Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have demonstrated the use of the world’s first ultrafast optical microscope, allowing them to probe and visualize matter at the atomic level with mind-bending speed.

The ultrafast optical microscope assembled by the research team is 1,000 times more powerful than a conventional optical microscope, said CU-Boulder physics Professor Markus Raschke, lead study author. The “image frame” rate, or speed captured by the team, is 1 trillion times faster than the blink of an eye, allowing the researchers to make real-time, slow-motion movies of light interacting with electrons in nanomaterials – in this case a thin gold film.

“This is the first time anyone has been able to probe matter on its natural time and length scale,” said Raschke. “We imaged and measured the motions of electrons in real space and time, and we were able to make it into a movie to help us better understand the fundamental physical processes.”

A paper on the subject appears in the Feb. 8 issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

Matter is sometimes described as the “stuff of the universe” – the molecules, atoms and charged particles, or ions, that make up everything around us. Matter has several states, most prominently solid, liquid and gas.

According to the CU-Boulder researchers, a number of important processes like photosynthesis, energy conversion and use, and biological functions are based on the transfer of electrons and ions from molecule to molecule. The team used a technique called “plasmonic nanofocusing” to focus extraordinarily short laser pulses into tiny bits of gold film matter using a nanometer-sized metal tip.

“Our study brings nanoscale microscopy to the next level, with the ability to capture detailed images evolving on extremely fast time scales,” said Vasily Kravtsov, a CU-Boulder graduate student in physics and first author of the paper.

Other co-authors on the Nature Nanotechnology paper include CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher Ronald Ulbricht and former CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher Joanna Atkin, now a faculty member at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“This work expands the reach of optical microscopes,” said Raschke. “Using this technique, researchers can image the elementary processes in materials ranging from battery electrodes to solar cells, helping to improve their efficiency and lifetime.”

Unlike electron microscope approaches, the new technique does not require ultra-high vacuum techniques and is particularly promising for studying ultrafast processes like charge and energy transport in soft matter, including biological materials, said Kravtsov.

At next week’s SPIE Photonics West 2016, imec will demonstrate a lens-free microscope for large field-of-view live imaging at micrometer resolution. Imec’s on-chip lens-free microscope can be integrated into life sciences and biotech tools, targeting multiple applications such as label-free cell monitoring, automated cell culturing, or automated high-throughput microscopy.

Compared to conventional optical microscopes, lens-free digital microscopy removes the need for expensive and bulky optical lens components to acquire and visualize microscopy images. In a lens-free digital microscope, images are captured on a CMOS image sensor, and digitally reconstructed using software. Imec’s lens-free microscope features a comparable micrometer-scale accuracy as traditional optical microscopes. While being much smaller and less expensive, imec’s microscope captures a larger field-of-view in one shot, enabling shorter sample processing times. The lens-free microscope paves the way to new applications with living cells and tissues.

“This microscope will enable an abundance of applications, where traditional microscopes are just not applicable,” stated Andy Lambrechts, program manager of integrated vision solutions at imec. “Recently, we demonstrated its ability to be integrated into a bio-incubator in stem-cell research for cell culture monitoring, and for cardio-toxicity testing, where the microscope monitored contractions of cardiac tissue in response to drugs. With impressive results our team has branched out even further and is exploring its ability measure fabrication tolerances and stress in our in-house developed neural probe chips, and for defect inspection of thin-film displays.”

“Imec’s lens free imaging solution is now available as a full, ready-to-use demo kit evaluation system including a light source, image sensor, control and read-out electronics and a software interface,” stated Jerome Baron, business development manager of integrated vision systems at imec. “Companies can use it to try out their own applications, supported by our engineers to fine-tune the hardware and software and customize the systems toward their exact application requirements.”

Teradyne, Inc., a developer and supplier of automatic test equipment, has appointed Gregory Smith as president of the Teradyne semiconductor test division, replacing Mark Jagiela who has been acting division president since 2014.

Mr. Smith joined Teradyne in 2006 as a semiconductor test product manager and served in a variety of roles at Teradyne, including Manager of the Complex SOC Business Unit and vice president of SOC Marketing in the Semiconductor Test Division. Mr. Smith has over 30 years of engineering, management and marketing experience in semiconductor test and holds a BSEE from the University of Pennsylvania.

“Greg has been a key driver of our market share gains in SOC test since 2007,” said Teradyne President and CEO Mark Jagiela. “I’m confident that under his leadership, Teradyne’s Semiconductor Test team will continue to deliver market leading products and support solutions to help customers meet their most difficult test challenges.”

SEMI announced today the launch of the European Semiconductor integrated Packaging and Test (ESiPAT) Special Interest Group.  The Special Interest Group (SIG) represents SEMI members who have semiconductor packaging, assembly, test manufacturing, or design activities in Europe. The purpose of the SIG is to foster collaboration among companies and to collectively raise the profile and reinforce the semiconductor back-end industry in Europe. Activities will include:

  • Maintaining a strong back-end network in Europe
  • Increasing awareness between European suppliers and device/packaging manufacturers
  • Mapping and reporting capabilities and capacities of European SiPAT members
  • Identifying gaps in the European back-end supply chain relative to other regions
  • Advocating for the  Packaging, Assembly, and Test industry in Europe
  • Building project consortia and bidding for European funding

The newly formed executive committee of the SIG includes representatives from AEMTec, First Sensor, NANIUM, RoodMicrotec, Sencio, STMicroelectronics, and Swissbit. More than 20 additional companies from the European back-end supply chain have already expressed interest to join.

Companies meeting the requirements can apply to join the ESiPAT group. SEMI membership and ESiPAT SIG membership dues are required. Additional information, including the charter and by-laws, is available online.  Within SEMI, Europe is pioneering the SiPAT SIG. Additional chapters in North America and Japan are currently under development.

Presto Engineering Inc. announced this week that it has significantly expanded its turnkey capabilities with the opening of two new manufacturing hubs and a world-wide logistics center in Asia.

As an outcome of its partnership with Inside Secure, announced April 2015, Presto Engineering is taking on the facilities in Asia, adding footprint; significant expertise; and a new, enhanced suite of services for Presto’s customers. Presto Engineering now offers a complete and comprehensive turn-key product engineering and production management solution for integrated circuits (IC), from GDSII hand-off (design output) to finished ICs shipped directly to end customers, targeted at the latest in high-speed communication, Internet of Things (IoT) and secured elements markets.

“This expansion provides the local production capacity and hands-on expertise that we need in Asia to offer our customers a fast, secure, cost-effective, and comprehensive production solution,” states Michel Villemain, CEO, Presto Engineering. “We now have fully-trained staff and substantial local capacity with our own test equipment in place in Asia. This both strengthens and complements our capabilities in the U.S. and Europe, enabling us to provide responsive, on-site and in-region technical support for optimum visibility on customer projects, where and when it counts.”

Jon Lanson, Presto’s Vice President of WW Sales & Marketing adds, “There is no doubt that security is a major concern in the IoT market. Building a hardware-based secure solution, like what’s done in the payment world, is one of the leading IoT security approaches. With Presto’s new secure capabilities in Europe and Asia, we are ready to address this manufacturing issue now, by either assisting clients with developing their own specific solution, or executing an existing turnkey process.”

The new operations are located in Bangkok, Thailand; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and Hong-Kong, SAR. To Presto’s existing capacity in the US and Europe, they add 20+ probe test cells, advanced die prep capabilities, and payment module manufacturing in secured (EAL5+/EAL6) floors, ready to support large projects with unit volumes of 10 million or more.

Sweden-based SiC CVD developer and manufacturer Epiluvac AB has entered into a collaboration with SAMCO, a semiconductor process equipment developer and manufacturer based in Japan, in which Epiluvac will introduce new clients to SAMCO in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.

SAMCO offers systems and services that revolve around three major technologies: 1) thin film deposition with PECVD, MOCVD and ALD systems, 2) microfabrication with ICP etching, RIE and DRIE systems, and 3) surface treatment with plasma cleaning and UV ozone cleaning systems.

“With this collaboration, Epiluvac and SAMCO are both acting as a one-stop solution,” says Bo Hammarlund, managing director of Epiluvac AB. “We offer our expertise to help customers decide upon the best combinations in terms of processing equipment for WBG materials, including both SiC and GaN materials.”

Since its establishment in 1979, SAMCO has earned a reputation both at home and overseas for dependable systems and reliable service. In order to continue serving the needs of its customers in Europe, SAMCO acquired samco-ucp ltd. in Liechtenstein in 2014, which now offers services and support for the company’s European customer base.

In addition to its main European office in Liechtenstein, SAMCO also operates from several locations in North America and across Asia. The company works with research institutions and manufacturers around the world and offers customizable systems designed to meet the unique needs and goals of its clients.

“Both companies, Epiluvac and SAMCO, have long-standing relations with major players in the quickly-growing market for power electronics,” says Hammarlund. “Many of the processes have to be more efficient in terms of improved yield.”

He highlights the additional need to handle larger wafers during the coming years, pointing to the fact that 8-inch protoypes of SiC wafers are already on the market.

“This rapid development results in a strong request for new, improved equipment and processes which Epiluvac and SAMCO together can offer their customers,” he adds.

New equipment and processes made by Epiluvac and SAMCO in order to meet customer demand, Hammarlund says, include “not just standard solutions, but also custom-designed equipment.”

The mobile sector is driving production and market growth; however a new market driver, IoT is on the horizon and is expected to have a significant impact on the advanced packaging industry.

“IoT driven semiconductor industry consolidation, is reflecting into a highly dynamic advanced packaging landscape,” commented Andrej Ivankovic, Technology & Market Analyst, Advanced Packaging & Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole Développement.

And he added: “Numerous packaging options developed by the industry leaders, are being explored as new IoT applications arise.”

In parallel, Yole Développement’ analysts highlight the noteworthy demand for advanced packaging solutions and the increasing number of shipped wafers: focus is turning to integration and wafer level packages to enable a functionality driven roadmap and revive the cost/performance curve.

ap platforms

Yole Développement (Yole), the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting reinforces its market positioning within the advanced packaging area with the release of its first report “Status of the Advanced Packaging Industry”. This first edition brings a thorough analysis including dynamics and disruptions of the market, market forecasts per packaging platform and device type from 2014 to 2020, market shares…This analysis also presents a detailed analysis of the advanced packaging supply chain, financial evolutions and mergers & acquisitions. Yole’s advanced packaging team proposes a packaging technology segmentation and highlights with this new analysis, the impact of Internet of Things and the adoption of 2.5D/3D, Fan-Out and Fan-In solutions.

“A transformation of the semiconductor industry is under way,” said Andrej Ivankovic, Yole. “Advanced packaging is part of the scaling and functionality roadmaps.”

The latest events in the technology market indicate that 2015 marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the IT and electronics industry. At semiconductor supply chain level, the industry entered a profound consolidation phase with high M&A activity reshaping the business landscape. FEOL device scaling and related cost reduction are deviating from the path they followed for the past few decades, with Moore’s law in its foundation. Advanced nodes do not bring the desired cost benefit anymore and R&D investments in new lithography solutions and devices below 10nm nodes are rising substantially.

As the smartphone market matures, new forces are appearing in the form of IoT. While the mobile sector continues to drive the market, the scent of IoT is already spreading in the consumer sector with products such as wearables and first smart home appliances. IoT market, application and technology segmentation has begun. Companies across the industry are restructuring, merging and acquiring in order to adjust their portfolio, enable a complete platform offer and establish leading positions on the market.

Yole’s advanced packaging analysts also identified other market dynamics. They announced:
•   The foundry involvement is no longer a dent in advanced packaging production.
•   Increased activity of Chinese capital on the market.
•   And more

At the level of technology, as profitability of FEOL scaling options remains uncertain and IoT promises application diversification, the spotlight is now turning to advanced packages for cost reduction, performance boost and functional integration.

In order to answer market demands, the advanced packaging segment focuses on integration and WLP. Emerging packages such as Fan-Out WLP, 2.5D/3D IC and related System-in-Package solutions aim to bridge the gap and revive the cost/performance curve.

How will the advanced packaging industry evolve, which changes in the semiconductor supply chain are taking place and which packaging technologies will be most critical in the years to come? Yole proposes with this new technology and market analysis, a deep understanding of the advanced packaging technical and market challenges. Under this new report, the market research and strategy consulting company brings a thorough analysis of the advanced packaging industry and its future development covering platforms Fan-Out WLP, Fan-In WLP, Flip Chip and 2.5D / 3D.

By Denny McGuirk, SEMI president and CEO

“In like a lion, out like a lamb” is just half the story for 2015.  While initial expectations forecasted a double-digit growth year, the world economy faded and dragged our industry down to nearly flat 2015/2014 results.

However, 2015 will be remembered for a wild ride that fundamentally changed the industry.  In 2015 a wave of M&A activity swept across the industry supply chain — unlike any single year before — with scores of transactions and notable multi-billion dollar companies being absorbed.  In 2016, we all will be working within a newly reconfigured supply chain.

Increasingly, in this business landscape, collaboration is required simultaneously across the extended supply chain — customers’ customers’ customers are now routinely part of the discussion in even unit process development.  Facilitating interaction and collaboration across the extended supply chain is part of what SEMI does and I’ll be updating you in next week’s letter on how, but first, let’s review what’s happened and what’s happening.

2015 Down 1%: “In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb”

2015 had an optimistic start with a strong outlook and good pace in Q1 and 1H.  In January 2015 forecasters projected semiconductor equipment and materials growing in a range of 7 percent to nearly 14 percent vs. 2014.  Global GDP, as late as May 2015, was pegged at 3.5 percent for 2015 after coming in at only 3.4 percent in 2014.  In August, estimates dropped to 3.3 percent, in November estimates dropped further to 3.1 percent for the year.

As our industry has matured, semiconductor equipment and materials growth rates are ever more tightly correlated to shifts in global GDP.  With global GDP unexpectedly dropping, the second half saw declining book-to-bill activity and the year will likely end flat or slightly negative for 2015.  Though nearly flat, the numbers are still impressive with a healthy $37.3 billion annual revenue for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and $43.6 billion for semiconductor materials.

An important change is since the 2009 financial crisis, electronics, chips, and semiconductor equipment and materials markets have been much more stable year-to-year than in the years prior to 2009.  Also, the movement of the three segments is much more synchronized compared to the earlier years of boom and bust. For SEMI’s members this means cycles are becoming more muted — enabling members to shift business models accordingly to better maintain prosperity.

Fab-Equipmt-600w Capital-Equip-600w

 

2015’s $125+ Billion M&A:  Inflection Point for Silicon Valley Icons and Global Titans

2015 is a year that will be viewed as an inflection point in our industry.  The unprecedented M&A volume (more than $125 billion for semiconductor related companies) and the size of individual deals through the electronics supply chain will forever  change the industry.

historic-proportions

While there have been waves of consolidation for semiconductor Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) in the 1980s and 1990s, and semiconductor equipment and materials in the 1990s and 2000s, the fabless semiconductor companies are the latest wave undergoing consolidation.  Although, in 2015, not just fabless, but all segments saw major deals — even iconic chemical brands DuPont and Dow Chemical announced their intention to merge.

Large and familiar brands like Broadcom (Avago), SanDisk (Western Digital), Altera (Intel), Freescale (NXP), and KLA-Tencor (Lam Research) have been merged and will continue forward as part of their acquirers.  China is on the move with its ambitions to quickly grow its indigenous semiconductor supply chain with recent acquisitions of ISSI, OmniVision, NXP RF power unit, and notably Mattson in the semiconductor equipment segment.

In an age when new fab costs are pushing double-digit billions of dollars and leading-edge device tapeouts are surpassing $300 million per part, consolidation is a strategy to increase scale, leverage R&D, and compete better.  For SEMI’s members, the winner-take-all stakes increase and raise expectations for technology, product performance, application development, speed, and support.  This, in turn, means that SEMI members have an increased need for a newly drawn pre-competitive collaboration model along the extended electronics supply chain and for Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to drive collective action in focused sub-segments and for specific issues.

Collaboration-is-critical-6

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), 2015

2016 Up ~1%: Stay Close to your Customer and your Customer’s Customer and …

Current projections for semiconductor equipment and materials suggest that 2016 will not be a high growth year.  The span of forecasts ranges from almost -10 percent to +5 percent.  At SEMI’s Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS), 10-13 January, we will be taking a deep-dive into the 2016 forecast and on the business drivers and will have a much better picture of the consensus outlook.

However, it is already quite clear that following this enormous wave of consolidation, the industry will look different and will offer new and different opportunities.  Listening to SEMI’s members, I’ve heard that during this period of upheaval it’s absolutely critical to stay close to one’s customers – but more than that – to have access and ongoing direct dialogue with the customer’s customer … and customers’ customers’ customers.

In light of the cost of research and development, the magnitude of risks, and the speed of new consumer electronics adoption, SEMI members find that they need to intimately know emerging requirements two to three steps away in the supply chain, and may require rapid and innovative development from their own sub-suppliers to meet product delivery in time.  In parallel, we see system integrators (electronics providers) staffing up with semiconductor processing engineers and equipment expertise, both for differentiation of their own products and for potential strategic vertical manufacturing.

2016 will mark an acceleration of collaboration and interdependence across the extended supply chain.  Next week, I’ll provide an update letter on SEMI’s related activities with an overview of what SEMI is doing to meet the realities of a reshaped industry.  SEMI’s role is evolving, and more important now than ever, in helping the industry achieve together, what it cannot accomplish alone.

SEMI-Infographic--Achieving

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According to the newly released “Global Semiconductor Packaging Materials Outlook — 2015/2016 Edition,” the $18 billion semiconductor packaging materials will undergo steady single-digit unit volume growth for many material segments through 2019, including laminate substrates, IC leadframes, underfill, and copper wire. Segments such as wafer-level packaging (WLP) dielectrics will experience stronger unit volume growth over the same timeframe. The new report by SEMI and TechSearch International covers laminate substrates, leadframes, bonding wire, mold compounds, underfill materials, liquid encapsulants, die attach materials, solder balls, wafer level package dielectrics, and thermal interface materials.

Packaging materials are a key enabler to increasing the functionality of thinner, smaller packages consumed in smart phones and other mobile products. Many options are currently available to meet form factor requirements for mobile products such as stacked-die chip scale package (CSP), land grid array (LGA) and fine pitch ball grid array (FBGA) packages, package-on-package (PoP), wafer-level package (WLP), Quad Flat No-lead (QFN) and other packages, using both wirebond and flip chip interconnects.

Key observations include:

  • FO-WLP is emerging as a disruptive technology, changing the demand for the types of packaging materials used in the industry
  • Need for WLP dielectric materials for multi-layer redistribution layers
  • New materials for laminate substrates and underfill to pitch decreasing pitch and bump height trends in flip chip packaging
  • Improved mold compounds for warpage control and package reliability
  • For QFN packaging, cost optimization through enhanced designs and reduced plating area; higher lead counts (routable); improved power dissipation
  • Continued growth in copper and silver wire
  • Materials and processes compatible with tighter tolerances for higher density leadframes and substrate packaging, and for compact multi-die system-in-package (SiP) configurations

Constrained industry growth and the trend towards lower-cost electronics have reshaped the packaging material supplier landscape. Changes in material sets, the emergence of new package types, and cost reduction pressures have resulted in recent consolidation in various material segments. In addition, materials consumption in some segments is declining given the changes in package form factors and the trend towards smaller, thinner packaging (see Figure).

metal compound consump

Source: SEMI and TechSearch International, Global Semiconductor Packaging Materials Outlook 2015/2016 Edition

The findings in the report are based on over 150 in-depth interviews conducted with semiconductor manufacturers, fabless semiconductor companies, packaging subcontractors, and packaging materials suppliers throughout the world. The report covers details about the industry growth and trends for the various material segments. Information includes market size, regional data, unit trends, and market share. It includes previously unpublished data on revenue, unit shipments and market shares for each packaging material segment; a five-year forecast of revenue and units from 2015 to 2019; supplier rankings (for key segments) and listing (including new players); and an analysis of regional market trends and size. All of the information was derived from the SEMI Global Packaging Materials Outlook from 2015 to 2019 produced by SEMI and TechSearch International.

SEMI, the global industry association for companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world’s chip makers, this week reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$9.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015. The billings figure is 3 percent higher than the second quarter of 2015 and 9 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 100 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $8.7 billion in the third quarter of 2015. The figure is 7 percent lower than the same quarter a year ago and 14 percent lower than the bookings figure for the second quarter of 2015.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:

 

3Q2015

2Q2015

3Q2014

3Q15/2Q15 (Qtr-over-Qtr)

3Q15/3Q14
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

2.85

2.34

2.30

22%

24%
China

1.70

1.04

0.96

63%

78%
Korea

1.56

2.00

1.00

-22%

56%
Japan

1.43

1.40

1.10

2%

30%
North America

1.18

1.55

2.16

-23%

-45%
Rest of World

0.58

0.53

0.64

9%

-10%
Europe

0.34

0.52

0.66

-36%

-49%
Total

9.64

9.39

8.82

3%

9%

Source: SEMI/SEAJ December 2015; Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market.