Category Archives: Semicon West

Each year at SEMICON West, the “Best of West” awards are presented by Solid State Technology and SEMI. More than 700 companies exhibit at SEMICON West and 26,000+ professionals attend, from the electronics manufacturing supply chain. The “Best of West” award was established to recognize new products moving the industry forward with technological developments in the electronics supply chain.

The Best of West 2016 Finalists will be displaying their products on the show floor at Moscone Center from July 12-14:

  • Coventor: SEMulator3D – A 3D semiconductor process modeling platform that can predicatively model any fabrication process applied to any semiconductor design. Starting from a “virtual” silicon wafer, the product performs a series of unit processes like those in the fab to create highly accurate 3D computer models of the predicted structures on wafer. (Facilities and Software category; Booth #2622)
  • CyberOptics: WaferSense® and ReticleSense® Auto Multi Sensors (AMS) – Wireless sensor devices capable of multiple measurements (leveling, vibration and relative humidity) to save time and expense while improving yields. WaferSense AMS travels through virtually any tool with its thin and light form factor, while ReticleSense AMSR has the same measurement capabilities in a reticle shaped form factor. (Metrology and Test category; Booth #2323)
  • Graphenea: Graphene Integration on CMOS-Fab – Allows large-scale manufacture of 200mm CMOS-compatible graphene wafers (SEMI Standards), with low metal contamination levels. The industrial production method will produce uniform, large-scale/high-performance graphene in high yields and a reliable manner. (Advanced Materials and Materials Management category; Booth #632)
  • Kulicke & Soffa Industries: IConn MEM PLUS High Performance Wire Bonder for Memory Devices – A new high-performance memory device bonder for gold and silver alloy wire bonding. With its advanced process, looping, overhang control and ease of use capabilities, it delivers high quality and productivity benefits in complex multi die stack package applications. (Assembly/Packaging Solutions category, Booth #6060)
  • Rorze Automation: Rorze N2 Purged LP – Maintains low humidity during critical steps. A typical bottom purged LP can only offer control of an average of 30 percent RH. However, N2 purge LP from Rorze (patent pending) can offer a humidity control that is better than 5 percent. (Components and Subsystems category; Booth #1613)
  • SPTS Technologies (an Orbotech company): Rapier-300S – A production silicon DRIE module, designed specifically for dicing of 300mm  wafers mounted on 400mm frames. It builds on SPTS experience in plasma singulation of framed 150mm and 200mm wafers, and employs patent-protected end-pointing and process control techniques, critical to delivering stronger die than traditional dicing methods. (Assembly/Packaging Solutions category; Booth #1417)

The Best of West Award winner will be announced during SEMICON West (www.semiconwest.org) on Wednesday, July 13, 2016.

Today, SEMI announced that the latest packaging solutions will be the topic of an in-depth session at the SEMICON West 2016 Advanced Packaging Forum – and on display on the exhibition floor. Rapidly changing technologies and accelerated product life cycles are driving the need for new assembly and packaging solutions suited for next-generation products such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and wearables. To meet these packaging needs, semiconductor technologies with smaller form factors, lower power consumption, and flexible designs are increasingly in demand.

Advanced Packaging Forum 

Six complimentary packaging sessions are offered at the Advanced Packaging Forum at SEMICON West’s TechXPOT North stage. Pre-registration is required. Sessions explore what’s ahead in the world of packaging and assembly. The three-day forum will explore the challenges posed by new and emerging devices and offer solutions capable of enabling them. Technical sessions include:

  • SiP Next 1: Processor – Memory/Analog Integration
  • SiP Next 2:  IoT & Smart Things – SiP Integration
  • Sensing the Future: Enabling Applications for a Smarter World
  • Packaging Developments for Flexible, Hybrid Electronics
  • Packaging Power: Enabling a Variety of Applications and Efficiency
  • Packaging Photonics for Speed & Bandwidth

Sessions feature speakers from Cisco, Mentor Graphics, Texas Instruments, and more.  Attendees will learn about the latest in electronic packaging, thermal management, additive manufacturing, simulation, and reliability assessment; system optimization and differentiation through heterogeneous integration and SiP; sensor technologies for monitoring and analyzing complex data streams; and other advanced developments.

Packaging and Assembly Equipment Exhibitors

This year’s SEMICON West exposition also features packaging solutions on the show floor. Attendees can view more than sixty new products from some 200 exhibitors.

The industry is seeing dramatic changes and SEMICON West 2016 has expanded its technical programming by nearly 50 percent to help attendees get a clear view of the road ahead. To learn more about SEMICON West 2016’s eight new forums (Extended Supply Chain, Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Packaging, Test, Silicon Innovation, Flexible Hybrid Electronics, and World of IoT), visit www.semiconwest.org.

By Paula Doe, SEMI

The changing market for ICs means the end of business as usual for the greater semiconductor supply chain. Smarter use of data analytics looks like a key strategy to get new products more quickly into high yield production at improved margins.

Emerging IoT market drives change in manufacturing

The emerging IoT market for pervasive intelligence everywhere may be a volume driver for the industry, but it will also put tremendous pressure on prices that drive change in manufacturing. Pressure to keep ASPs of multichip connected devices below $1 to $5 for many IoT low-to-mid end applications, will drive more integration of the value chain, and more varied elements on the die. “The value chain must evolve to be more effective and efficient to meet the price and cost pressures for such IoT products and applications,” suggests Rajeev Rajan, VP of IoT, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, who will speak on the issue in a day-long forum on the future of smart manufacturing in the semiconductor supply chain at SEMICON West 2016 on July 14.

“It also means tighter and more complete integration of features on the die that enable differentiating capabilities at the semiconductor level, and also fewer, smaller devices that reduce the overall Bill of Materials (BOM), and result in more die per wafer.” He notes that at 22nm GLOBALFOUNDRIES is looking to enable an integrated connectivity solution instead of a separate die or external chip. Additional requirements for IoT are considerations for integrating security at the lower semiconductor/hardware layers, along with the typical higher layer middleware and software layers.

This drive for integration will also mean demand for new advanced packaging solutions that deliver smaller, thinner, and simpler form factors. The cost pressure also means than the next nodes will have to offer tangible power/performance/area/cost (PPAC) value, without being too disruptive a transition from the current reference flow. “Getting to volume yields faster will involve getting yield numbers earlier in the process, with increasing proof-points and planning iterations up front with customers, at times tied to specific use-cases and IoT market sub-segments,” he notes.

Rapid development of affordable data tools from other industries may help

Luckily, the wide deployment of affordable sensors and data analysis tools in other industries in other industries is developing solutions that may help the IC sector as well.  “A key trend is the “democratization” – enabling users to do very meaningful learning on data, using statistical techniques, without requiring a Ph.D. in statistics or mathematics,” notes Bill Jacobs, director, Advanced Analytics Product Management, Microsoft Corporation, another speaker in the program. “Rapid growth of statistics-oriented languages like R across industries is making it easier for manufacturers and equipment suppliers to capture, visualize and learn from data, and then build those learnings into dashboards for rapid deployment, or build them directly into automated applications and in some cases, machines themselves.”

Intel has reported using commercially available systems such as Cloudera, Aquafold, and Revolution Analytics (now part of Microsoft) to combine, store, analyze and display results from a wide variety of structured and unstructured manufacturing data. The system has been put to work to determine ball grid placement accuracy from machine learning from automatic comparison of thousands of images to select the any that deviate from the known-good pattern,  far more efficiently than human inspectors, and also to analyze tester parametrics to predict 90% of potential failures of the test interface unit before they happen.

“The IC industry may be ahead in the masses of data it gathers, but other industries are driving the methodology for easy management of the data,” he contends. “There’s a lot that can be leveraged from other industries to improve product quality, supply chain operations, and line up-time in the semiconductor industry.”

Demands for faster development of more complex devices require new approaches

As the cost of developing faster, smaller, lower power components gets ever higher, the dual sourcing strategies of automotive and other big IC users puts even more pressure on device makers to get the product right the first time. “There’s no longer time to learn with iterations to gradually improve the yield over time, now we need to figure out how to do this faster, as well as how to counter higher R&D costs on lower margins,” notes Sia Langrudi, Siemens VP Worldwide Strategy and Business Development,   who will also speak in the program.

The first steps are to recognize the poor visibility and traceability from design to manufacturing, and to put organizational discipline into place to remove barriers between silos. Then a company needs good baseline data, to be able to see improvement when it happens. “It’s rather like being an alcoholic, the first step is to recognize you have a problem,” says Langrudi. “People tell me they already have a quality management system, but they don’t. They have lots of different information systems, and unless they are capturing the information all in one place, the opportunity to use it is not there.”

Other speakers discussing these issues in the Smart Manufacturing Forum at SEMICON West July 14 include Amkor SVP Package Products Robert Lanzone, Applied Materials VP New Markets & Services Chris Moran, Intel VP IoT/GM Industrial Anthony Neal Graves, NextNine US Sales Manager Don Harroll, Optimal+ VP WW Marketing David Park, Qualcomm SVP Engineering Michael Campbell, Rudolph Technologies VP/GM Software Thomas Sonderman, and Samsung Sr Director, Engineering Development, Austin, Ben Eynon.

Learn more about the speakers at the SEMICON West 2016 session “Smart Manufacturing: The Key Opportunities and Challenges of the Next Generation of Manufacturing for the Electronics Value Chain.” To see all sessions in the Extended Supply Chain Forum, click here.

By Debra Vogler, SEMI

A forum of industry experts at SEMICON West 2016 will discuss the challenges associated with getting from node 10 — which seems set for HVM — to nodes 7 and 5. Confirmed speakers at the “Node 10 to Node 5 ─ Dealing with the Slower Pace of Traditional Scaling (Track 2)” session on Tuesday, July 12, 2:00pm-4:00pm, are Lode Lauwers (imec), Guy Blalock (IM Flash), Kelvin Low (Samsung), Mike Chudzik (Applied Materials), Kevin Heidrich (Nanometrics), and David Dutton (Silvaco). SEMI interviewed Lauwers and Chudzik to see what challenges they see ahead as the industry progresses from node 7 to node 5.

According to Mike Chudzik, senior director, Cross-Business Unit Modules Team at Applied Materials, “The top tw or three process development challenges facing the industry at node 7 are RC reduction, RC reduction, and RC reduction,” Chudzik told SEMI. “At the 7nm node, parasitic resistance and parasitic capacitance delays are predicted to be greater than the inherent transistor delay.” Among the solutions he cites are new materials such as cobalt for the contact fill, lower-k spacers, and integration solutions, such as air-gap and replacement contact schemes. “While FinFETs are expected to scale to the 7nm node, their days are numbered. If you want to scale to the true historical 0.7X 7nm node, it’s a challenge for FinFETs because continuing to scale the gate length requires scaling the fin width.” He also explained that the variability in patterned fins will cause serious device performance challenges at near 5nm fin width on account of quantum confinement. “Something new like gate-all-around (GAA) devices are needed to fuel the next-generation of device scaling.”

Figure 1: At the 7nm node (CD of 13nm), the resistance of the TiN/W fill materials for the contact plug is expected to become higher than the interfacial contact resistance. SOURCE: Applied Materials

Figure 1: At the 7nm node (CD of 13nm), the resistance of the TiN/W fill materials for the contact plug is expected to become higher than the interfacial contact resistance. SOURCE: Applied Materials

Among the materials challenges in getting to nodes 7 and 5 are cobalt implementation for the contact, and Si/SiGe superlattices for the 5nm node, explained Chudzik. “The former challenge concerns replacing tungsten in the contact plug, and the latter is needed to form horizontal GAA structures.” Figure 1 shows that at the 7nm node (CD of 13nm) the resistance of the TiN/W fill material for the contact plug is expected to become higher than the interfacial contact resistance. “A TiN/Co solution provides relief.”

In addition to improving the performance of the interconnect, Lode Lauwers, VP, business development for CMOS technology at imec, told SEMI that getting to node 7 will require very advanced fin technology combined with a patterning solution. Looking ahead to node 5, he said it is expected that the fin will still be the reference technology, along with the introduction of new materials such as SiGe, and a high concentration of Ge in the channel as a mobility improvement, and possibly even the consideration of III-V materials (particularly at N5) (see Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2: Performance and energy efficiency roadmap: devices architectures. SOURCE: imec

Figure 2: Performance and energy efficiency roadmap: devices architectures. SOURCE: imec

Figure 3: Performance and energy efficiency roadmap: transistor features that are driving the logic roadmap. SOURCE: imec

Figure 3: Performance and energy efficiency roadmap: transistor features that are driving the logic roadmap. SOURCE: imec

In looking out towards the horizon, Lauwers pointed out that the industry has to consider alternatives to the fin because there is an engineering limit to how small the fin dimensions can be made. “There is the possibility that at node 5 the industry will consider alternatives to the traditional fin, said Lauwers. “For example, the GAA structure (also referred to as a lateral or horizontal nanowire, HGAA) is superior in terms of gate control and will have better leakage control. That means you will be able to have better performance over a lower supply voltage with a lower threshold voltage.”

Beyond HGAA structures, Lauwers observed that the industry could move to a vertical nanowire structure (VGAA). But there are several contenders (see Figure 2). “It’s not up to imec to choose and it’s too early to say what will be the right option,” Lauwers told SEMI. “Maybe for certain applications or a certain technology positioning, a device maker might make a different compromise.”

In addition to imec and Applied Materials, speakers from IM Flash, Nanometrics, Samsung, and Silvaco will present at the “Scaling: Node 10 to Node 5” session of the three-day Advanced Manufacturing Forum (see Schedule-at-a-Glance) at SEMICON West 2016 which takes place July 12-14 in San Francisco, Calif.

As the opening day of SEMICON West (July 12-14) approaches, the electronics manufacturing industry is experiencing disruptive changes, making “business as usual” a thing of the past. To help technical and business professionals navigate this fast-changing landscape, SEMICON West programming has been upgraded extensively ─ increased from 170 hours to 250 hours this year. New brand and deep programming provide insights into the latest megatrends and helps attendees identify new opportunities and refine sound strategic plans.

At this year’s expo, several new forums designed to enhance collaboration within shared communities of interest will debut. Lead by technical experts, top analysts, and leaders from some of the biggest names in electronics, the new forums are generating significant advance interest and buzz, key among them:

  • Advanced Manufacturing Forum: Twelve cutting-edge sessions — from What’s Next in MEMS and Sensors to Power Electronics and 3D Printing — will be presented by Samsung, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, and more. Attendees will learn about new technologies on the horizon and how they impact semiconductor manufacturing.
  • Flexible Hybrid Electronics Forum: Flexible Hybrid Electronics is driving new processes and packages, providing innovative approaches for health-monitoring, wearables, soft robotics, and other next-generation products. Attendees will get details on thinned device processing, system design, reliability testing and modeling from experts at Qualcomm, PARC, and GE Global Research.
  • World of IoT Forum: Forecasters predict that IoT will soon become a $6 trillion market. The World of IoT Forum brings together leading suppliers, integrators, and solution providers at the forefront of innovations in mobility, network-connected devices, and automotive and healthcare applications, among others. Attendees will learn about the trends impacting the market, including big data and analytics, smart things, and MEMS and sensor manufacturing.

With so many disruptive trends driving the market, it is critical for industry professionals to have a clear view of the road ahead. With its vastly expanded technical and business programming, this year’s expo will deliver the strategic insights needed to survive and thrive. To learn more and to register, visit SEMICON West Forums.

IC Insights will release its May Update to the 2016 McClean Report later this month.  This Update includes a discussion of the 1Q16 semiconductor industry market results, an update of the capital spending forecast by company, a review of the IC market by electronic system type, and a look at the top-25 1Q16 semiconductor suppliers (the top 20 1Q16 semiconductor suppliers are covered in this research bulletin).

The top-20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 1Q16 is shown in Figure 1.  It includes eight suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Japan, three in Taiwan, three in Europe, two in South Korea, and one in Singapore, a relatively broad representation of geographic regions.

The top-20 ranking includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and six fabless companies. If the three pure-play foundries were excluded from the top-20 ranking, U.S.-based IDM ON Semiconductor ($817 million), China-based fabless supplier HiSilicon ($810 million), and Japan-based IDM Sharp ($800 million) would have been ranked in the 18th, 19th, and 20th positions, respectively.

IC Insights includes foundries in the top-20 semiconductor supplier ranking since it has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases the semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  As shown in the listing, the foundries and fabless companies are identified.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

Overall, the top-20 list shown in Figure 1 is provided as a guideline to identify which companies are the leading semiconductor suppliers, whether they are IDMs, fabless companies, or foundries.

Figure 1

Figure 1

In total, the top-20 semiconductor companies’ sales declined by 6% in 1Q16/1Q15, one point less than the total worldwide semiconductor industry decline of 7%.  Although, in total, the top-20 1Q16 semiconductor companies registered a moderate 6% drop, there were seven companies that displayed a double-digit 1Q16/1Q15 decline and three that registered a ≥25% fall (with memory giants Micron and SK Hynix posting the worst results).  Half of the top-20 companies had sales of at least $2.0 billion in 1Q16.  As shown, it took $832 million in quarterly sales just to make it into the 1Q16 top-20 semiconductor supplier list.

There was one new entrant into the top-20 ranking in 1Q16—U.S.-based fabless supplier AMD.  AMD had a particularly rough 1Q16 and saw its sales drop 19% year-over-year to $832 million, which was about half the $1,589 million in sales the company logged just over two years ago in 4Q13.  Although AMD did not have a good 1Q16, Japan-based Sharp, the only company that fell from the top-20 ranking, faired even worse with its 1Q16/1Q15 sales plunging by 30%!

In order to allow for more useful year-over-year comparisons, acquired/merged semiconductor company sales results were combined for both 1Q15 and 1Q16, regardless of when the acquisition or merger occurred.  For example, although Intel’s acquisition of Altera did not close until late December of 2015, Altera’s 1Q15 sales ($435 million) were added to Intel’s 1Q15 sales ($11,632 million) to come up with the $12,067 million shown in Figure 1 for Intel’s 1Q15 sales.  The same method was used to calculate the 1Q15 sales for Broadcom Ltd. (Avago/Broadcom), NXP (NXP/Freescale), and GlobalFoundries (GlobalFoundries/IBM).

Apple is an anomaly in the top-20 ranking with regards to major semiconductor suppliers. The company designs and uses its processors only in its own products—there are no sales of the company’s MPUs to other system makers. Apple’s custom ARM-based SoC processors had a “sales value” of $1,390 million in 1Q16, up 10% from $1,260 million in 1Q15.  Apple’s MPUs have been used in 13 iPhone handset designs since 2007 and a dozen iPad tablet models since 2010 as well as in iPod portable media players, smartwatches, and Apple TV units.  Apple’s custom processors—such as the 64-bit A9 used in iPhone 6s and 6s Plus handsets introduced in September 2015 and the new iPhone 6SE launched in March 2016—are made by pure-play foundry TSMC and IDM foundry Samsung.

Intel remained firmly in control of the number one spot in 1Q16.  In fact, it increased its lead over Samsung’s semiconductor sales from 29% in 1Q15 to 40% in 1Q16.  The biggest moves in the ranking were made by the new Broadcom Ltd. (Avago/Broadcom) and Nvidia, each of which jumped up three positions in 1Q16 as compared to 1Q15.

As would be expected, given the possible acquisitions and mergers that could/will occur this year (e.g., Microchip/Atmel), as well as any new ones that may develop, the top-20 semiconductor ranking is likely to undergo a significant amount of upheaval over the next few years as the semiconductor industry continues along its path to maturity.

By Debra Vogler, SEMI

The demand for smartphones and other portable devices that need efficient power management is driving the analog IC market. Additionally, growth is fueled by the Internet of Things (IoT) and the MEMS/sensors devices that enable it. To explore the supply chain opportunities within the analog sector, including MEMS/sensors, SEMI introduced the Analog and New Frontiers Program at SEMICON West 2016. This program — part of the Extended Supply Chain Forum — will feature four, hour-long sessions, each focusing on a different supply chain challenge or area of interest within the analog sector. One of the featured speakers will be Dr. Peter Hartwell, senior director of Advanced Technology at InvenSense. Dr. Hartwell’s pre-show interview provides a provocative look at supply chain challenges facing MEMS/sensors manufacturers.

Perhaps the most significant challenge facing manufacturers of MEMS/sensors is commoditization of sensors and where the profits end up. “The windfall is going to the people enabling the applications at the top,” Hartwell told SEMI. “Especially with mobile devices and IoT.” He pointed out that if there isn’t a way for value capture at the lowest levels – i.e., the companies that enable the systems and devices that create the IoT experience – he predicts a plateau of innovation. “We won’t have the resources to push technology forward, so as a sensor company, we are trying to find ways to move further up the value chain to extract some of that value.”

Moving up the value chain, however, requires sensor companies to become more aware of system considerations. Design convergence is one way to accomplish this. “We think of design convergence as SiPs (System in Package) or SoCs (System on a Chip),” said Hartwell. “We start to put together our sensors with other capabilities, whether that means having processing power in our package or looking at different kinds of sensors that come together.”

He speculates about a time when there will be a single-chip IoT device, i.e., a one-chip device comprising sensors, storage, radio, power management, and perhaps even energy harvesting. “Maybe that’s where the convergence goes.” Still, in the end, the challenge becomes how the industry gets the money back to the bottom of the supply chain. “We’re inching up towards where that money is by building those systems and understanding what it takes to make them.”

The fabless model for MEMS/sensors

Aside from the commoditization conundrum, Hartwell sees another supply chain opportunity arising if the industry embraces a truly fabless business model. Such a model would be based on companies that only design the devices with the process kits arising from different companies. The fundamental question with that scenario, Hartwell notes, is how the various MEMS/sensors houses differentiate themselves.

Hartwell noted that InvenSense embraces the fabless model — the company has a Shuttle program with its foundry partners, TSMC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES. The InvenSense Shuttle gives MEMS developers the opportunity to fabricate their designs on the patented InvenSense Fabrication MEMS-CMOS integrated platform. Though competitors are not able to take part in the Shuttle program, it is available to universities and start-up partner companies. That said, Hartwell noted that the company keeps its ‘cards pretty close to the vest.’ So the challenge is how to open up that model while retaining differentiation when fabs and foundries tend to want to wring out cost from process development by using as much standardization as possible.

“The million dollar question,” said Hartwell, “is could we ever get to the point where the foundry tells the sensor companies what to do — the EDA companies would love to see this happen because it would lead to standardization of design tools and simulators.”

Opportunities for test and the digital interface

Test and packaging are two more opportunity areas for the supply chain. Hartwell pointed out that most MEMS/sensors companies do their own testing using their own test infrastructure. “It’s one differentiator that we haven’t been willing to give up,” said Hartwell. “So this is an opportunity for someone to come in and turn over the apple cart.”

With the proliferation of sensors that need to interface with a multi-chip system comes the challenge of having to connect using more and more pins. And though the industry has solutions for a digital interface to the sensor world, additional work needs to focus on making that interface robust. Hartwell explained that multiple interrupts and digital lines are needed and it gets complicated when you have five, six, or seven sensors in a system. “There are just not enough pins,” said Hartwell. “So we’re seeing a change in the wiring and the interface will have to be something new to solve the integration problem, which has become nontrivial.” He further observed that IoT is driven by four attributes: size, cost, power, and performance. “To get to the promise of IoT, it will take breakthroughs to get to a trillion sensors. You will have to reduce size, cost, power and performance, and some of those by one or two orders of magnitude.”

Wringing out costs with packaging (or, “no” package)

Hartwell minces no words when it comes to tackling size and cost in MEMS: packaging is MEMS. “This is the biggest opportunity to take out size and cost,” Hartwell told SEMI. “The influence of packaging on the transducer can’t be ignored. Packaging hurts the size, it hurts performance, and it’s something for which I don’t want to pay. It’s a huge opportunity for a shift.”

For Hartwell, the crux of the challenge is how to take a single piece of silicon that has a 6-axis sensor system, and then test it, trim it, ship it, and put it into whatever system it’s going into without changing its trim. While chip-scale packaging could be the opportunity the MEMS industry needs, he wants to keep the options open for other ways to break the paradigm.

What’s clear is that ample business opportunities exist for the supply chain within the MEMS/sensors sector to get rid of cost and size, address the test challenge, get rid of the package, and finally, new ways to handle and assemble parts.

To learn more, attend the Analog and New Frontiers Forum (part of the Extended Supply Chain Forum) at SEMICON West. The forum will be held on Wednesday, July 13, in four, hour-long sessions on the Keynote Stage, North Hall, Moscone Center. Check the SEMICON West 2016 website for more details and a list of confirmed speakers for each of the sessions.

Leading innovators in today’s integrated electronics supply chain are preparing to showcase their products and services at SEMICON West 2016 on July 12-14 in San Francisco, Calif.  Attendees will discover new international partners and suppliers, learn about the latest start-ups, and view cutting-edge, critical manufacturing technologies.

The industry has seen dramatic changes since last year’s exposition. Consolidation, IoT, and system integrators increasingly calling the shots have transformed the landscape. Engaging customers and finding new ones have never been more important. SEMICON West 2016 reflects this major realignment — it’s not “business as usual” anymore.

The expanded show floor has been re-engineered to feature megatrend programs and displays, including: the Innovation Theater and four new Exhibit Zones — Advanced Substrate Engineering, Advanced Packaging, Sustainable Manufacturing, and 3D Manufacturing. International Pavilions include Europe, Silicon Saxony, and Malaysia.

SEMICON West 2016 also features three new forums: Advanced Manufacturing, Flexible Hybrid Electronics, and the World of IoT.  Popular recurring programs include the SEMI/Gartner Market Symposium, “Bulls & Bears,” Connect Executive Summit, plus forums addressing wearables, Big Data, mobile, automotive, and other areas of interest to players in these supply chains.

SEMICON West 2016 will attract a broader roster of market makers in today’s globally interconnected semiconductor supply chain, including many of the world’s leading electronics companies as well as their customers and suppliers. To exhibit, visit: www.semiconwest.org.

Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Brooks Instrument will be exhibiting at SEMICON West 2016 with new mass flow controllers (MFC) equipped with the high-speed EtherCAT interface, along with a broad range of other mass flow meters, controllers, vaporizers and capacitance manometers for semiconductor manufacturing.

The show runs July 12-14 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Brooks Instrument will be located in the South Hall at booth 1323.

A world leader in advanced flow, pressure, vacuum and vapor delivery solutions, Brooks Instrument will showcase key components in its MFC portfolio designed to meet critical gas chemistry control challenges and improve process yields for sub-20nm nodes. This includes the company’s newly enhanced GF100 Series MFCs with high-speed EtherCAT connectivity, as well as the GF135 advanced diagnostic MFC. Information on other pressure-based flow control technologies will also be available.

With its 70-year history in leading technology development, Brooks Instrument is focused on improving the precision and performance of mass flow, pressure and vacuum technologies to help enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Key items at SEMICON West include:

GF100 Series MFC with High-Speed EtherCAT Connectivity: Brooks Instrument has enhanced its industry-leading GF100 Series MFCs with high-speed EtherCAT interfaces for both high-flow and low-flow applications.

Responding to rapidly evolving requirements for next-generation tools and fabs, the GF100 Series features several additions to help boost process yields and productivity:

  • Embedded diagnostics to leverage real-time EtherCAT data acquisition capabilities for advanced fault detection and classification;
  • An ultra-stable flow sensor (less than 0.15 percent of S.P. drift per year) enables tighter low set point accuracy and reduces maintenance requirements;
  • Improved valve shutdown reduces valve leak-by, minimizing potential first wafer effects;
  • Enhancements to the GF100 advanced pressure transient insensitivity to less than one percent of S.P. with five PSI per second pressure perturbations, which reduces crosstalk sensitivity for consistent mass flow delivery.

GF135 Advanced Self-Diagnostic PTI MFC: The GF135 is the first “smart” pressure transient insensitive (PTI) MFC that can perform self-diagnostics such as integral rate-of-decay flow measurement without stopping the flow of process gas. This provides a competitive advantage, allowing semiconductor manufacturers to verify process gas accuracy, check valve leak-by, and monitor sensor stability in real time without removing the flow controller from the gas line – saving thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

With this unique real-time error detection technology, process and equipment engineers can reduce wafer scrap and lost production time from unacceptable flow deviations and unnecessary preventative maintenance checks. The Brooks Instrument GF135 PTI MFC also offers industry leading actual process gas accuracy and fast flow settling time for ascending and descending set points, helping to improve productivity and chamber-to-chamber matching.

Interactive Demonstration: The Brooks Instrument booth will include an interactive mass flow control demonstration where attendees can watch real-time gas flow error detection and advanced diagnostics on the GF135 MFC. Applications engineers will also be available to answer questions about the latest technologies to enhance process control, improve chamber matching and support process yield programs for semiconductor manufacturing. In addition, attendees are encouraged to visit the company in booth 1323 to share in its 70th anniversary celebration.

SEMI announced today that FlexTech Alliance has become the first SEMI Strategic (Association) Partner, a form of inter-industry cooperation. In this partnership, FlexTech will continue to pursue its mission of fostering the growth of the emerging flexible, hybrid and printed electronics industry as part of SEMI, the global industry association advancing the interests of the worldwide electronics supply chain.

SEMI is strengthening its position in the flexible, hybrid and printed electronics sector by more directly engaging with a new set of companies and R&D organizations, and leveraging an experienced team dedicated to this emerging industry. FlexTech’s activities — R&D programs, the annual Flex Conference, and industry-building workshops and webinars in the flexible electronics market — will gain improved reach through SEMI’s global platforms.

“SEMI identified several technology areas of high interest to our members and flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) was at the top of the list,” said Denny McGuirk, CEO and president of SEMI. “FHE is an exciting technology, combining aspects of traditional IC manufacturing with printed electronics. FlexTech is at the epicenter of this rapidly growing electronics field and has built a vital and collaborative community. SEMI and FlexTech members will gain both wider and deeper visibility to opportunities in the new markets created by FHE, like wearable electronics and applications for the IoT.”

“Our new partnership with SEMI provides FlexTech members with access to more resources, the expertise of a complementary industry, and worldwide platforms,” notes Michael Ciesinski, president and CEO of FlexTech Alliance. “FlexTech is now better positioned to maintain our R&D programs, broaden our contributions to industry technical forums including standards-setting, and enhance our industry-building business programs.”

Companies, public and private R&D organizations, and universities will benefit from new engagement platforms which will be led by SEMI and FlexTech. In the U.S., FHE will continue to be an integral part of SEMICON West. In conjunction with SEMICON Europa, SEMI annually sponsors the Plastic Electronics Conference with FlexTech as a contributing partner. In Korea, SEMI will build upon the success of its first printed electronics conference. As a SEMI Strategic Partner, FlexTech programs will augment SEMI’s, creating additional avenues for collaboration.

“Flexible and printed electronics, the core of FlexTech’s mission, are quickly becoming an important sector of the international electronics market,” comments Jennifer Ernst, chair of the FlexTech Governing Board and chief strategy officer at Thin Film Electronics. “This is a natural step in FlexTech’s growth, and the Governing Board is excited about the international reach the SEMI partnership provides.”

“As a member of both organizations, I believe that this is a logical combination and an excellent move for the industry,” states Om Nalamasu, PhD, senior VP and chief technology officer at Applied Materials. “The strengths of these two organizations are fully complementary and with their synergies, the whole is clearly greater than the sum of the parts.”

FlexTech retains management of the newly announced Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute (FHE MII), the Nano-Bio Manufacturing Consortium (NBMC), and the Laser Illuminated Projector Association (LIPA). Additionally, it will seek new consortium opportunities to serve the electronics industry under the SEMI umbrella. As a SEMI Strategic Partner, FlexTech Alliance will continue to operate under its own name and administer its R&D programs with U.S. government agencies.