Category Archives: LED Manufacturing

Each year, Solid State Technology turns to industry leaders to hear viewpoints on the technological and economic outlook for the upcoming year. Read through these expert opinions on what to expect in 2017.

Driving the industry forward with materials engineering

Raja_Prabu_fullPrabu Raja, vice president and general manager, Patterning and Packaging Group, Applied Materials, Inc.

Over the past few years, the industry has made remarkable progress in bringing 3D chip architectures to volume production. In 2017, we will continue to see exciting technology innovations for scaling 3D NAND devices to 64 layers, ramping the 10nm process node into volume manufacturing and increasing the adoption of highly integrated chip packages.

With the transition to the 3D and sub-10nm era, the semiconductor world is changing from lithography-based scaling to materials-enabled scaling. This shift requires multiple new materials and capabilities in selective processing.

The magnitude and pace of these changes are truly disruptive. For example, with 3D NAND materials innovations for hard mask deposition and hard mask etch are essential. The challenge is to build high aspect ratio vertical structures with uniform profiles from the top to the bottom as more layers are added. Selective removal processes can remove targeted materials in vertical and horizontal structures without damage or residue throughout the stack.

For logic/foundry, the introduction of the 10nm process node in volume manufacturing brings significant growth in the number of patterning steps. This trend will increase even more for 7nm and below designs. Patterning these advanced nodes requires innovative etch capabilities to deliver feature-scale uniformity with low line edge roughness. Selective processes and alternative manufacturing schemes will also be needed as the industry seeks solutions for layer-to-layer vertical alignment. We expect this to result in a two-fold increase in the number of materials to be deposited and removed.

Finally, the industry will continue to adopt new and improved packaging schemes for enabling increased device performance, lower power consumption and to deliver desired form factors. In 2016, we saw the volume adoption of Fan-Out packaging in mobile devices and this trend is expected to grow further in 2017. The high performance computing segment will pursue 2.5D interposer and/or 3D TSV packaging schemes for higher memory bandwidth, lower latency and better power efficiency.

Applied Materials is focused on delivering game-changing selective process technologies and materials innovations to help solve the industry’s toughest challenges.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Following economic leaders meeting in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, electronics manufacturing executives will attend Europe’s SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS Europe) in Munich, Germany on 5-7 March. Hosted by SEMI Europe, the Symposium brings together leading analysts, researchers, economists, and technologists for critical insights on the forces shaping the electronics manufacturing supply chain. ISS Europe 2017 is the three-day flagship business event that discusses how to cope with the rapid changes and growing challenges of the digital revolution.

“ISS Europe is the leading European strategic platform where industry thought leaders across the electronics manufacturing value chain share the latest analysis and outlooks.  The conference covers global industry trends and challenges and opportunities from innovation, materials, design, and manufacturing – with a focus on end-applications in automotive, health care and smart manufacturing,” said Laith Altimime, president, SEMI Europe.

Twenty industry leaders will present insights into the current market developments in automotive, smart manufacturing, and health, including:

  • TSMC Europe: Maria Marced, president, High Performance Applications to Drive Innovation and Collaboration
  • Mentor Graphics: Wally Rhines, CEO, Semiconductor Consolidation versus Specialization: What’s the Driving Force for Mergers?
  • AUDI AG: Berthold Hellenthal, Robust Design / Komponentenerprobung Elektronik, Cross-Industry Collaboration Networks Accelerate Innovations
  • Dresden University Hospital: Christopher Piorkowski, professor at the Heart Center, Digital Health in Cardiovascular Medicine: Patients, Sensors, and Clinical Care
  • Bosch: Birte Lübbert, senior VP, Smart Manufacturing by Bosch in Reutlingen Plant 2
  • Imec: Ann Stegen, executive VP, Transformation into a 7nm Logic Node Solution with Fundamental Advantages

Join Europe’s strategic thinkers and business drivers at ISS Europe 2017 in Munich (Germany) from March 5-7, 2017!  Register here. For more information visit: www.semi.org/eu/iss-europe-2017

At next week’s SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, imec, a research and innovation hub in nano-electronics and digital technologies, will introduce a new image sensor with integrated color (Red Green Blue, RGB) and narrow-band near-infrared (NIR) filters. This breakthrough optical filter integration platform will enable many different application fields from medical, industrial, security surveillance, automotive to virtual and augmented reality, where near-infrared signals need to be extracted and overlaid on top of color images.

Imec’s RGB-NIR multispectral platform demonstrates for the very first time the possibility to integrate together standard RGB color filters, NIR-cut filter, NIR narrow band-pass filters and on-chip microlenses technology, down to small pixels as small as 5µm today. The NIR band-pass filter and design pattern implementation can be tuned to match requirements of a specific application case, e.g. the wavelength of a particular laser or LED light.

“An affordable, high resolution and high speed solution for integrating true RGB color combined with narrow-band NIR detection was essential to develop for future applications that need to detect or track near infra-red signals that should not be visible to human eyes,” explains Andy Lambrechts, program manager for imec’s integrated imaging activities. “This capability to integrate a color view with one or several near-infrared narrow bands will be a key enabler for next-generation 3D, virtual reality (VR) & augmented reality (AR) imaging platforms. As well as in machine vision, medical, automotive and security surveillance applications.”

Leveraging imec’s background in CMOS scaling, its semiconductor fab, equipment and process technology, imec designs and manufactures interference based optical filters at wafer level, deposited and patterned directly on top of the CMOS image sensor pixels. Imec’s unique infrastructure provides very integrated, clean (class 1 – particle free) and high yield optical filter integration with strong potential for scalability in high-volume.

The first image sensor and camera prototypes will be demonstrated at SPIE Photonics West in San-Francisco on booth 4333 (North Hall of Moscone center). They are already available for early sampling and evaluation by strategic partners.

image005

Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:  ASYS), a global supplier of production equipment and related supplies for the solar, semiconductor, and LED markets, today announced fiscal year 2017 year-to-date order bookings through January 20, 2017 are approximately $84 million.  This includes solar orders of $60 million.   The solar bookings include major wins for the Company’s high productivity PECVD platform with top tier customers in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan and an n-type bi-facial turnkey order from a new customer in China.  The majority of the orders are expected to ship within the next six to nine months.

Fokko Pentinga, CEO and President of Amtech, commented, “These competitive wins are a direct result of our ongoing investment program and a clear testament to the Company’s ability to meet the market’s expectations as they selectively invest in next-generation technology solutions.  Our newly introduced PECVD platform is recognized as a compelling solution to increase the efficiency in solar cell manufacturing while lowering the cost of ownership.  The continuing development of our advanced n-type technology led to this turnkey order from a customer who will use the technology for Bi-Facial glass-glass module design in the first of a multi-phase 1GW cell and module expansion.  We believe that Amtech has the right mix of n-type and PERC cell technologies for this expanding global solar market where success is driven by the best next-gen technology solutions.  Recently, we have experienced increased customer interest in our n-type technology.  As the solar market looks to the future, we believe n-type cell technology has the best roadmap to higher efficiency.”

Fueled by lightning-fast demand for ubiquitous connectivity, the number of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices globally will jump by 15 percent year-over-year to 20 billion in 2017, according to new analysis from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

In a free new report entitled “IoT Trend Watch 2017,” IHS Markit technology analysts have identified four key trends that will drive the IoT this year and beyond. Increasingly, the report says, businesses see the IoT as a tremendous opportunity to create unique value propositions by linking disparate systems of connected devices that range from multiscreen content sharing to smart city networks.

IHS Markit defines IoT as a conceptual framework, powered by the idea of embedding connectivity and intelligence into a wide range of devices. “These internet-connected devices can be used to enhance communication, automate complex industrial processes and provide a wealth of information that can be processed into useful actions – all aimed at making our lives easier,” said Jenalea Howell, research director – IoT connectivity and smart cities for IHS Markit.

According to the report, the industrial sector — led by building automation, industrial automation and lighting — will account for nearly one half of new connected devices between 2015 and 2025.

IHS Markit has named these four trends as leading the IoT evolution in the coming years:

Trend #1 – Innovation and competitiveness are driving new business models and consolidation

  • To date, the focus on IoT monetization has rightly revolved around the way in which suppliers earn revenue selling components, software or services to IoT application developers. Increasingly, however, the focus is shifting to the IoT developers themselves and how they will monetize new streams of data delivered by their IoT deployments.
  • A wide range of monetization models are being tested, reflecting the fragmented nature of the IoT market across numerous vertical industries. Successful models will revolve around “servitization” and closer, ongoing relationships with end customers, the report says.

Trend #2 – Standardization and security are enabling scalability

  • With the high growth in IoT deployments and much hype surrounding the promise of the IoT marketplace, scaling the IoT is highly dependent on two factors: first, the pace at which devices are connected and second, the ability to manage a large number of devices.
  • Currently, diverse standards and technologies make it difficult to evaluate the many technology options available. Stakeholders also must take a holistic, end-to-end view of securing systems comprehensively and move beyond focusing only on device security.
  • By 2020, the global market for industrial cybersecurity hardware, software and devices is expected to surpass $1.8 billion as companies deal with new IoT devices on business networks as well as a new wave of mobile devices connected to corporate networks.

Trend #3 – Business models are keeping pace with IoT technology

  • The methods used to monetize the IoT are almost as diverse as the IoT itself. Many pioneers of the IoT sold products to build it. That is still happening, of course, but now there is a shift to reaping the benefits of the data that’s been created.
  • An overabundance of business models are being tested to determine which models work and for which applications. Advertising, services, retail and big data are just a few of the areas that have spawned many innovative experiments in monetization. In the coming years, the pace of innovation will slow as successful business models are identified.

Trend #4 – Wireless technology innovation is enabling new IoT applications

  • Advances in wireless technologies will continue to extend the IoT at both the low and high ends. At the low end, low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) promises low cost, low power and long range, connecting millions of devices that previously could not be unified in a practical way. At the high end, 802.11ad makes it possible to wirelessly connect very high performance applications such as 4k video.
  • Beyond 2020, 5G has the potential to address new, mission-critical use cases, particularly where mobility is essential. By 2020, IHS Markit expects around two billion device shipments by integrated circuit type will feature integrated cellular technology.

ams AG (SIX: AMS), a provider of high performance sensor solutions and analog ICs, today launched the world’s first series of cost-effective multispectral sensor-on-chip solutions, opening the way for a new generation of spectral analyzers for consumer and industrial applications.

Offered in a small 4.5 x 4.4mm land grid array package, the ultra-low power AS7262 visible range sensor and AS7263 NIR sensor each provide six calibrated spectral channels. Because of their attractive price point, the new multispectral sensors open the door to testing and use in a very wide range of consumer and real-world field applications. Key solution spaces include material and product authentication, product quality and integrity as well as material content analysis in the near-infrared (NIR) and visible spectrums.

“In much the same way that intense sensor integration into our smartphones and tablets has created a tidal wave of new mobile applications, the launch of the AS7262 and AS7263, enabling chip-scale spectral analysis, heralds a similar revolution that will open the door wide for spectral sensing innovation for both industrial and consumer applications,” commented Jean Francois Durix,
Marketing Director for Emerging Sensor Systems at ams. “The dramatic reduction in the size and cost of spectral analysis enabled by our new spectral sensing solutions brings the lab to the sample for an incredible variety of applications from food safety and product authentication, to routine
testing that can better protect both our health and our environment.”

The multispectral sensors employ a new fabrication technique which enables nano-optical interference filters to be deposited directly on the CMOS silicon die with extreme precision. This interference filter technology used for the sensors offers extremely precise and reproduceable filter characteristics which are stable over both time and temperature and are much smaller and more cost-effective than the components typically used in today’s spectral analysis instruments.

The AS7262 six-channel visible light sensor with integrated intelligence provides a calibrated digital output over an I2C or UART interface. It measures light intensity at six wavelengths in the visible light spectrum: 450nm, 500nm, 550nm, 570nm, 600nm and 650nm. The AS7263 operates in the NIR spectrum detecting 610nm, 680nm, 730nm, 760nm, 810nm and 860nm infrared signatures. Both devices include an electronic shutter with LED drive circuitry, which means that device de-signers can accurately control the light source and the spectral sensing functions with a single chip.

The small size of the new multispectral sensors combined with their low power consumption enable measurement equipment OEMs to develop new product types that take advantage of these unique attributes. For instance, bulky laboratory-grade analysis equipment can now be replaced by conve-nient handheld form factors. In factories, samples which today have to be removed from the production line and taken to a laboratory for chemical analysis or quality testing will be tested in-line by new small, robust spectral analyzers based on the multispectral sensors.

The AS7262 and AS7263 are in volume production now. Unit pricing is $4.00 in order quantities of 1,000.

Wolfspeed, a Cree Company and a developer of silicon carbide (SiC) power products, has introduced a 900V, 10mΩ MOSFET rated for 196 A of continuous drain current at a case temperature of 25̊̊ C. This device enables the reduction of EV drive-train inverter losses by 78 percent based on EPA combined city/highway mileage standards. This efficiency improvement offers designers new options in terms of range, battery usage and vehicle design.

Recently Wolfspeed supplied Ford Motor Company―in a collaboration with the U.S. DoE―with a full-SiC, 400A power module designed around the 900V, 10mΩ chip. The module, designed and produced by Wolfspeed, contains four MOSFETs connected in parallel to achieved a remarkable 2.5mΩ Rds(on). Wolfspeed engineers have since demonstrated the capability to use these chips to create an 800A, 1.25mΩ module.

“With the commercial release of the 900V 10mΩ device, electric vehicles can now reap the benefits of SiC in all aspects of their power conversion,” said John Palmour, CTO of Wolfspeed. “With the continued expansion of our Gen3 MOSFET portfolio in new package options, our devices can now support significant efficiency improvements in onboard chargers, offboard chargers, and now EV drive trains.”

Commercially qualified and rated for a maximum operating temperature of 175˚C, Wolfspeed’s new chip offers high-reliability in harsh environments, like those found in vehicle drive-trains.

Device Information

The new 900V, 10mΩ MOSFET is available in bare die, is listed as part number CPM3-0900-0010A, and is currently available for purchase from SemiDice. Wolfspeed expects to release the associated discrete device in a 4L-TO247 package (C3M0010090K) in the coming weeks. This package has a Kelvin-source connection that allows engineers to create designs that maximize the benefits of SiC’s superior speed and efficiency.

For more complete technical information about Wolfspeed’s new 900V, 10mΩ MOSFET, access its part page here.

Reproducibility is a necessity for science but has often eluded researchers studying the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Recent research from Japan sheds new light on why: impurities present in the vacuum chamber during fabrication but in amounts so small that they are easily overlooked.

Organic light-emitting diodes use a stack of organic layers to convert electricity into light, and these organic layers are most commonly fabricated by heating source materials in vacuum to evaporate and deposit them onto a lower temperature substrate.

While issues affecting the efficiency of OLEDs are already well understood, a complete picture of exactly how and why OLEDs degrade and lose brightness over time is still missing.

Complicating matters is that devices fabricated with seemingly the same procedures and conditions but by different research groups often degrade at vastly different rates even when the initial performance is the same.

Unable to attribute these reproducibility issues to known sources such as the amount of residual water in the chamber and the purity of the starting materials, a report published online in Scientific Reports on December 13, 2016, adds a new piece to the puzzle by focusing on the analysis of the environment in the vacuum chamber.

“Although we often idealize vacuums as being clean environments, we detected many impurities floating in the vacuum even when the deposition chamber is at room temperature,” says lead author Hiroshi Fujimoto, chief researcher at Fukuoka i3-Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (i3-OPERA) and visiting associate professor of Kyushu University.

Because of these impurities in the deposition chamber, the researchers found that the time until an OLED under operation dims by a given amount because of degradation, known as the lifetime, sharply increased for OLEDs that spent a shorter time in the deposition chamber during fabrication.

This trend remained even after considering changes in residual water and source material purity, indicating the importance of controlling and minimizing the device fabrication time, a rarely discussed parameter.

Research partners at Sumika Chemical Analysis Service Ltd. (SCAS) confirmed an increase of accumulated impurities with time by analyzing the materials that deposited on extremely clean silicon wafers that were stored in the deposition chamber when OLED materials were not being evaporated.

Using a technique called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, the researchers found that many of the impurities could be traced to previously deposited materials and plasticizers from the vacuum chamber components.

“Really small amounts of these impurities get incorporated into the fabricated devices and are causing large changes in the lifetime,” says Professor Chihaya Adachi, director of Kyushu University’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA), which also took part in the study.

In fact, the new results suggest that the impurities amount to less than even a single molecular layer.

To improve lifetime reproducibility, a practice often adopted in industry is the use of dedicated deposition chambers for specific materials, but this can be difficult in academic labs, where often only a limited number of deposition systems are available for testing a wide variety of new materials.

In these cases, deposition chamber design and cleaning in addition to control of the deposition time are especially important.

“This is an excellent reminder of just how careful we need to be to do good, reproducible science,” comments Professor Adachi.

From the ground-breaking research breakthroughs to the shifting supplier landscape, these are the stories the Solid State Technology audience read the most during 2016.

#1: Moore’s Law did indeed stop at 28nm

In this follow up, Zvi Or-Bach, president and CEO, MonolithIC 3D, Inc., writes: “As we have predicted two and a half years back, the industry is bifurcating, and just a few products pursue scaling to 7nm while the majority of designs stay on 28nm or older nodes.”

#2: Yield and cost challenges at 16nm and beyond

In February, KLA-Tencor’s Robert Cappel and Cathy Perry-Sullivan wrote of a new 5D solution which utilizes multiple types of metrology systems to identify and control fab-wide sources of pattern variation, with an intelligent analysis system to handle the data being generated.

#3: EUVL: Taking it down to 5nm

The semiconductor industry is nothing if not persistent — it’s been working away at developing extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) for many years, SEMI’s Deb Vogler reported in May.

#4: IBM scientists achieve storage memory breakthrough

For the first time, scientists at IBM Research have demonstrated reliably storing 3 bits of data per cell using a relatively new memory technology known as phase-change memory (PCM).

#5: ams breaks ground on NY wafer fab

In April, ams AG took a step forward in its long-term strategy of increasing manufacturing capacity for its high-performance sensors and sensor solution integrated circuits (ICs), holding a groundbreaking event at the site of its new wafer fabrication plant in Utica, New York.

#6: Foundries takeover 200mm fab capacity by 2018

In January, Christian Dieseldorff of SEMI wrote that a recent Global Fab Outlook report reveals a change in the landscape for 200mm fab capacity.

#7: Equipment spending up: 19 new fabs and lines to start construction

While semiconductor fab equipment spending was off to a slow start in 2016, it was expected to gain momentum through the end of the year. For 2016, 1.5 percent growth over 2015 is expected while 13 percent growth is forecast in 2017.

#8: How finFETs ended the service contract of silicide process

Arabinda Daa, TechInsights, provided a look into how the silicide process has evolved over the years, trying to cope with the progress in scaling technology and why it could no longer be of service to finFET devices.

#9: Five suppliers to hold 41% of global semiconductor marketshare in 2016

In December, IC Insights reported that two years of busy M&A activity had boosted marketshare among top suppliers.

#10: Countdown to Node 5: Moving beyond FinFETs

A forum of industry experts at SEMICON West 2016 discussed the challenges associated with getting from node 10 — which seems set for HVM — to nodes 7 and 5.

BONUS: Most Watched Webcast of 2016: View On Demand Now

IoT Device Trends and Challenges

Presenters: Rajeev Rajan, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, and Uday Tennety, GE Digital

The age of the Internet of Things is upon us, with the expectation that tens of billions of devices will be connected to the internet by 2020. This explosion of devices will make our lives simpler, yet create an array of new challenges and opportunities in the semiconductor industry. At the sensor level, very small, inexpensive, low power devices will be gathering data and communicating with one another and the “cloud.” On the other hand, this will mean huge amounts of small, often unstructured data (such as video) will rippling through the network and the infrastructure. The need to convert that data into “information” will require a massive investment in data centers and leading edge semiconductor technology.

Also, manufacturers seek increased visibility and better insights into the performance of their equipment and assets to minimize failures and reduce downtime. They wish to both cut their costs as well as grow their profits for the organization while ensuring safety for employees, the general public and the environment.

The Industrial Internet is transforming the way people and machines interact by using data and analytics in new ways to drive efficiency gains, accelerate productivity and achieve overall operational excellence. The advent of networked machines with embedded sensors and advanced analytics tools has greatly influenced the industrial ecosystem.

Today, the Industrial Internet allows you to combine data from the equipment sensors, operational data , and analytics to deliver valuable new insights that were never before possible. The results of these powerful analytic insights can be revolutionary for your business by transforming your technological infrastructure, helping reduce unplanned downtime, improve performance and maximize profitability and efficiency.

Weisl-AndreasAndreas Weisl (38), former Vice President Europe of Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor (SSC), has taken on the position of CEO at Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH based Munich, Germany, with effect from November 11, 2016.

The European headquarters has been consistently successful, establishing themselves since 2010. The global success story of SSC, which is marked by rapid growth, has been successfully implemented in Europe for many years now. SSC is among the leading companies in global markets and throughout the European LED market.

In his role as General Manager for Central and Northern Europe since 2010, and as Vice President Europe since 2014, Mr. Weisl is part of the SSC executive and is responsible for business developments in Europe. Mr Weisl has contributed significantly to the company’s success and looks back on more than eleven years of experience in the area of LEDs before coming to SSC in 2010. Previously he served as a manager, among other roles, at Osram Opto Semiconductors.