Category Archives: Lithography

By Jay Chittooran

Meeting Attended by More than 100 Tech Company Representatives

Over the past decade, China has become a central market for the semiconductor industry. China is now home to more than 30 percent of semiconductor end users worldwide. All semiconductor companies, regardless of size, operate in China. The rise of China’s semiconductor market has been enabled by global commerce and a vast network of supply chains that span the globe.

With China now a prominent player in the industry, it has become critically important for semiconductor companies to effectively engage with China. In order to help our member companies better understand the challenges and opportunities and navigate what can be a complex landscape, SEMI hosts annual trade compliance conferences in China for trade professionals. This year, SEMI, with CompTIA and U.S. Information Technology Office (USITO), hosted two global trade seminars in China, one in Shanghai on October 30th and the other in Beijing on November 1st.

Over 120 representatives from more than two dozen technology companies attended the 2018 trade compliance seminars. Over the course of the two sessions, speakers from government, business, and law firms highlighted the most pressing trade issues in China. Speakers included thought leaders, trade practitioners and senior Chinese government officials.

Sessions included a deep dive on China’s draft customs reform law, a panel discussion on U.S. export controls, and a briefing on how best to engage with China Customs and how China’s products are classified. Another well-received session focused on the status of China’s export control law, which has been in the drafting process for years.

However, the overarching question for many attendees was U.S.-China economic relations, which are undergoing a sea change, with the U.S. having imposed or threatened tariffs on all imports from China – totaling more than $500 billion in goods – over the past six months. As a speaker noted during a session on the U.S.-China tensions and the surrounding broader geopolitical impacts, the environment is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. In fact, on the morning of the first session, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit was added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s entity list, which effectively restricts exports to the company.

As a result of the trade actions, ranging from tariffs to enhanced export controls, U.S. semiconductor companies are beginning to increase prices, reduce research and development (R&D) budgets, restructure supply chains and take other mitigation actions that will ultimately slow innovation. Certain export controls and other regulations that prohibit U.S.-companies from conducting business with targeted companies will put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.

In fact and as we speak, some companies with China-based operations have cancelled orders from U.S. companies and shifted to suppliers that are not subject to U.S. actions to reduce the associated risks of supply interruption and cost increases. Ultimately, U.S. trade policy could backfire, threatening jobs, curbing growth, cutting U.S. R&D investments and compromising the competitiveness of U.S. firms.

SEMI will begin planning next year’s Global Trade Seminar in the coming months. If you would like to be involved in the planning, or would simply like more information about the seminar, please contact Jay Chittooran, Public Policy Manager at SEMI, at [email protected].

Sales of automotive electronic systems are forecast to increase 7.0% in 2018 and 6.3% in 2019, the highest growth rate in both years among the six major end-use applications for semiconductors.  Figure 1 shows that sales of automotive-related electronic systems are forecast to increase to $152 billion in 2018 from $142 billion in 2017, and are forecast to rise to $162 billion in 2019.  Furthermore, automotive electronic systems are expected to enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% from 2017 through 2021, again topping all other major system categories, based on recent findings by IC Insights.

Figure 1

Overall, the automotive segment is expected to account for 9.4% of the $1.62 trillion total worldwide electronic systems market in 2018 (Figure 2), a slight increase from 9.1% in 2017. Automotive has increased only incrementally over the years, and is forecast to show only marginal gains as a percent of the total electronic systems market through 2021, when it is forecast to account for 9.9% of global electronic systems sales.  Though accounting for a rather small percentage of total electronic system marketshare in 2018, (larger only than the government/military category), automotive is expected to be the fastest-growing segment through 2021.

Figure 2

Technology features that are focused on self-driving (autonomous) vehicles, ADAS, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, on-board safety, convenience, and environmental features, as well as ongoing interest in electric vehicles, continues to lift the market for automotive electronics systems, despite some highly publicized accidents involving self-driving vehicles this year that were at least partly blamed on technology miscues.

New advancements are more widely available onboard mid range and entry-level cars and as aftermarket products, which has further raised automotive system growth in recent years.  In the semiconductor world, this is particularly good news for makers of analog ICs, MCUs, and sensors since a great number of all of these devices are required in most of these automotive systems. It is worth noting that the Automotive—Special Purpose Logic category is forecast to increase 29% this year—second only to the DRAM market, and the Automotive—Application-Specific Analog market is forecast to jump 14% this year—as backup cameras, blind-spot (lane departure) detectors, and other “intelligent” systems are mandated or otherwise being added to more vehicles.  Meanwhile, memory (specifically, DRAM and flash memory) is increasingly playing a more critical role in the development of new automotive system solutions used in vehicles.

By Emir Demircan

Joining distinguished speakers from the European Commission, industry, academia and Member States, Laith Altimime, SEMI Europe president, will keynote on “European Competitiveness in the Context of the Global Digital Economy” on 20 November at the European Forum for Electronic Components and Systems (EFECS) in Lisbon, Portugal.

Players across the European electronics manufacturing value chain will gather 20-22 November, 2018, at EFECS to share the industry’s vision and set the future direction of technology innovation. Themed “Our Digital Future,” this year’s forum focuses on how rapid innovation in electronics components and systems-based applications are shaping Europe’s digital future. Start-ups, SMEs, research institutes, academia, large and medium enterprises and public authorities will learn about new collaboration initiatives and the latest developments in European funding instruments while offering their expectations for future funding programmes.

Organized by AENEAS, ARTEMIS-IA, EPoSS, ECSEL Joint Undertaking and the European Commission, in association with EUREKA, EFECS will also highlight the impact and results of various European funding instruments.

For more information about the event, please click here.

Emir Demircan senior manager for advocacy and public policy at SEMI Europe. 

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that IHP – Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), a German research institute for silicon-based systems, highest-frequency integrated circuits, and technologies for wireless and broadband communication, has purchased an EVG® ComBond® automated high-vacuum wafer bonding system for use in developing next-generation wireless and broadband communication devices.

The EVG ComBond features micron-level wafer-to-wafer alignment accuracy and room-temperature covalent bonding, which enables a wide variety of substrate and interconnect combinations for producing advanced engineered substrates, next-generation MEMS and power devices, stacked solar cells, and high-performance logic and “beyond CMOS” devices. The ability to conduct oxide-free aluminum-to-aluminum (Al-Al) direct bonding at low temperature is a unique capability of the EVG ComBond platform, and is among the new bonding applications that IHP will explore with the system.

The EVG ComBond® features micron-level wafer-to-wafer alignment accuracy and room-temperature covalent bonding, which enables a wide variety of substrate and interconnect combinations.

Covalent bonding enables wafer-level packaging and heterogeneous integration

Heterogeneous integration through wafer-level-packaging (WLP) — where multiple semiconductor components with different design nodes, sizes or materials are combined into a single package at the wafer level — is key to extending the semiconductor technology roadmap. Metal and hybrid wafer bonding are key process technologies for WLP and heterogeneous integration due to their ability to enable ultra-fine pitch interconnections between the stacked devices or components. The continuous drive to higher performance and functionality of these integrated systems requires constant reductions in the dimensions and pitch of the interconnects — which in turn drives the need for tighter wafer bond alignment accuracy.

In addition, for certain WLP applications, Al-Al direct bonding is a promising new method of metal-based bonding due to aluminum’s low cost coupled with its high thermal and electrical conductivities. However, conventional Al-Al thermo-compression bonding requires high temperatures and bond forces to provide reliable bonding interfaces — making it incompatible with heterogeneous integration efforts.

According to Paul Lindner, executive technology director at EV Group, “Combining different materials and device components into a single package has taken on greater importance in adding performance and value to electronic devices. The EVG ComBond facilitates the bonding of nearly ‘anything on anything’ in wafer form. This provides our customers with a powerful solution for researching new material combinations for future semiconductor devices. Its micron-level alignment capability also makes the EVG ComBond uniquely suited for use in high-volume manufacturing of emerging heterogeneous integration device designs.”

EVG’s breakthrough ComBond wafer activation technology and high-vacuum handling and processing allow the formation of covalent bonds at room or low temperature for fabricating engineered substrates and device structures. The EVG ComBond facilitates the bonding of heterogeneous materials with different lattice constants and coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) as well as the formation of electrically conductive bond interfaces through a unique oxide-removal process. The EVG ComBond maintains a high-vacuum and oxide-free environment throughout the entire bonding process, enabling low-temperature bonding of metals, such as aluminum, that re-oxidize quickly in ambient environments. Void-free and particle-free bond interfaces and excellent bond strength can be achieved for all material combinations.

Micron Technology, Inc. today announced the company has joined CERN openlab, a unique public-private partnership, by signing a three-year agreement. Under the agreement, Micron will provide CERN with advanced next-generation memory solutions to further machine learning capabilities for high-energy physics experiments at the laboratory. Micron’s memory solutions that combine neural network capabilities will be tested in the data-acquisition systems of experiments at CERN.

High-energy physics scientists are looking to deploy leading-edge technologies that can support their experiments’ computing and data processing requirements. Memory plays a vital role in accelerating intelligence by processing vast amounts of data, helping researchers gain valuable insights from data generated by high-energy physics experiments.

As part of the work with CERN, Micron will develop and introduce a specially designed Micron memory solution that will be tested by researchers at CERN for use in rapidly combing through the vast amount of data generated by experiments. The project will feature FPGA-based boards with Micron’s most advanced high-performance memory combined with an advanced neural network technology developed in collaboration between Micron and FWDNXT, a provider of deep learning and AI solutions.

“Micron is committed to pushing the limits of innovation by providing high-performance memory and storage solutions to solve the world’s greatest computing and data processing challenges in data analytics and machine learning,” said Steve Pawlowski, vice president of advanced computing solutions at Micron Technology. “We’re proud to work with CERN to deliver machine learning capabilities that will enable high-energy physics scientists to make advances in their science and research experiments.”

“CERN collaborates openly with both the public and private sector, and working with technology partners like Micron helps ensure that members of the research community have access to the advanced computing technologies needed to carry out our groundbreaking work,” said Maria Girone, CTO at CERN openlab. “It is critical to the success of the Large Hadron Collider that we are able to examine the petabytes of data generated in a fast and intelligent manner that enables us to unlock new scientific discoveries. These latest-generation memory solutions from Micron and machine learning solutions from FWDNXT offer significant potential in terms of enabling us to process more data at higher speeds.”

Micron will demonstrate its high-performance memory solutions running FWDNXT’s Machine Learning SDK at SC18, November 12-15, in Dallas, Texas.

IC Insights’ November Update to the 2018 McClean Report, released later this month, includes a discussion of the forecasted top-25 semiconductor suppliers in 2018 (the top-15 2018 semiconductor suppliers are covered in this research bulletin).  The Update also includes a detailed five-year forecast of the IC market by product type (including dollar volume, unit shipments, and average selling price).

The expected top-15 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O-S-D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 2018 is shown in Figure 1.  It includes seven suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Europe, two each in South Korea and Japan, and one in Taiwan.  After announcing in early April 2018 that it had successfully moved its headquarters location from Singapore to the U.S., IC Insights now classifies Broadcom as a U.S. company.

In 2Q18, Toshiba completed the $18.0 billion sale of its memory IC business to the Bain Capital-led consortium. Toshiba then repurchased a 40.2% share of the business.  The Bain consortium goes by the name of BCPE Pangea and the group owns 49.9% of Toshiba Memory Corporation (TMC).  Hoya Corp. owns the remaining 9.9% of TMC’s shares.  The new owners have plans for an IPO within three years. Bain has said it plans to support the business in pursing M&A targets, including potentially large deals.

As a result of the sale of Toshiba’s memory business, the 2018 sales results shown in Figure 1 include the combined sales of the remaining semiconductor products at Toshiba (e.g., Discrete devices and System LSIs) and NAND flash sales from Toshiba Memory Corporation.

In total, the top-15 semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to jump by 18% in 2018 compared to 2017, two points higher than the expected total worldwide semiconductor industry 2018/2017 increase of 16%.  The three largest memory suppliers—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—are each forecast to register greater than 25% year-over-year growth in 2018 with SK Hynix expected to log the highest growth among the top 15 companies with a 41% surge in sales this year.  All of the top-15 companies are expected to have sales of at least $8.0 billion in this year, two companies more than in 2017.  Nine of the top-15 companies are forecast to register double-digit year-over-year growth in 2018.  Moreover, five companies are expected to have ≥20% growth, including four of the big memory suppliers (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and Western Digital/SanDisk) as well as Nvidia.

Figure 1

The largest move upward in the ranking is forecast to come from Western Digital/San Disk, which is expected to move up three spots to the 12th position.  In contrast, NXP is expected to fall two places to 13th with a sales increase of only 1% this year.  However, the worst-performing company in the ranking is forecast to be Qualcomm with a semiconductor revenue decline of 3% this year, the only top-15 company expected to register a drop in sales.

Intel was the number one ranked semiconductor supplier in 1Q17 but lost its lead spot to Samsung in 2Q17. It also fell from the top spot in the full-year 2017 ranking, a position it had held since 1993.  With the strong surge in the DRAM and NAND flash markets over the past year, Samsung is forecast to go from having 7% more total semiconductor sales than Intel in 2017 to having 19% more semiconductor sales than Intel in 2018.

Memory devices are forecast to represent 84% of Samsung’s semiconductor sales in 2018, up three points from 81% in 2017 and up 10 points from 71% just two years earlier in 2016.  Moreover, the company’s non-memory sales in 2018 are expected to be only $13.3 billion, up only 6% from 2017’s non-memory sales level of $12.5 billion. In contrast, Samsung’s memory sales are forecast to be up 31% this year and reach $70.0 billion.

The top-15 ranking includes one pure-play foundry (TSMC) and three fabless companies.  If TSMC were excluded from the top-15 ranking, Taiwan-based MediaTek would have been ranked in the 15th position with forecasted 2018 sales of $7.9 billion, up only 1% from 2017.

IC Insights includes foundries in the top-15 semiconductor supplier ranking since it has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases the semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  Foundries and fabless companies are identified in the Figure.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

Overall, the top-15 list is provided as a guideline to identify which companies are the leading semiconductor suppliers, whether they are IDMs, fabless companies, or foundries.

Entegris Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTG) announced today the grand opening of its expanded, state-of-the-art clean manufacturing facility in Kulim, Malaysia. With a $30M USD investment, Entegris has increased the manufacturing capacity of the Kulim facility by 30%, ensuring the company is a steadfast partner for the leading semiconductor makers for years to come.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is having a massive impact on IC manufacturing. New technologies are requiring an enormous number of chips and a greater emphasis on the performance and reliability of those chips.  “This new standard calls on solutions that will enable the future of technology and we are seeing this through the increase in demand for our leading wafer handling products” said Bertrand Loy, president and CEO, Entegris. “To meet this surge, we have expanded our Kulim manufacturing capacity and capabilities, adding new tooling, molding machines, and numerous updates to the assembly area to create a superior and unparalleled manufacturing facility.”

“This expanded state-of-the-art clean manufacturing facility enables Entegris to support wafer and reticle handling demand on a global basis for leading nodes now and into the future,” said Bill Shaner, senior vice president of Advanced Materials Handling Division, Entegris. “This expansion clearly aligns with the evolving needs of the industry addressing both the high demand for our award-winning FOUPs and also the emergent need for Entegris’s ASML-qualified EUV reticle pods, which are critical for logic makers adopting the most advanced lithography processes.”

SEMI, the global industry association serving the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today voiced support and encouragement for trade discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping – talks that are planned for Dec. 1 during the G20 Summit in Argentina. Representing the semiconductor industry end-to-end, from chip design through manufacturing, SEMI expressed hope for a deal and offered principles beneficial to the global microelectronics manufacturing supply chain.

“With SEMI members being key enablers of the more than $2 trillion electronics manufacturing supply chain, SEMI has a clear foundational mission based on free and fair trade, open markets, and support for international laws governing IP, cybersecurity and national security,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. “Adhering to these principles benefits all SEMI member companies and the global ecosystem of industries and applications enabled by semiconductor manufacturing. I commend our global government leaders for returning to the negotiating table.”

Recent tariffs and trade tensions, on top of newly imposed and rumored export controls, have complicated the global electronics manufacturing supply chain, forcing many SEMI member companies to rethink their investment strategies. Over the past six months, SEMI has testified that tariffs threaten to undercut the ability of many SEMI members to sell overseas by increasing costs, stifling innovation, and curbing U.S. technological leadership.

SEMI continues to educate U.S. lawmakers, as well as governments worldwide, about the critical importance of free and fair trade, open markets, and respect and enforcement of IP for all players in the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. As part of this initiative, SEMI is providing the 10 Principles for the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain in Modern Trade Agreements below to government officials and encouraging them to include these guidelines in forward-looking agreements.

These core principles outline the primary considerations for balanced trade rules that benefit SEMI members around the world, strengthen innovation and perpetuate the societal benefits of affordable microelectronics – essential components in all advanced communications, computing, transportation, healthcare and consumer electronics.

10 Principles for the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain in Modern Trade Agreements

1. Affirm principles of non-discrimination.

Non-discriminatory treatment is a central tenet of the global trading system. SEMI strongly believes that any trade deal should provide that all products from a party to the deal cannot be put at a competitive disadvantage in any other party’s market. Related, any agreement must be fully compliant with the World Trade Organization’s rules.

2. Maintain strong respect for intellectual property and trade secrets through robust safeguards and significant penalties for violators.

Protection for intellectual property are essential for the semiconductor industry. These standards enable the ability to innovate and grow. SEMI supports robust copyright standards, strong patent protections, and regulations that safeguard industrial design. SEMI also strongly supports rules that preserve trade secrets protection, including establishing criminal procedures and penalties for theft, including by means of cyber theft.

3. Remove tariffs and end technical barriers on semiconductor products.

Parties should eliminate tariffs and technical barriers on semiconductors and all technology products, that rely on electronic chips. Removing tariffs and technical barriers is crucial for businesses, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, in penetrating new markets. Related, any trade deal should open markets for services providers, ensuring that all face fair and transparent treatment.

4. Simplify and harmonize the customs and trade facilitation processes.

The trade deals should include strong commitments on customs procedures and trade facilitation to ensure that border processing will be quick, transparent, and predictable. The parties should also work to use electronic customs forms to expedite customs processing.

5. Combat any attempts of forced technology transfer.

All trade deals should have clear and firm rules that prohibit countries from requiring companies to transfer their technology, intellectual property, or other proprietary information to persons in their respective territories.

6. Enable the free flow of cross-border data.

In today’s global economy, all industries, including the semiconductor industry, rely on the free flow of data. Countries should refrain from putting in place unjustifiable regulations that limit the free flow of information, which simply serve to curb innovation and impact growth. SEMI supports provisions that enable the movement of data, subject to reasonable safeguards for privacy and other protections.

7. Eliminate forced data localization measures.

Many countries have created laws that require physical infrastructure and data centers in every country they seek to serve, which adds unnecessary costs and burdens. Forward-looking policies should eliminate the use of forced data localization measures.

8. Harmonize global standards to achieve “one standard, one test, accepted everywhere.”

Businesses should not have to face different standards for each market they serve. Global standards, driven by industry, should be market-oriented, and there should be strong commitments on transparency, stakeholder participation and coordination.

9. Create transparent rules for state-owned and -supported enterprises to ensure fair and non-discriminatory treatment.

SEMI supports a trade deal that contains robust commitments to ensure that state-owned and -supported enterprises compete based on performance, quality and price, as opposed to discriminatory regulation, opaque subsidies, favoritism, or other tools that artificially benefit state-backed businesses.

10. Establish protections for companies and individuals that respect privacy while also balancing security.

Any trade deal should have firm consumer protections, including privacy, that enables ease of use, but also does not forgo security. SEMI support efforts to use encryption products in support of this venture and also believes that parties should work to advance efforts on cybersecurity through self-assessment, declaration of conformity, increased cooperation and information sharing, all of which will help prevent cyber-attacks and stop the diffusion of malware.

Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), today announced that SK hynix, a global leader in producing semiconductors including DRAM and NAND Flash memory, has signed an agreement to join SRC’s research consortium. SK hynix will participate in multiple SRC research initiatives including; Global Research Collaboration (GRC) and the New Science Team (NST) project.

GRC, a worldwide research program with 17 industrial sponsors is comprised of nine design and process technology disciplines. SK hynix will participate in SRC’s Nanomanufacturing Materials and Processes and Logic & Memory Devices research programs that focus on new device structures, memory alternatives, materials, and processes.

The NST project, a consortium consisting of 12 industrial sponsors and three government agencies is a 5-year, $300 million SRC initiative launched this January. NST consists of two complementary research programs: JUMP (Joint University Microelectronics Program) and nCORE (nanoelectronics Computing Research), which will advance new technologies focused on high- performance, energy-efficient microelectronics for communications, computing and storage needs for 2025 and beyond.

“The entire SRC team joins me in welcoming SK hynix to our distinguished membership of industry leaders from around the world”, said Ken Hansen, President and CEO of SRC. “SK hynix has an impressive history that showcases how ingenuity and innovative thinking can advance technology at a progressive pace. We look forward to a long, successful relationship with SK hynix as we push the limits of imagination and innovation.”

“SK hynix’s fundamental objective to surpass technological boundaries through propelling innovation has brought us to this association with SRC”, said Jinkook Kim, Head of R&D at SK hynix. “We recognize the significant impact that collaborative research programs such as those underway at SRC have in moving our industry forward. Strategic partnerships in research and development will help drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution with AI and autonomous vehicles leading the way.”

Today’s announcement is significant as the top 5 global semiconductor companies are now members of SRC. SK hynix represents the 8th non-U.S. headquartered company to join SRC as it seeks to expand its global presence. Industry sponsors are invited to explore the possibilities at SRC.

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased during the third quarter 2018, surpassing record second quarter 2018 area shipments to set another all-time high, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Total silicon wafer area shipments reached 3,255 million square inches during the most recent quarter, a 3.0 percent rise from the 3,164 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. New quarterly total area shipments clocked in 8.6 percent higher than third quarter 2017 shipments.

“Silicon shipment volumes remained at record levels during the third quarter,” said Neil Weaver, chairman SEMI SMG and Director, Product Development and Applications Engineering of Shin Etsu Handotai America. “Silicon shipments are mirroring this year’s strong semiconductor unit growth in support of a growing and diversified electronics market during our stable economy.”

Silicon Area Shipment Trends – Semiconductor Applications Only
Millions of Square Inches
1Q2017
2Q2017
3Q2017
4Q2017
1Q2018
2Q2018
3Q2018
Total
2,858
2,978
2,997
2,977
3,084
3,164
3,255

Source: SEMI, (www.semi.org), November 2018

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices, or chips, are fabricated.

All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.

The Silicon Manufacturing Group (SMG)  is a sub-committee of the SEMI Electronic Materials Group (EMG) and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi, etc.). The purpose of the group is to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the development of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.