Category Archives: Manufacturing

By Michaël Tchagaspanian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Leti

Digital disruption begets innovation. Challenges equal opportunities. Those were clear messages during Leti Innovation Days recently in Grenoble, France. Over two days at the annual event, which this year coincided with Leti’s 50th anniversary, speakers and exhibitions highlighted challenges of the digital revolution and presented specific current-and-anticipated solutions for industry, healthcare and energy and the environment.

Coinciding with the launch of the administration of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has already talked of France becoming “a start-up nation”, Leti also noted the importance of creating and supporting startups that will help consumers, companies and countries address the challenges and opportunities of the digital revolution.

Citing challenges in the energy sector, Thierry Lepercq, executive vice president of research, technology and innovation at the international French energy company ENGIE, warned of potential energy blackouts and financial problems for traditional energy providers due to the growing penetration of alternative energy sources, the switch from fossil fuels – and energy sharing by households.

These developments, which ENGIE calls “Full 3D” – decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization – have destabilized traditional power systems and providers.

For example, a German residential battery-storage supplier allows residents to store energy at home and swap it on the grid, cutting out traditional electricity providers. Lepercq also noted that the rapid growth in the use of electric vehicles can load the grid with demand that was not anticipated even a few years ago. But the digital revolution also has prompted entrepreneurial responses. EV-Box, the Dutch company that has deployed more than 40,000 vehicle-charging stations in 20 countries, is gathering usage data, which will help officials understand the vehicles’ demands on the grid.

ENGIE acquired EV-Box this year as a strategic step towards operating in a completely new global energy paradigm.

Driving toward a new economy

Last month, Intel released a study that predicted autonomous vehicles will create a “Passenger Economy” – with mobility-as-a-service – that could grow to $800 billion in 2035 and to $7 trillion by 2050.

With autonomous vehicles, the car will no longer be a “stand-alone vehicle”, but “something that reacts with the environment”, said Mike Mayberry, corporate vice president and managing director of Intel Labs. Intel has opened advanced vehicle labs in the U.S. and Germany to explore the various requirements related to self-driving vehicles and the future of transportation. That includes sensing, in-vehicle computing, artificial intelligence, connectivity, and supporting cloud technologies and services.

When a panel discussion on driverless cars was asked when these vehicles will be in general use, Jean-François Tarabbia, CTO of Valeo, the automotive supplier to automakers worldwide, said “the better question is ‘why’”. And that depends in part on the industry’s ability to demonstrate vehicle safety. He said that traffic jams could be reduced by 30 percent with autonomous cars. Still, the cars will require a driver inside who will do something other than driving until he or she is needed to operate the vehicle.

Pierrick Cornet, brand incubator at Renault Nissan, said autonomous cars also will have to accommodate owners who occasionally want to drive their vehicles. For carmakers like Renault Nissan, the challenges are managing the cost and weight of the vehicles, which are loaded with batteries, as well as computing and sensing gear – and making them able to charge quickly.

Fabio Marchiò, automotive digital general manager at STMicroelectronics, noted that cars are the least-used appliance/machine in the household. He agreed with Tarabbia that safety and consumer resistance are primary roadblocks for the vehicles, but added that government regulations could slow down their widespread use.

Moore’s Law obtains

Outlining some of Intel’s R&D programs, Mayberry brushed aside frequent predictions that Moore’s Law has run its course. He said Intel expects Moore’s Law to be in effect at least through the next decade, because of the industry’s continued evolution to smaller technology nodes with new IC technologies.

In addition to focusing on enabling Moore’s Law going forward, Intel’s research on components and hardware includes developing novel integration techniques. But Intel Labs also is focused on enabling future product capabilities and “imagining what’s next”.

As part of that effort, Intel Labs has partnered with Princeton University to decode digital brain data, which is scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The goal is to reveal how neural activity gives rise to learning, memory and other cognitive functions such as human attention, control and decision-making.

Leti and Intel agreed last year to collaborate on strategic research programs, including the Internet of Things, high-speed wireless communication, security technologies and 3D displays.

Quantum computing

Also peering into the more-distant future, Leti CEO Marie Semeria noted development of Leti’s Si-CMOS quantum-technology platform.

“The quantum topic has recently become central, thanks to the huge advances made in solid-state implementation, both in superconducting systems and in silicon technologies,” she said. “Interest in silicon-based technologies is huge because of their reliability and their capability to reproduce industrial standards along with the low-noise characteristics and low variability of CMOS devices.”

Noting that the University of New South Wales recently demonstrated a promising two-qubit logic gate based on the silicon-28 isotope, Semeria said Leti had demonstrated the compatibility of such circuits with state-of-the-art CMOS processes.

“From an architectural point of view, it is clear that the future quantum computer will be hybrid. It will combine a quantum engine with a classical digital computer,” she explained. “The program that will run on such a machine will need to combine at least two computing models: a classical part, to prepare data and process results, and a quantum one. A tight connection between the two programming models will be necessary.”

With its history of pioneering in technology and its culture of spinning out new companies to further develop and commercialize innovative technologies, Leti is poised to help France achieve Macron’s goal: “I want France to be a ‘start-up nation’, meaning both a nation that works with and for the start-ups, but also a nation that thinks and moves like a start-up.”

Leti has launched 64 startups, including 13 in the past four years.

Digital innovations in healthcare

Jai Hakhu, president & CEO of HORIBA International Corporation (U.S.), explained how the digital revolution is creating in vitro diagnostics business potential by enabling delivery of preventive healthcare services in even remote regions of the world. In one of HORIBA and Leti’s joint projects, they are developing a hematology, microfluidics-based, lensfree, point-of-care and home-testing system that can be used in underdeveloped countries.

The collaboration is helping realize HORIBA’s vision of providing preventive self-testing anywhere in the world.

Leti’s start-up Avalun has developed a portable medical device for multiple-measurement capabilities using point-of-care testing. Other recent healthcare-related startups include Diabeloop, which is in the final stages of testing an artificial pancreas, and Aryballe Technologies, which is developing olfactory and gustatory sensors.

Routes to innovation

Those new companies were among the presenters at Leti’s immersive exhibition, “Routes to Innovation”, which was the focus of day two of the event. Entrepreneurs and Leti scientists offered more than 60 demonstrations of patented technologies, to show with concrete examples how Leti’s technological know-how and industrial transfer expertise can help French and international companies innovate and become more competitive.

The three “Digital Revolution” topics included “Micro-Nano Pathfinding”, showing how the diversity of Leti’s digital technologies are available to all economic sectors; “Cyber Physical Systems”, and “Business-Model Disruption”.

The “Environmental Transition” demos covered “Sustainable Activities”, “Monitoring Our World’ and “More with Less”. The “New Frontiers for Healthcare” demos covered “Prevention, Independence, Well Being”, “New Therapies” and “Analysis & Diagnosis”. 

Collaborating for technological sovereignty

During the event, Semeria and Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics Chairman Hubert Lakner announced a wide-ranging collaboration to develop innovative, next-generation microelectronics technologies to spur innovation in their countries and strengthen European strategic and economic sovereignty.

The two institutes will initially focus on extending CMOS and More-than-Moore technologies to enable next-generation components for applications in the Internet of Things, augmented reality, automotive, health, aeronautics and other sectors, as well as systems to support French and German industries.

‘Smart everything everywhere’

Over the two days, a record number of guests, including CEOs, CTOs, journalists and special guests and speakers heard and saw examples of Leti’s advanced technology platforms, its commitment to research excellence and its vision for applying innovative technologies to challenges of the digital era.

Max Lemke, head of the Components and Systems Unit at the European Commission, noted that Leti’s contributions extend beyond microelectronics to cyber-physical systems, 5G, the Internet of Things, photonics and post-CMOS technologies. By supporting the digital transformation of industry, Leti plays a leading role in “smart everything everywhere”, Lemke said.

“Leti is excellently positioned to continue doing forward-looking research” on components and systems to build the foundation for Europe’s future competitiveness, and to play an instrumental role in supporting French and European industry in their digital transformation, he said.

Industry experts answer questions about the new standard in a virtual roundtable.

In recent years, energy consumption has decreased due to several innovations that have helped to improve the energy efficiency of process tools and sub-fab equipment, but an increase in the number of processes and the growing complexity of processing at the current node has resulted in a spike in energy consumption in the fab. Approximately 43% of the energy consumed in the fab is due to the processing equipment and, of this, 20% is vacuum and abatement (8% overall).

A new standard from SEMI, E175, defines energy saving modes, which combined with the EtherCAT signaling standard, can help fabs save energy and other gas/utility costs when the tool is not processing and with no impact on subsequent wafer processing.

EtherCAT, based on industrial Ethernet, provides high- speed control and monitoring. It is the communication standard of choice for the latest semiconductor tool controllers to connect to sensors and actuators around the tool, including vacuum and abatement systems.

SEMI E175 defines how process tools communicate with sub-fab equipment, such as vacuum pumps and gas abatement systems, to reduce utility consumption at times when wafers are not being processed by the tool, and returning to full performance when the tool is again required to process wafers. It builds on SEMI E167, which defines communication between the fab host/ WIP controller and the process tools for the purpose of utility saving.

Collaboration between the E175 and EtherCAT groups has seen a harmonization of the communication standards to provide co-ordinated energy saving across devices in the fab.
We invited experts in this area to answer a few questions in a virtual roundtable. The participants are:

• GERALD SHELLEY, Senior Product Manager Communication and Control at Edwards, and the EtherCAT Chair Abatement / Roughing pump working groups, E175 task force.

• MIKE CZERNIAK, Environmental Solutions Business Development Manager at Edwardsm Co-Chair of SEMI International Standards E167 & E175, and campaigner for energy saving

• GINO CRISPIERI, Applied Materials – Past Co-chair of E175 (originally SEMATECH/ISMI, then independent consultant, prior to Applied Materials)

• MARTIN ROSTAN, Executive Director, EtherCAT Technology Group

Q: Please explain what drove the standards work on energy saving and the achievements to date.

SHELLEY: There is increased pressure on the industry to reduce energy and utility saving from both a cost and environmental standpoint. Subfab equipment is a major consumer of utilities, which is wasted when a tool is not in use. Different manufacturers have implemented energy saving solutions, with minimal direct connection to the tool. However, direct tool connection has emerged as the best way to maximize saving without any risk to wafer processing.

CZERNIAK: This work originated in the ISMI part of SEMATECH as a follow-on to generic work aimed at reducing the overall utilities footprint of modern fabs. In response to this and requests from customers, Edwards developed vacuum pumps and gas abatement systems that had energy-saving functionality. However, it soon became clear that the limitation to implementing such savings was the absence of standardised signalling between the process tool and sub-fab equipment.

CRISPIERI: A SEMATECH project around 2009 started to look into opportunities for saving energy in the semiconductor factories. At that time, suppliers of pumps and abatement systems already had started initiatives to provide their own solutions to the initiative. Since that time, the industry has adopted two new standards: SEMI E167 Specification for Equipment Energy Saving Mode Communication (between factory and semicon- ductor equipment) and SEMI E175 Specification for Subsystem Energy Saving Mode Communication (between semiconductor equipment and subsystems).

Q: Please describe how the energy saving task force was born and why you decided to get involved.

CRISPIERI: Back in 2009 while working for SEMATECH in Austin, Texas, prior to SEMATECH’s move the New York, Thomas Huang an assignee for GlobalFoundries to the EHS Program approached and asked me if I would be interested in helping him drive a standard for equipment suppliers to enable their equipment to save energy during idle times. Because of my previous experience working with equipment suppliers and developing standards for equipment and factory communication, I accepted to chair a task force to drive the equipment supplier’s new capability requirement into a standard. At first, we thought it would be an easy task and that everyone would jump to help create and approve the standard in a short amount of time because of its benefits. A two phase approach was defined to drive the standardization process and engage semiconductor and sub-fab equipment suppliers accordingly. It took almost three years to complete the Phase I (2013) and another three to complete the Phase II (2016) standards.

SHELLEY: The task force was an extension of E167 which previously defined the communication into the tool from the supervisory systems, however to achieve maximum benefit signalling to tool subsystems was key and the E175 task force was the result.

CZERNIAK: Following-on from the above, the ISMI working group became a SEMI Standards Task Force and began work at developing a standard, initially for Host to process tool (E167) and then from tool to sub-fab (E175), which I was co-chair for to ensure continuity and clear the signalling “roadblock”.

Q: How have suppliers collaborated on E175?

CRISPIERI: Compared with the suppliers who partic- ipated in SEMI E167 development, the suppliers involved in the development and approval of SEMI E175 were more committed to make it happen and helped drive the standardization process to conclusion much more efficiently. Edwards, AMAT, TEL, Hitachi- Kokusai and DAS-Europe regularly participated and provided inputs to standardize behavior and require- ments for their own equipment. We run into some difficulty getting aligned with other standard activities that were driven by SEMI’s EHS Committee because their changes affected our standardization process. I must note that the overall participation was excellent in particular from Edwards Vacuum and AMAT.

ROSTAN: Within the ETG Semiconductor Technical Working Group individual task groups already had multiple suppliers collaborating on the detail of the EtherCAT profiles for all devices, with technical support from the EtherCAT Technical Group. We were fortunate to have a delegate from Edwards in both the Semi E175 Task Force and key EtherCAT Task Groups to informally broker agreement between the teams.

SHELLEY: The suppliers were able to use their collective experience to work through a number of options to find the optimum way of controlling subfab equipment, tackling variability in wakeup time and control architec- tures between device types and equipment technology.

CZERNIAK: Suppliers, automation providers, tool OEMs and end-users have all collaborated to help develop a standard that works for everyone and aligns with earlier standards like S23.

Q: How was the EtherCAT collaboration beneficial to E175?

SHELLEY: By sharing information and understanding in real time we demonstrated the E175 concept is achievable using the favored protocol for new tool platforms and defined how it would be implemented. We co-operated to take both these standards to alignment in one simul- taneous step, saving considerable committee time on both sides that would have been necessary to resolve any divergence of the detail.

ROSTAN: By devising the implementation of E175 in parallel the EtherCAT Task Groups involved were able to feedback detailed technical proposals and show the E175 standard could be implemented relatively easily within the existing EtherCAT standards.

CRISPIERI: Participation and collaboration from the EtherCAT Working Group was critical to accelerate the implementation and adoption of the standard. Dry Contacts and EtherCAT communication protocol messages were added to two Related Information sections and included in the SEMI E175 standard at the time of its publication.

CZERNIAK: This enables a “richer” signalling environment than simple dry contacts (which are also supported) that enables even greater utility savings to be made.

Q: How has EtherCAT been able to support the require- ments of the tool and Semi E175?

CZERNIACK: By providing timing information; the longer the time the tool is inactive, the greater the savings possible.

ROSTAN: As the control network of choice for the latest semiconductor tools, EtherCAT has been ideally placed to support enhancements, such as the energy saving connectivity increasingly being requested by the fabs. In particular, it was good to see the Pump and Abatement Task Groups of the existing Semiconductor Technical Working Group formulate an E175 compliant solution within the timescales of the second release of the EtherCAT semiconductor device profiles. The EtherCAT Technology Group was also more than happy to support the publication of extracts of the EtherCAT standards being used as protocol examples in the Imple- mentation guidelines of the Semi E175 document.

SHELLEY: EtherCAT has the fast / deterministic connec- tivity and proven integration with tool controllers that allows E175 functionality to be easily added without any loss of performance. By including the requirements of Semi E175 in the EtherCAT standards, both equipment suppliers and tool vendors can establish energy saving communication quickly and easily.

CRISPIERI: The coordination between EtherCAT Working Group and the SEMI ESEC task force group was conducted by Mr. Gerald Shelley from Edwards Vacuum. With his help and leadership, we reached effortlessly agreement and acceptance for the required messages, parameters and values into the EtherCAT respective Pump and Abatement Profile documents. Havingworking usage scenarios and support from the EtherCAT Working Group has been invaluable.

Q: Why is energy saving important to the industry?

ROSTAN: In the industrial world, EtherCAT users are increasingly using our communication and control technologies to drive down energy consumption. The semiconductor industry operates in parts of the world where energy is a limited and expensive resource, whilst the latest wafer processing requires more power. The manufacturers are therefore in great need for energy saving opportunities, such as when the tool subsystems are not in use.

SHELLEY: The fabs are being squeezed by an increase in the complexity and number of processes involved in manufacturing a wafer, driving consumption up and increasing scarcity of energy supply. This is further compli- cated with associated cost and government pressure to “keep the lights on”.

CRISPIERI: It is not hard to see why is so important for device makers or the semiconductor manufacturing industry to adopt and require energy conservation capabilities in their factories. Energy consumed by many equipment components and support systems, such as pumps and abatement systems, never stop from running even when the equipment is idle and waiting for product to be delivered for processing. These components and support systems can save millions of dollars each year if their power consumption is reduced. This energy consumption reduction extends their life cycle thus reducing costs of maintenance and parts replacement. Any effort to reduce energy consumption helps lower costs and adds gains to not only the manufacturer but to those who have to generate the energy for consumption.

CZERNIACK: Cost reduction is always important, but electrical supply is limited in some areas.

ULVAC Technologies, Inc. (www.ulvac.com), a supplier of production systems, instrumentation and vacuum pumps for technology industries, has opened an office in Santa Clara, California. The Silicon Valley office location gives ULVAC West Coast customers easier access to the company’s sales and service operations. It also locates company operations closer to the Japanese headquarters and various Asian markets. The new location will include a vacuum pump and leak detector repair center to serve the regional customer base.

A new product line for ULVAC Technologies, Inc. is vacuum cooling systems for use in large-scale farms to extend the product shelf life of fresh agricultural products, flowers and meats. These systems are also used in the processed foods industry as well, to extend the life of products such as airplane meals. Local demonstration capability of the new Vacuum Cooling System is planned for the Santa Clara location. “Much of the vacuum cooling market is located in California, and the new Santa Clara office puts us in close proximity to major customers,” said Wayne Anderson, President/CEO of ULVAC Technologies, Inc.

In summary, “The Santa Clara office will serve as a business development hub within a technology-rich region, enabling us to expand our market share in semiconductor, MEMS and other high-technology industries”, he added.

With the increasing sophistication of future vehicles, new and more advanced semiconductor technologies will be used and vehicles will become technology centers.

BY DR. JEAN-CHARLES CIGAL and GREG SHUTTLEWORTH, Linde Electronics, Taipei, Taiwan

Large efforts are being deployed in the car industry to transform the driving experience. Electrical vehicles are in vogue and governments are encouraging this market with tax incentives. Cars are becoming smarter, capable of self-diagnostics, and in the near future will be able to connect with each other. Most importantly, the implementation of safety features has greatly reduced the number of accidents and fatal- ities on the roads in the last few decades. Thanks to extensive computing power, vehicles are now nearing autonomous driving capability. This is only possible with a dramatic increase in the amount of electronic devices in new vehicles.

Recent announcements regarding acquisitions of automotive electronics specialists by semiconductor giants and strategic plans from foundries highlight the appetite from a larger spectrum of semiconductor manufacturers for this particular market. Automotive electronics has become a major player in an industrial transformation.

Automotive electronics is, however, very different from the consumer electronics market. The foremost focus is on product quality, and the highest standards are used to ensure the reliability of electronics components in vehicles. This has also an impact on the quality and supply chain of materials such as gases and chemicals used in the manufacturing of these electronics devices.

Automotive electronics market: size and trends

When you include integrated circuits, optoelectronics, sensors, and discrete devices, the automotive electronics market reached around USD 34 billion in 2016 (FIGURE 1). While this represents less than 10% of the total semiconductor market, it is predicted to be one of the fastest growing markets over the next 5 years.

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There are several explanations for such growth potential:

• The vehicle market itself is predicted to steadily grow on an average 3% in the coming 10 years and will be especially driven by China and India, although other developed countries will still experience an increase in sales.
• The semiconductor content in each car is steadily increasing and it is expected that the share of electronic systems in the vehicle cost could reach 50% of the total car cost by 2030 (FIGURE 2).

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While it is clearly challenging to describe what the driving experience will be in 10 to 15 years, some clear trends can be identified:

• Safety: The implementation of integrated vision systems, in connection with dozens of sensors and radars, will allow thorough diagnoses of surrounding areas of the vehicles. Cars will progressively be able to offer, and even take decisions, to prevent accidents.
• Fuel efficiency: The share of vehicles equipped with (hybrid) electrical engines is expected to steadily grow. For such engines, the electronics content is estimated to double in value compared to that of standard combustion engines.
• Comfort and infotainment: Vehicle drivers are constantly demanding a more enhanced driving experience. The digitalization of dashboards, the sound and video capabilities, and the customization of the driving and passenger environment should heighten the pleasure of time spent in the vehicle.

In order to coordinate all these functions, communication systems (within the vehicle, between vehicles, and between vehicles and infrastructures) are critical and large computing systems will be necessary to treat large amount of data.

Quality really makes automotive electronics different

Automotive electronics cannot be defined by specific technologies or applications. They are currently characterized by a very large portfolio of products based on mature technologies, spanning from discrete, optoelectronics, MEMS and sensors, to integrated circuits and memories.

Until now, the automotive electronics market has been the preserve of specialized semiconductor manufacturers with long experience in this field. The reason for this is the specific know-how required for quality management.

A component failure that appears harmless in a consumer product could have major safety consequences for a vehicle in motion. Furthermore, operating conditions of automotive electronics components (temperature, humidity, vibration, acceleration, etc.), their lifetime, and their spare part availability are differentiators to what is common for consumer and industrial devices (FIGURE 3).

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Currently, some of the most technologically advanced vehicles integrate around 450 semiconductor devices. As they become significantly more sophisticated, the semiconductor content will drastically increase, with many components based on the most advanced semiconductor technology available. Introducing artificial intelligence will require advanced processors capable of computing massive amount of data stored in high-performance and high capacity memory devices. This implies that not only the most advanced semicon- ductor devices will be used, but that these will need to achieve the highest degree of reliability to allow a flawless operation of predictive algorithms.

It is expected that smart vehicles capable of fully autonomous driving will employ up to 7,000 chips. In this case, even a failure rate of 1ppm, already very low by any standard today, would lead to 7 out of 1,000 cars with a safety risk. This is simply unacceptable.

The automotive electronics industry has therefore introduced quality excellence programs aimed at a zero defect target. Achieving such a goal requires a lot of effort and all constituents of the supply chain must do their part.

The automotive electronics industry is one of the most conservative in terms of change management. Longestablished standards and documentation procedures ensure traceability of design and manufacturing deviations. Qualification of novel or modified products is generally costly and lengthy. This is where material suppliers can offer competence and expertise to provide material with the highest quality standards.

What does this mean for a material supplier?

As a direct contact to its customer, the material supplier is responsible for the complete supply chain from the source of the raw material to the delivery at the customer’s gate. The material supplier is also accountable for long-term supply in accordance with the customer’s objectives.
There are essentially two fields where the material supplier can support its customer: quality and supply chain (FIGURE 4).

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Given the constraints of the automotive electronics market, material qualification must follow extensive procedures. While a high degree of material purity is a prerequisite, manufacturing processes are actually much more sensitive to deviations of material quality, as they potentially lead to process recalibration. Before qualification starts, it is critical that candidate materials are comprehensively documented. This includes the manufacturing process, the transport, the storage, and, where appropriate, the purifi- cation and transfill operations. Systematic auditing must be regularly performed according to customers’ standards. As a consequence, longer qualification times are expected. Any subsequent change in the material specification, origin, and packaging must be duly documented and is likely to be subject to a requalification process.

Material quality is obviously a critical element that must be demonstrated at all times. This commands the usage of high-quality products with a proven record. Sources already qualified for similar applica- tions are preferred to mitigate risks. These sources must show long-term business continuity planning, with process improvement programs in place. Purity levels must be carefully monitored and documented in databases. State-of-the-art analysis methods must be used. When necessary, containment measures should be deployed systematically. Given the long operating lifetime of automotive electronic compo- nents, failure can be related to a quality event that occurred a long time before.

Because of the necessary long-term availability of the electronics components and the material qualification constraints, manufacturers and suppliers will generally favor a supply contract over several years. Therefore, the source availability and the supply chain must be guaranteed accordingly.

Material suppliers are implementing improved quality management systems for their products in order to fulfill the expectations of their customers, in terms of quality monitoring and trace- ability. Certificate of analysis (COA) or consistency checks are not sufficient anymore; more data is required. In case deviation is detected, the inves- tigation and response time must be drastically reduced and allow intervention before delivery to the customer. Finally, the whole supply chain must be monitored.

Several tools must be implemented in order to maintain a reliable supply chain of high-quality products (FIGURE 5): statistical process and quality controls (SPC/SQC), as well as measurement systems analysis (MSA), allow systematic and reliable measurement and information recording for traceability. Imple- menting these tools particularly at the early stages of the supply chain allows an “in-time” response and correction before the defective material reaches the customer’s premises. Furthermore, some impurities that were ignored before may become critical, even below the current detection limits. Therefore, new measurement techniques must be continuously inves- tigated in order to enhance the detection capabilities.

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Finally, a robust supply chain must be ensured. It is imperative for a material supplier to be prepared to handle critical business functions such as customer orders, overseeing production and deliveries, and other various parts of the supply chain in any situation. Business continuity planning (BCP) was introduced several years ago in order to identify and mitigate any risk of supply chain disruption.

Analyzing the risks to business operations is fundamental to maintaining business continuity. Materials suppliers must work with manufacturers to develop a business continuity plan that facilitates the ability to continue to perform critical functions and/or provide services in the event of an unexpected interruption. The goal is to identify potential risks and weakness in current sourcing strategies and supply chain footprint and then mitigate those risks.

Because of the efforts necessary to qualify materials, second sources must be available and prepared to be shipped in case of crisis. Ideally, different sources should be qualified simultaneously to avoid any further delay in case of unplanned sourcing changes. Material suppliers with global footprint and worldwide sourcing capabilities offer additional security. Multiple shipping routes must be considered and planned in order to avoid disruption in the case, for instance, of a natural disaster or geopolitical issue affecting an entire region.

Material suppliers need to be aware and monitor regulations specific to the automotive electronics industry such as ISO/TS16949 (quality management strategy for automotive industries). This standard goes above and beyond the more familiar ISO 9001 standard, but by understanding the expectations of suppliers to the automotive industry, suppliers can ensure alignment of their quality systems and the documentation requirements for new product development or investigations into non-conformance.

Future of automotive electronics

With the increasing sophistication of future vehicles, new and more advanced semiconductor technologies will be used and vehicles will become technology centers. These technologies will allow communication and guidance computing. Most of these components (logic or memory) will be built by manufacturers relatively new to the automotive electronics world— either integrated device manufacturers (IDM) or foundries.

In order to comply with the current quality standards of the automotive industry, these manufacturers will need to adhere to more stringent standards imposed by the automobile industry. They will find support from materials suppliers like Linde that are capable of deliv- ering high-quality materials associated with a solid global supply chain who have acquired global experience in automotive electronics.

For more information about this topic or Linde Electronics, visit www.linde.com/electronics or contact Francesca Brava at [email protected].

OEM Group has launched the P5000:CS automated single wafer cluster tool for the compound semiconductor market.  As the exclusive licensed manufacturer of the Applied Materials P5000, OEM Group’s P5000:CS was designed and developed specifically to handle and process 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm compound semiconductor substrates such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Sapphire, Germanium (Ge), Indium Phosphide (InP), and Gallium Nitride (GaN).

“Prior to the release of the P5000:CS, customers in the compound semiconductor market had very few options for Etch and CVD cluster tools” said John Almerico, Production Manager Etch and CVD of OEM Group.  “Their choices were limited to boutique custom built, unproven, and expensive systems.  With the P5000:CS, it’s the first time an industry proven, single wafer cluster tool with high volume capability has been made available to the compound semiconductor industry.”

The P5000:CS features a proprietary Bi-Polar Electrostatic Chuck for single wafer processing temperature control best suited for SiC, GaAs, and Sapphire etch applications.  The option for a proprietary Wafer Orienter utilizing special software and sensors specifically tuned to do edge detection on transparent wafers has been added.  An Advanced Spectrometer Endpoint Detection system is built into the chamber to diagnose, analyze, and “fingerprint” any kind of plasma present on the wafer.

In 2016, SEMI reported the total compound semiconductor market was estimated at $24B and expected to almost double at a CAGR of ~13% to ~$44B in 2020.  “With the projected growth in the industry”, said Almerico, “we developed the P5000:CS platform to address the special high volume production needs and support the market at an affordable price”.

About OEM Group, Inc.

OEM Group is a global manufacturer of new and remanufactured semiconductor capital equipment and upgrades focused on innovative and sustaining solutions for emerging markets. Our proven portfolio consists of exclusive intellectual property acquired from leading semiconductor brands, including: P5000, Tegal™ Etch, Sputtered Films® Endeavor™, MRC® Eclipse™, AGHeatpulse®, Varian® Sunset™, Lam® AutoEtch™ and SEMITOOL® Manual Batch, Automated Batch and Single Wafer Equinox™. In addition to the LEGENDS™ lines, OEM offers an Applications Development lab for wet processing and Foundry services for piezoelectric AlN films. For more information, please visit www.oemgroupinc.com.

After several years of low and inconsistent growth rates primarily because of intense pricing pressure, the market for semiconductor sensors and actuators finally caught fire in 2016 with several of its largest product categories—acceleration/yaw and magnetic-field sensors and actuator devices—recording strong double-digit sales increases in the year, according to IC Insights’ new 2017 O-S-D Report—A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes.  In addition to the easing of price erosion, substantial unit-shipment growth in sensors and actuators continues to be fed by the spread of intelligent embedded control, new wearable systems, and the expansion of applications connected to the Internet of Things, says the 2017 O-S-D Report.

The new 360-page report shows worldwide sensor sales grew 14% in 2016 to a record-high $7.3 billion, surpassing the previous annual peak of $6.4 billion set in 2015, when revenues increased 3.7%. Actuator sales climbed 19% in 2016 to an all-time high of $4.5 billion from the previous record of $3.8 billion in 2015.  The 2017 O-S-D Report forecasts total sensor sales rising by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% in the next five years, reaching $10.5 billion in 2021, while actuator dollar volumes are expected to increase by a CAGR of 8.4% to nearly $6.8 billion in the same timeframe.  Figure 1 shows the relative market sizes of the five main product categories in the sensors/actuator segment, along with the projected five-year growth rates for the 2016-2021 forecast period.

The sensor/actuator market ended four straight years of severe price erosion in 2016 and finally benefitted from strong unit growth.  The average selling price (ASP) of sensors and actuators declined by -0.9% in 2016 versus an annual average of -9.3% during the four previous years (2012-2015), says IC Insights’ new O-S-D Report.  All sensor product categories and the large actuator segment registered double-digit sales growth in 2016.  It was the first time in five years that sales growth was recorded in all sensor/actuator product categories, partly due to the easing of price erosion but also because of continued strong unit demand worldwide.  Sensor/actuator shipments grew 17% in 2016 to a record-high of 20.3 billion units from 17.4 billion in 2015, when the volume also increased 17%.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Strong 2016 sales recoveries occurred in acceleration/yaw-rate motion sensors (+15%), magnetic-field sensors and electronic compass chips (+18%), and the miscellaneous other sensor category (+20%) after market declines were registered in 2015. Sales growth also strengthened in pressure sensors, including MEMS microphone chips, (+10%) and actuators (+19%) in 2016.  The new O-S-D Report forecasts sales of acceleration/yaw sensors growing 9% in 2017 to about $3.0 billion, magnetic-field sensors (and compass chips) rising 8% to nearly $2.0 billion, and pressure sensors increasing 8% to $2.7 billion this year.  Actuator sales are projected to grow 8% in 2017 to about $4.9 billion.

About 82% of the sensors/actuators market’s revenues in 2016 came from semiconductors built with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology—meaning pressure sensors, microphone chips, acceleration/yaw motion sensors, and actuators that use MEMS-built transducer structures to initiate physical action in a wide range of devices, including inkjet printer nozzles, microfluidic chips, micro-mirrors, and surface-wave filters for RF signals.  MEMS-built products represented 48% of total sensor/actuator shipments in 2016, or about 9.8 billion units last year.

MEMS-based product sales climbed 15.4% in 2016 to a record-high $9.7 billion after rising 5.1% in 2015 and 5.8% in 2014.   Some inventory corrections and steep ASP erosion in MEMS-built devices have suppressed revenue growth in recent years, but this group of products—like the entire sensors/actuator market—is benefitting from increased demand in new wearable systems, IoT, and the rapid spread of intelligent embedded control, such as autonomous automotive features rolling into cars.  MEMS-based sensors and actuator sales are forecast to rise 7.9% in 2017 to $10.5 billion and grow by a CAGR of 8.0% in the 2016-2021 period to $14.3 billion, says the new O-S-D Report.

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that it has achieved an industry milestone with more than 1100 EVG wafer bonding chambers installed at customer facilities worldwide to date. This milestone cements EVG’s technology and market leadership in wafer bonding, which is an enabling process for volume manufacturing of semiconductor advanced packaging, MEMS, CMOS image sensors, and radio frequency (RF) devices. The EVG 500, EVG 850, GEMINI and ComBond series of wafer bonding solutions, in particular, are seeing strong demand due to their performance and cross-platform compatibility, which allows customers to more easily ramp up their R&D processes to high-volume manufacturing.

Every four seconds, a wafer is bonded with an EVG system. Shown here is a 300-mm bond chamber in an EVG®560 Automated Wafer Bonding System. The EVG560 accepts up to four bond chambers with various configuration options for all bonding processes, including anodic, thermo compression, fusion bonding and LowTemp™ plasma bonding.

Every four seconds, a wafer is bonded with an EVG system. Shown here is a 300-mm bond chamber in an EVG®560 Automated Wafer Bonding System. The EVG560 accepts up to four bond chambers with various configuration options for all bonding processes, including anodic, thermo compression, fusion bonding and LowTemp™ plasma bonding.

“For our high-volume customers, it is essential that they have ready access to industry-proven, cost-effective and high-yielding process solutions. EV Group has closely collaborated with customers and partners for nearly three decades to innovate wafer bonding technology, which has led to the establishment of our technology as the de-facto industry standard for high-volume manufacturing,” stated Hermann Waltl, executive sales and customer support director at EV Group. “Our product offerings span the entire manufacturing chain from R&D and small-scale production environments to full-scale, high-volume production. This enables us to support our customers throughout as they transform new ideas into real-world products.”

EVG’s wafer bonding solutions for adhesive and fusion/hybrid bonding, metal bonding (such as solder and eutectic), and high-vacuum encapsulation undergo continuous innovation in a variety of critical areas, including temperature and process uniformity, vacuum control, wafer alignment and ease of use to ensure a high-yielding and high-throughput bonding process. Manual and semi-automated wafer bonders are fully compatible with EVG production bonding systems, which shortens the development time for customers to bring new innovative devices to market.

For adhesive, solder and eutectic bonding, the EVG500 series of semi-automated wafer bonders and GEMINI series of fully-automated wafer bonders support non-hermetic, cost-efficient encapsulation of CMOS image sensors, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters for wireless RF chips, and other devices for mobile phones and other high-volume consumer applications. Additionally, tool configurations can be tailored to more demanding bond processes such as hermetic encapsulation for MEMS devices.

For high-vacuum encapsulation bonding, the new EVG ComBond automated high-vacuum wafer bonder provides ultra-high vacuum encapsulation (10-8 mbar) needed for next-generation MEMS devices, such as gyroscopes, microbolometers, and advanced sensors used in autonomous cars, virtual reality headsets and other applications.

For fusion bonding, the EVG850LT and the GEMINI FB automated fusion bonders enable manufacturing of high-accuracy optical devices, image sensors, and engineered substrates such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI), silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for RF, power and other high-speed/high-efficiency devices.

Added Waltl, “EVG is continuously improving our process solutions in order to address wider market applications and more stringent industry requirements. This has paid off for our customers, which in turn has enabled us to maintain our leadership position in the wafer bonding market. Every four seconds, a wafer is bonded with an EVG system. We are proud to bring our expertise gained from this far-reaching installed base to our customers around the world.”

Racyics GmbH announced today it has launched makeChip, a design service platform, developed using GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ 22FDX process technology and supported by Cadence. Available to start-ups, design experts, research institutes, and universities, makeChip is a central gateway to design integrated circuits based on advanced semiconductor technologies.

The platform provides an IT infrastructure with a full set of EDA tool installations and technology data setup such as PDKs, foundation IP, and complex IP. All tools and design data are linked by Racyics’ silicon-proven design flow and project management system. The turnkey environment enables any makeChip customer to realize complex systems on chips (SoCs) in the most advanced technology nodes.

GF’s 22nm FD-SOI technology, 22FDX, provides advantages in power efficiency and production cost. One key factor to a successful design, leveraging the full potential while achieving shortest time-to-market, is the support of a highly experienced design enablement team.

As a part of GF’s FDXcelerator Partner Program, Racyics  makeChip will provide comprehensive support for the most advanced technologies and thus helps smaller players to realize their enormous innovative potential.

“We want to move start-ups, small and medium sized businesses, and academia to the leading-edge of the game. With makeChip, we enable them to quickly execute analog, mixed-signal and digital designs in GF’s 22FDX technology, so they can develop the hardware basis for high-volume applications in the fields of IoT and Industry 4.0,” stated Holger Eisenreich, CEO of Racyics.

“Our 22FDX technology is quickly becoming a platform of choice for market-focused applications that require low power and operational efficiency with an affordability advantage,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Product Management at GF. “This collaboration with Racyics and Cadence will help lower the barrier of entry for SMEs, start-ups, and academia.”

Access to makeChip includes a complete digital design flow with advanced silicon-proven solutions from Cadence without additional costs for non-commercial academic projects. For commercial projects, different contract agreements will be applied.

“The Cadence full-flow digital solution, is a perfect match for the makeChip design platform. Users are enabled to meet their power, performance and area targets, “ said Jens Werner, Vice President, Technical Field Operation, at Cadence. “The makeChip platform will help to grow design starts in Europe and beyond.”

Racyics provides its in-house 0.4V IP for 22FDX to makeChip customers. It is free of charge in the frame of non-commercial projects and enables platform users to be the first in the world to explore an ultra-low voltage design space and uses its unparalleled potential for energy-efficient operation.

A technique that revolutionised scientists’ ability to manipulate and study materials at the nano-scale may have dramatic unintended consequences, new Oxford University research reveals.

Felix Hofmann and Edmund Tarleton, both authors of the paper, at the FIB instrument at the Department of Materials, University of Oxford, UK. Credit: Oxford University

Felix Hofmann and Edmund Tarleton, both authors of the paper, at the FIB instrument at the Department of Materials, University of Oxford, UK. Credit: Oxford University

Focused Ion Beam Milling (FIB) uses a tiny beam of highly energetic particles to cut and analyse materials smaller than one thousandth of a stand of human hair.

This remarkable capability transformed scientific fields ranging from materials science and engineering to biology and earth sciences. FIB is now an essential tool for a number of applications including; researching high performance alloys for aerospace engineering, nuclear and automotive applications and for prototyping in micro-electronics and micro-fluidics.

FIB was previously understood to cause structural damage within a thin surface layer (tens of atoms thick) of the material being cut. Until now it was assumed that the effects of FIB would not extend beyond this thin damaged layer. Ground-breaking new results from the University of Oxford demonstrate that this is not the case, and that FIB can in fact dramatically alter the material’s structural identity. This work was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from Argonne National Laboratory, USA, LaTrobe University, Australia, and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, UK.

In research newly published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team studied the damage caused by FIB using a technique called coherent synchrotron X-ray diffraction. This relies on ultra-bright high energy X-rays, available only at central facilities such as the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab, USA. These X-rays can probe the 3D structure of materials at the nano-scale. The results show that even very low FIB doses, previously thought negligible, have a dramatic effect.

Felix Hofmann, Associate Professor in Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science and lead author on the study, said, “Our research shows that FIB beams have much further-reaching consequences than first thought, and that the structural damage caused is considerable. It affects the entire sample, fundamentally changing the material. Given the role FIB has come to play in science and technology, there is an urgent need to develop new strategies to properly understand the effects of FIB damage and how it might be controlled.”

Prior to the development of FIB, sample preparation techniques were limited, only allowing sections to be prepared from the material bulk, but not from specific features. FIB transformed this field by making it possible to cut out tiny coupons from specific sites in a material. This progression enabled scientists to examine specific material feature using high-resolution electron microscopes. Furthermore it has made mechanical testing of tiny material specimens possible, a necessity for the study of dangerous or extremely precious materials.

Although keen for his peers to heed the serious consequence of FIB, Professor Hofmann said, “The scientific community has been aware of this issue for a while now, but no one (myself included) realised the scale of the problem. There is no way we could have known that FIB had such invasive side effects. The technique is integral to our work and has transformed our approach to prototyping and microscopy, completely changing the way we do science. It has become a central part of modern life.”

Moving forward, the team is keen to develop awareness of FIB damage. Furthermore, they will build on their current work to gain a better understanding of the damage formed and how it might be removed. Professor Hofmann said, “We’re learning how to get better. We have gone from using the technique blindly, to working out how we can actually see the distortions caused by FIB. Next we can consider approaches to mitigate FIB damage. Importantly the new X-ray techniques that we have developed will allow us to assess how effective these approaches are. From this information we can then start to formulate strategies for actively managing FIB damage.”

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.03 billion in billings worldwide in March 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the March Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in March 2017 was $2.03 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent higher than the final February 2017 level of $1.97 billion, and is 69.2 percent higher than the March 2016 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“March billings reached robust levels not seen since March 2001,” said Dan Tracy, senior director, Industry Research and Statistics, SEMI. “The equipment industry is clearly benefiting from the latest semiconductor investment cycle.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Year-Over-Year
 October 2016

$1,630.4

20.0%
 November 2016

$1,613.3

25.2%
 December 2016

$1,869.8

38.5%
 January 2017

$1,859.4

52.3%
 February 2017 (final)

$1,974.0

63.9%
 March 2017 (prelim)

$2,026.2

69.2%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), April 2017

SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017. SEMI will continue publish a monthly North American Billings report and issue the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The WWSEMS report currently reports billings by 24 equipment segments and by seven end market regions.