing manager. “Wireless systems have multiple benefits, ranging from more efficient monitoring of aircraft comfort and safety to reducing the weight of planes.”

Leti’s roadmap also addresses goals for wireless sensor networks, which are part of an industry effort to replace the hundreds of miles of wiring required to connect thousands of sensors and other detectors located throughout aircraft to monitor safety and comfort factors. The factors range from ice detection, tire pressure and engine sensors to cabin pressure, smoke detection and temperature monitoring.

Rudant will present details of Leti’s proof of concept at the AeroTech Conference and Exhibition, Sept. 26-28 in Fort Worth, Texas. His talk, “Test of in-flight wireless connectivity with radio channel emulator”, will be on Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. in room 201B.

SEMI and SAE announce strategic partnership

September 19, 2017

SEMI, the global electronics manufacturing supply chain association, and SAE International, the association driving knowledge and expertise across automotive and aerospace industries, announce a partnership to provide their members with insights and access to important markets. The partnership will include information-sharing, presentation opportunities, and branding and exposition opportunities for members from both organizations.

SEMI and SAE are creating forums for raising awareness of the challenges and opportunities in design and manufacturing for the automotive and electronics sectors. From the electronics manufacturing industry perspective, the smart transportation segment is rich with opportunity to improve the performance and digitalization of vehicles.

According to IHS Markit, the high-end car is on track to contain more than $6,000 worth of electronics in five years, driving to a $160 billion automotive electronics market in 2022 − a 7 percent CAGR through 2022. The design, sourcing, and manufacturing cycles are significantly different than traditional electronics markets (such as consumer) but the opportunities are significant. From the transportation industry perspective, all roadmaps to improve performance emphasize that advancements in electronics systems are key.

“Electronics systems in vehicles continue to undergo significant changes year over year, driven by the changing electronics capabilities – even in subsystems areas such as infotainment and control. The impact of new vehicle operational modes, such as autonomous driving, is all about gathering and processing information on an enormous scale. The systems that do this are developing rapidly and our members want immediate visibility into these new materials, processing and electronic subsystems. Improvements in processing, controlling, sensing, have impact across our vehicle supply chain,” notes Jim Forlenza, group director, SAE Events. “Our members look to us to multiply their interactions with the supply chain and our partnership with SEMI allows us to offer them this in several areas across the world.”

“This relationship provides a new platform for SEMI members to showcase products, services and engage new customers,” states Art Paredes, VP of Global Expositions at SEMI. “As SEMI members increasingly collaborate with end-product manufacturers to develop novel capabilities, automotive is the leading area for silicon solutions to enable the future of driving. Working directly with SAE’s members and ecosystem will speed the time to innovate for both memberships.”

From large events − including SAE’s annual World Congress Experience and SEMI’s annual SEMICON expositions around the world − to a host of smaller, focused workshops and speaking engagements throughout the year, members will have many opportunities to establish supplier-vendor-customer relationships.

IMAPS 2017 to showcase advances in microelectronics technology

September 15, 2017

The International Microelectronics And Packaging Society (IMAPS) will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of its flagship technical conference – the IMAPS Symposium – from October 9 – 12, 2017, as microelectronics engineers and scientists gather at the Raleigh Convention Center near Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA to take part in the electronics industry’s largest technical conference dedicated to advanced microelectronics packaging technology. Researchers and exhibitors will showcase their work during a comprehensive conference program of technical papers, panels, special sessions, short courses/tutorials, and an exhibition that will spotlight premier work in the fields of microelectronics, semiconductor packaging and circuit design.

The 50^th International Symposium on Microelectronics is an international technology forum for the presentation of applied research on microelectronics, consisting of more than 180 papers presented by researchers from corporations, universities and government labs worldwide, with five technical tracks: Chip Packaging Interactions; High Performance, Reliability, & Security; Advanced Packaging & Enabling Technologies; Advanced Packaging & System Integration; and Advanced Materials & Processes.

Keynote Presentations Lead Off the IMAPS Technical Program on Tuesday, October 10
Four keynote addresses from leading industry experts include:

“Packaging Challenges for the Next Generation of Mobile Devices,” by Ahmer Syed, Senior director of package engineering, Qualcomm Technologies

“Packaging without the Package – A More Holistic Moore’s Law,” by Subramanian (Subu) S. Iyer, distinguished chancellor’s professor in the Charles P. Reames Endowed Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Director of the Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (CHIPS)

“Electronics Outside the Box: Building a Manufacturing Ecosystem for Flexible Hybrid Electronics,” by Benjamin Leever, senior materials engineer, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Soft Matter Materials Branch

“Transforming Electronic Interconnect,” by Tim Olson, founder & CTO, Deca Technologies

International Panel Session & Wine Reception on Wednesday, October 11
A panel session on “Global Perspectives on Packaging Requirements & Trends Towards 2025” will be moderated by Jan Vardaman, TechSearch International and Gabriel Pares, CEA-Leti. Panelist will include representatives from Asia (Yasumitsu Orii, NAGASE Group and Ton Schless, SIBCO), Europe (Steffen Kroehnert, Nanium and Eric Bridot, SAFRAN), and North America (David Jandzinski, Qorvo). The 90-minute panel session includes a wine reception.

Diversity Roundtable & Networking Discussions on Monday, October 9
Following the opening reception, IMAPS leaders will conduct a series of roundtable discussions designed to inspire conversations about overcoming diversity barriers, the strengths inherent in a diverse workforce, identifying and collaborating with a mentor, and more.

Posters & Pizza Session on Thursday, October 12
One of the fastest-growing segments of the IMAPS conference is the popular “Posters & Pizza” session held outside the exhibit hall, giving attendees the opportunity to interact one-on-one with presenters in a more informal setting.

Professional Development Courses (Short Courses & Tutorials) on Monday, October 9
Preceding the IMAPS Symposium technical program is a full day of professional development opportunities, presented as a series of 2-hour sessions in four tracks: Intro to Microelectronics Packaging; Next Generation Packaging Challenges; Baseline & Emerging Technologies; and Reliability. These short courses represent a unique opportunity, only available through IMAPS, for participants to personally interact with the instructors, and with each other in small groups from 10 – 30 people, led by industry experts in the field with ample time for questions and networking.

Student Opportunities at IMAPS
As part of its ongoing mission IMAPS invites students to participate in an informal networking event on Tuesday, October 10 with IMAPS industry leaders over lunch in the exhibit hall, giving them an chance to learn about career opportunities, navigating the hiring process, and other topics. In addition, the IMAPS Microelectronics Foundation sponsors a student paper competitionin conjunction with the Symposium that awards more than $3,500 in scholarships for outstanding student papers.

Social Events & an Introduction to the RTP/Raleigh Area’s Technology Community
In addition to the technical program, a variety of social events are planned around the IMAPS Symposia, including the Annual David C. Virissimo Memorial Fall Golf Classic, a charity golf outing scheduled for Monday, October 9 at NCSU’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course. Proceeds from the event benefit the IMAPS Microelectronics Foundation.

Monday evening’s welcome reception will feature NC-themed entertainment from a local bluegrass band, and participants will also be able to view historical photos and other memorabilia spanning 50 years of IMAPS history.

There is also a scheduled tour of the nearby Micross Advanced Interconnect Technology (AIT) facility, one of the premier wafer bumping and wafer level packaging facilities in the U.S., with more than 20 years experience providing leading edge interconnect and 3D integration technologies (TSV, Si interposers, 3D IC) to worldwide customers.

New to the Symposium this year is a unique opportunity for IMAPS attendees to experience the vibrant technology community in the greater RTP/Raleigh area. IMAPS has invited local non-profit organizations that comprise the area’s rapidly-growing technology ecosystem to participate in a special area adjacent to the exhibit hall during the day of October 10, providing an opportunity for IMAPS Symposium attendees to network and interact.

To register for the IMAPS 50^th International Symposium on Microelectronics, please visit the online registration site for more information, or contact Brianne Lamm, IMAPS Marketing & Events Manager, at [email protected] or 980-299-9873.