Category Archives: Manufacturing

Semiconductor manufacturing thought leaders will convene at the annual SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC 2017) on May 15-18 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The conference will feature 35 hours of technical presentations and over 100 experts addressing all aspects of advanced semiconductor manufacturing. This year’s event features a panel discussion on “The Next Big Thing: Technology Drivers for Next-Gen Manufacturing − Where will the Road take Us?” and a tutorial on Piezoelectric MEMS by Professor Gianluca Piazza, director of Nanofabrication Facility, Carnegie Mellon University.

SEMI‘s ASMC continues to provide a venue for industry professionals to network, learn and share knowledge on new and best-method semiconductor manufacturing practices and concepts.  The conference is co-chaired by Delphine LeCunff of STMicroelectronics and Russell Dover of Lam Research.  ASMC 2017 offers keynotes by Roberto Rapp, VP of Manufacturing at Robert Bosch GmbH; William Miller, VP of Engineering of Qualcomm; and Robert Maire, president of Semiconductor Advisors.

The topical areas that ASMC 2017 will address include:

  • 3D and Power Technologies
  • Advanced Equipment and Materials Processes
  • Advanced Metrology
  • Advanced Patterning
  • Advanced Process Control (APC)
  • Contamination Free Manufacturing (CFM)
  • Yield Management; Defect Inspection
  • Equipment Reliability and Productivity Enhancement
  • Factory Optimization

ASMC includes an interactive poster session and reception, which provides an ideal opportunity for networking between presenters and conference attendees.

The new ‘Women in Semiconductors‘ program takes place on May 15 in conjunction with ASMC 2017.  Sponsored by Applied Materials, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, IBM, Nikon and TEL, the program will focus on “The Power of Talk: Getting a Seat at the Table.”  Registration is complimentary for ASMC attendees.

ASMC 2017 is presented by SEMI with technical sponsors: Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), and IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society (CPMT). Corporate sponsors include: BisTEL, Edwards, GreeneTweed, KLA-Tencor, Mellor Consulting Group, Nikon, and Valqua America.

Registration for the SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC) is available at www.semi.org/asmc.  For more information, contact Margaret Kindling at [email protected] or phone 1.202.393.5552. Qualified members of the media are invited to contact Deborah Geiger (SEMI Public Relations) at [email protected] for media registration information.

ULVAC Technologies, Inc. (www.ulvac.com), a supplier of production systems, instrumentation and vacuum pumps for technology industries, has been selected by a global MEMS inertial sensor manufacturer to deliver an ULVAC ENVIRO-1Xa advanced plasma ashing system for running critical low-temp descum processes and high-temp bulk photoresist strip processes. These steps are crucial for the manufacturing of high-performance accelerometers and gyroscopes used in consumer, automotive, health and fitness, and industrial applications.

The ENVIRO-1Xa is the latest photoresist removal equipment from ULVAC, and offers superior performance at an exceptional price. The system is equipped with a versatile platform that can handle multiple wafer sizes, ranging from 4-inch to 8-inch in diameter. The system is capable of high-speed photoresist removal at more than 10µm/min, but has the process flexibility required for other important operations, such as; high-dose implanted resist removal, descum and surface modification, SU-8 and fluorinated resist removal, and MEMS sacrificial-layer removal.

Wayne Anderson President/CEO of ULVAC Technologies, Inc. states that “The sale of this ENVIRO 1Xa, for descum applications, serves to increase our market penetration in the global MEMS manufacturing marketplace, where we have been very successful with our MEMS product portfolio; which includes plasma etching equipment, sputter deposition equipment and the ENVIRO family of plasma ashing equipment.”

Rice University researchers have modeled a nanoscale sandwich, the first in what they hope will become a molecular deli for materials scientists.

Their recipe puts two slices of atom-thick graphene around nanoclusters of magnesium oxide that give the super-strong, conductive material expanded optoelectronic properties.

Rice materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and his colleagues built computer simulations of the compound and found it would offer features suitable for sensitive molecular sensing, catalysis and bio-imaging. Their work could help researchers design a range of customizable hybrids of two- and three-dimensional structures with encapsulated molecules, Shahsavari said.

The research appears this month in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Nanoscale.

The scientists were inspired by experiments elsewhere in which various molecules were encapsulated using van der Waals forces to draw components together. The Rice-led study was the first to take a theoretical approach to defining the electronic and optical properties of one of those “made” samples, two-dimensional magnesium oxide in bilayer graphene, Shahsavari said.

“We knew if there was an experiment already performed, we would have a great reference point that would make it easier to verify our computations, thus allowing more reliable expansion of our computational results to identify performance trends beyond the reach of experiments,” Shahsavari said.

Graphene on its own has no band gap – the characteristic that makes a material a semiconductor. But the hybrid does, and this band gap could be tunable, depending on the components, Shahsavari said. The enhanced optical properties are also tunable and useful, he said.

“We saw that while this single flake of magnesium oxide absorbed one kind of light emission, when it was trapped between two layers of graphene, it absorbed a wide spectrum. That could be an important mechanism for sensors,” he said.

Shahsavari said his group’s theory should be applicable to other two-dimensional materials, like hexagonal boron-nitride, and molecular fillings. “There is no single material that can solve all the technical problems of the world,” he said. “It always comes down to making hybrid materials to synergize the best features of multiple components to do a specific job. My group is working on these hybrid materials by tweaking their components and structures to meet new challenges.”

A group of researchers at Waseda University has developed processes and materials for ultrathin stick-on electronic devices using elastomeric “nanosheet” film, achieving ease of production while also preserving high elasticity and flexibility fifty times better than previously reported polymer nanosheets.

This is a sandwich of printed circuits and SBS elastomer is just 750 nm thick, for extremely high flexibility and comfort. Credit: Waseda University

This is a sandwich of printed circuits and SBS elastomer is just 750 nm thick, for extremely high flexibility and comfort. Credit: Waseda University

This research is published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C online edition, February 1, 2017.

Smart electronics and wearable devices have several requirements for widespread adoption, especially ease of fabrication and wearing comfort. The materials and processes developed by the Waseda University team represent huge strides forward in both criteria.

Inkjet printing of circuitry and low-temperature fixing allow production of electronic devices which are durable and functional but also extremely thin and flexible enough for use as a comfortable, skin-fitting appliance, while also maintaining the easy handling properties and protection of elastomeric films. At only 750 nm, the new film is ultra-thin and flexible. These advances could help change the nature of wearable electronics from objects like wristwatches to items less noticeable than a band-aid.

The Waseda team also established a method of joining electronic components without soldering, allowing thinner and more flexible elastomer films (SBS: polystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene). Conductive “wiring” is created by inkjet printing, which can be done with a household type printer without the need for clean room conditions. Further, conductive lines and elements such as chips and LEDs are connected by adhesive sandwiching between two elastomeric nanosheets, without using chemical bonding by soldering or special conductive adhesives.

Thanks to the simple, low-temperature processes, the resulting ultrathin structures achieve better adhesion, without using adhesive matter such as tape or glue, better elasticity and comfort for skin-contact applications. The new system was proven functional for several days on an artificial skin model.

These results were achieved through collaboration among three specialties: Molecular assembly and biomaterials science; medical robotics and rehabilitation engineering; and micro-electromechanical systems, thanks to collaborative structures at Waseda University.

Uses for these products are expected to include human-machine interfaces and sensors in the form of electronic tattoos, as radically improved tools for the fields of medicine, healthcare and sports training.

These applications are the subject of further investigation by the Waseda University Institute of Advanced Active Aging Research.

Today, the research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technology imec, and the Flemish Government announced a new, 5-year strategic commitment that aims at strengthening the pioneering role of Flanders’ renowned research hub. Imec’s annual grant has been raised to 108 million euro with extra money being invested in imec’s longer-term strategic research to consolidate its global position in advanced semiconductor R&D and digital technology and their application domains in smart health, smart cities, smart mobility, sustainable energy and Industry 4.0.

Following the merger of imec and the Flemish research institute in software and ICT, iMinds in 2016, Flanders has a world-class innovation hub in the domains of nanoelectronics and digital technology, collaborating with industry leaders and universities and research centers worldwide. Imec attracts talented scientists from around the world and has distributed research teams at the five Flemish universities. The center’s innovation capacity culminates in over 120 European patent applications on a yearly basis.

“In the new strategic agreement with imec, we fully recognize the relevance of its international leadership. Yet, the annual grant of 108 million euro also includes additional resources for supporting local innovation,” added Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Economy and Innovation. “Flemish companies can turn to imec for integrated solutions that capitalize on the latest hardware and software developments. This is a crucial element in their quest for technology that can immediately be incorporated in their products – earning them a quick competitive advantage.”

Luc Van den hove concluded: “We truly appreciate the Flemish Government providing us with the resources to step up our long-term strategic research and to further support companies in Flanders and worldwide with the development of technological solutions applicable to their products and services, offering our hardware and software solutions throughout the entire lifecycle of the innovations process.”

GlobalFoundries_Ajit_ManochSEMI, the global association connecting and representing the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced the appointment of Ajit Manocha as its president and CEO. He will succeed Denny McGuirk, who announced his intention to retire last October. The SEMI International Board of Directors conducted a comprehensive search process, selecting Manocha, an industry leader with over 35 years of global experience in the semiconductor industry.  Manocha will begin his new role on March 1 at SEMI’s new Milpitas headquarter offices.

“Ajit has a deep understanding of our industry’s dynamics and the interdependence of the electronics manufacturing supply chain,” said Y.H. Lee, chairman of SEMI’s board of directors. “From his early days developing dry etch processes at AT&T Bell Labs, to running global manufacturing for Philips/NXP, Spansion, and, as CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Ajit has been formative to our industry’s growth. Ajit is the ideal choice to drive our SEMI 2020 plan and beyond, ensuring that SEMI provides industry stewardship and engages its members to advance the interests of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain.”

“Beyond his experience leading some of our industry’s top fabs, Ajit has long been active at SEMI and has served on boards of several global associations and consortia,” said Denny McGuirk, retiring president and CEO of SEMI. “Ajit’s experience in technology, manufacturing, and industry stewardship is a powerful combination. I’m very excited to be passing the baton to Ajit as he will continue to advance the growth and prosperity of SEMI’s members.”

“I have tremendous respect for the work SEMI does on behalf of the industry,” said Ajit Manocha, incoming president and CEO of SEMI. “I am excited to be joining SEMI at a time when our ecosystem is rapidly expanding due to extensive innovation on several fronts.  From applications based on the Internet and the growth of mobile devices to artificial intelligence/machine learning, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things, there is a much broader scope for SEMI to foster heterogeneous collaboration and fuel growth today than ever before.  I am looking forward to leading the global SEMI organization as we strive to maximize value for our members across this extended global ecosystem.”

Manocha was formerly CEO at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, during which he also served as vice chairman and chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).  Earlier, Manocha served as EVP of worldwide operations at Spansion. Prior to Spansion, he was EVP and chief manufacturing officer at Philips/NXP Semiconductors. Manocha also held senior management positions within AT&T Microelectronics. He began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a research scientist where he was granted several patents related to microelectronics manufacturing. Manocha holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in physical chemistry from Kansas State University.

Today, at the 2017 International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, imec, the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, Holst Centre (established by imec and TNO) and Cartamundi demonstrate a world first thin-film tag on plastic, compatible with the near field communication (NFC) Barcode protocol, a subset of ISO14443-A, which is available as standard in many commercial smartphones. The innovative NFC tag is manufactured in a thin-film transistor technology using indium gallium zinc oxide thin-film transistors (IGZO TFT) on a plastic substrate.

Plastic electronics offers an appealing vision of low-cost smart electronic devices in applications where silicon chips were never imagined before. Item-level identification, smart food packaging, brand protection and electronic paper are just a few examples. Such new applications will require a continuous supply of countless disposable devices.  Imec’s IGZO TFT technology uses large-area manufacturing processes that allow for inexpensive production in large quantities – an ideal technology for ubiquitous electronic devices in the Internet-of-Everything.

“Making a plastic electronics device compatible to the ISO standard originally designed for silicon CMOS was a very challenging research and development expedition” stated Kris Myny, senior researcher at imec. “Our collaboration with Cartamundi enabled us to develop a truly industry-relevant solution”.

The researchers developed a self-aligned TFT architecture with scaled devices optimized for low parasitic capacitance and high cut-off frequency. This allowed design of a clock division circuit to convert incoming 13.56 MHz carrier frequency into system clock of the plastic chip. Optimizations at logic gate and system level reduced power consumption down to 7.5mW, enabling readout by commercial smartphones. “These research innovations are the first major achievements of my ERC starting grant”, stated Kris Myny, principal investigator and holder of the prestigious ERC starting grant FLICs (716426).

 “This innovative hardware solution of plastic NFC tags opens up several new possibilities for NFC deployments,” stated Alexander Mityashin, program manager at imec. “Thanks to the nature of thin-film plastics, the new tags can be made much thinner and they are mechanically very robust. Moreover, the self-aligned IGZO TFT technology offers manufacturing of chips in large volumes and at low cost”.

The results were presented in paper 15.2 (“A Flexible ISO14443-A Compliant 7.5mW 128b Metal-Oxide NFC Barcode Tag with Direct Clock Division Circuit from 3.56MHz Carrier”, by K. Myny, Y.-C Lai, N. Papadopoulos, F. De Roose, M. Ameys, M. Willegems, S. Smout, S. Steudel, W. Dehaene, J. Genoe, Feb. 7, 2017).

By Denny McGuirk, SEMI president and CEO

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”  Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, this could be the credo of our industry.  Moore’s Law has created $13 trillion of market value and we’ve been pioneering the way forward – since even before Gordon Moore made the famous “observation” that became Moore’s Law more than 50 years ago.  Our industry paved the road forward with advancements in design, materials, processing, equipment, and integration, traveling at the speed of exponential growth number in transistors per chip (doubling approximately every two years).

Today, globally, we’re shipping more than one trillion ICs per year!  Leading-edge chips boast more than 10 billion transistors at the advanced 10nm (gate length) technology node and are made with 3D FinFET architectures formed by 193nm wavelength immersion multi-patterning lithography.  It’s become a very challenging – and very expensive – road (a single lithography tool alone costs in the tens of millions of dollars).  The companies building the road ahead are bigger and fewer as massive bets now need to be placed on new fabs costing more than $5 billion and even $10 billion and where a new single chip design alone costs more than $150 million to bring into production.

What follows, in Part 1 of this two-part article, is a quick look back at the industry in 2016 and the road ahead in 2017 followed by what SEMI achieved in 2016 and where SEMI’s road will lead in 2017 to keep pace our industry charging forward where there is no path. Part 2 (next week’s Global Update) will focus on SEMI 2020 initiatives.

A look back at 2016: “Straight roads do not make skillful drivers”

2016 was definitely not a straight road; truly it was a wild ride – so, SEMI members have become extremely skilled drivers. The semiconductor manufacturing industry had a slow first half with pessimism building throughout the first quarter, but by April semiconductors bottomed and NAND investment and a slate of new China projects drove a strong second half.  For semiconductor equipment, SEMI’s statistics indicate global sales in 2015 were $36.5 billion and 2016 came in at $39.7 billion, ultimately ending up about 9 percent.  For reference semiconductor materials in 2015 was $24.0 billion and 2016 came in at $24.6 billion, up nearly 2.6 percent year-over year (YoY).

But, it turns out, that’s not half the story.  2016 was full of surprises.  At the geopolitical level, Brexit, an impeachment in South Korea, and a Trump win were wholly unanticipated and leave a lot of questions as to how that road ahead might look.  In technology, the Galaxy Note 7 mobile phone became an airline hazard announcement and stalwarts like Yahoo! faded into the background (now part of Verizon).  In part due to challenges of the road ahead (and because the cost of capital remained low) M&A fever continued in semiconductors with more than $100B in deals announced in 2016.

It was an astonishing year for combinations with huge deal announcements such as Qualcomm buying NXP for $47 billion and SoftBank buying ARM for $32 billion.  Meanwhile, mergers in the equipment and materials space continued, to name a few notables ASML’s acquisition of Hermes Microvision, DuPont and Dow announcing the intent to merge (announced December 2015, but still in the works), and Lam Research and KLA-Tencor ultimately calling off their deal due to complications of regulatory pushback.  The extended supply chain was mixing things up, too, with acquisitions like the announcement by Siemens to acquire Mentor Graphics.  It has been very active, overall.  This was the second year of semiconductor M&A deals valued at more than $100 billion, a signal that size and scale is critical to build the road ahead.

A look ahead: “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”

With all the talk about roads, it’s no surprise that the automotive segment is gathering momentum as a strong growth driver for the electronics supply chain.  Not only is there increasing electronics content in cars for comfort and infotainment, but also for assisted and autonomous driving and electric vehicles which are ushering in a new era of electronics consumption.

Along with automotive, IoT (Internet of Things), 5G, AR/VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality), and AI (Artificial Intelligence) round out a set of powerful IC and electronics applications drivers (see figure).  Per an IHS Study, 5G alone may enable as much as $12.3 trillion in goods and services in 2035. Gartner’s most recent forecast is cause for optimism further down the electronics manufacturing supply chain.  Gartner see IC revenue growing from 2016’s $339.7 billion to 2017’s $364.1 billion up 7.2 percent and growing further in 2018 at $377.9 billion up 3.8 percent.  For semiconductor equipment, SEMI’s forecast indicates 2015 was $36.5 billion, 2016 will come in at $39.7 billion, and 2017 is projected to be $43.4 billion, pointing to both 2016 and 2017 experiencing approximately 9 percent YoY growth.

In 2017, China investment is projected to continue as a major driver, likely consuming over 16 percent of the total global equipment investment (second only to South Korea).  SEMI is currently tracking 20 new fab projects.  Investments come from both multinationals and local Chinese ventures.  A sign of the rise of China is China’s upward production share trend of its own IC consumption market (IC Insights): 8 percent in 2009, 13 percent in 2015, and 21 percent in 2020. Further down in the electronics supply chain, fab equipment related spending in China will rise to more than $10 billion per year by 2018 and remain at that level or above for subsequent years.

NAND will continue to be a major driver with 3D NAND investment leading the way.  Silicon in Package (SiP) and heterogeneous integration will increasingly be solutions to augment traditional feature scaling to fit more transistors into less space at lower costs.  Materials innovations will be relied upon to solve front-end and packaging challenges while standard materials will be the focus of increased efficiencies and cost reduction. 200mm fab capacity will grow and stimulate new 200mm investment with upside driven by power devices and MEMS segments.  Investment in foundry MEMS will grow by an estimated 285 percent (2015 to 2017).

“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind”

SEMI, the global non-profit association connecting and representing the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain, has been growing with the industry for 47 years.  SEMI has evolved over the years, but it has remained as the central point to connect.  Whether connecting for business, connecting for collective action, or connecting to synchronize technology, SEMI connects for member growth and prosperity.

As a reminder, here are SEMI’s mission, vision, and 2020 strategic focus areas.

  • Mission — our focus for the next five years
    • SEMI provides industry stewardship and engages our members to advance the interests of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain.
  • Vision — what we stand for
    • SEMI promotes the development of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain and positively influences the growth and prosperity of its members.  SEMI advances the mutual business interests of its membership and promotes a free and open global marketplace.
  • Members’ Growth — 2020 strategic focus
    • SEMI enables member growth opportunities by evolving SEMI communities and building new communities across the global electronics manufacturing supply chain via cooperation, partnerships, and integration.
  • Members’ Prosperity — 2020 strategic focus
    • SEMI enables members to prosper by building extended supply chain collaboration forums providing opportunities to increase value while optimizing the supply chain for SEMI members.

Our industry is in the midst of a vast change.  To deal with the escalating complexity (making a semiconductor chip now uses the great majority of the periodic table of the elements) and capital cost, many companies have had to combine, consolidate, and increasingly collaborate along the length of the electronics manufacturing supply chain.

Some companies have broadened their businesses by investing in adjacent segments such as Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE), MEMS, Sensors, LEDs, PV, and Display.  Lines are blurring between segments – PCBs have morphed into flexible substrates, SiP is both a device and a system.  Electronics integrators are rapidly innovating and driving new form factors, new requirements, and new technologies which require wide cooperation across the length of the electronics manufacturing supply chain and across a breadth of segments.

The business is changing and SEMI’s members are changing.  When SEMI’s members change, SEMI must change, too – and SEMI has, and is.  SEMI developed a transformation plan, SEMI 2020, which I wrote about at the beginning of 2016.  We’re well on our way on this path and in next week’s e-newsletter Global Update, I’d like to update you on what we’ve accomplished and what’s to come.

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.

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ams (SIX: AMS), a worldwide supplier of high-performance sensor and analog solutions, announces the completion of the transaction to acquire 100% of the shares in Heptagon and the related capital increase of 11,011,281 new shares from authorized capital excluding subscription rights. ams announced on 24 October 2016 that the company had signed an agreement to acquire Heptagon, a developer of high performance optical packaging and micro-optics.

The upfront consideration for the transaction includes approximately USD 64 million in cash, 5,450,586 ams shares from currently held treasury shares as well as 11,011,281 new shares from authorized capital. The capital increase creating the 11,011,281 new shares from authorized capital was registered with the commercial register today and the shares are admitted to trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange from tomorrow, 25 January 2017, onwards. The total number of shares outstanding of ams AG will therefore be 84,419,826 no par value bearer shares with a calculated nominal value of EUR 1.00 per share.

Following the registration, the selling shareholders of Heptagon hold approximately 19.5% of the total registered share capital of ams. They are subject to a market standard, staggered lock-up obligation ending in the second quarter 2018.