Category Archives: Semiconductors

IC Insights’ latest market, unit, and average selling price forecasts for 33 major IC product segments for 2018 through 2022 is included in the March Update to the 2018 McClean Report (MR18).  The Update also includes an analysis of the major semiconductor suppliers’ capital spending plans for this year.

The biggest adjustments to the original MR18 IC market forecasts were to the memory market; specifically the DRAM and NAND flash segments.  The DRAM and NAND flash memory market growth forecasts for 2018 have been adjusted upward to 37% for DRAM (13% shown in MR18) and 17% for NAND flash (10% shown in MR18).

The big increase in the DRAM market forecast for 2018 is primarily due to a much stronger ASP expected for this year than was originally forecast.  IC Insights now forecasts that the DRAM ASP will register a 36% jump in 2018 as compared to 2017, when the DRAM ASP surged by an amazing 81%.  Moreover, the NAND flash ASP is forecast to increase 10% this year, after jumping by 45% in 2017.  In contrast to strong DRAM and NAND flash ASP increases, 2018 unit volume growth for these product segments is expected to be up only 1% and 6%, respectively.

At $99.6 billion, the DRAM market is forecast to be by far the largest single product category in the IC industry in 2018, exceeding the expected NAND flash market ($62.1 billion) by $37.5 billion.  Figure 1 shows that the DRAM market has provided a significant tailwind or headwind for total worldwide IC market growth in four out of the last five years.

The DRAM market dropped by 8% in 2016, spurred by a 12% decline in ASP, and the DRAM segment became a headwind to worldwide IC market growth that year instead of the tailwind it had been in 2013 and 2014.  As shown, the DRAM market shaved two percentage points off of total IC industry growth in 2016.  In contrast, the DRAM segment boosted total IC market growth last year by nine percentage points. For 2018, the expected five point positive impact of the DRAM market on total IC market growth is forecast to be much less significant than it was in 2017.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Imec, a research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, today presented its annual Lifetime of Innovation Award to Dr. Irwin Jacobs, Founding Chairman and CEO Emeritus of Qualcomm. The annual industry honor is presented to the individual who has significantly advanced the field of semiconductor technology.  The formal presentation will be made at the global Imec Technology Forum (ITF) in May in Belgium.

In making the announcement, Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec, said: “Irwin Jacobs’ many technological contributions laid the groundwork for creating the mobile industry and markets that we know today. Under his leadership, Qualcomm developed two-way mobile satellite communications and tracking systems deemed the most advanced in the world. He pioneered spread-spectrum technology and systems using CDMA (code division multiple access), which became a digital standard for cellular phone communications. Together, these technologies opened mobile communications to the global consumer market.”

Irwin Jacobs began his career first as an assistant and then associate professor of electrical engineering at MIT and, later, as professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California in San Diego. While at MIT, he co-authored Principles of Communication Engineering, a textbook still in use. He began his corporate life as a cofounder of Linkabit, which developed satellite encryption devices.  In 1985, he co-founded Qualcomm, serving as CEO until 2005 and chairman through 2009.  His numerous awards include the National Medal of Technology, the Marconi Prize, and the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.  His honors include nine honorary degrees including doctor of engineering from the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

Imec initiated the Lifetime of Innovation Award in 2015 at their annual global forum known as ITF (Imec Technology Forum).  The award marks milestones that have transformed the semiconductor industry.  The first recipient was Dr. Morris Chang, whose foundry model launched the fabless semiconductor industry, spurring creation of new innovative companies.  In 2016, Gordon Moore was honored, creator of the famous Moore’s law theory and co-founder of Intel.  Dr. Kinam Kim was honored in 2017 for his contributions in memory technologies and his visionary leadership at Samsung.

Luc Van den hove concluded, saying: “Our mission is to create innovation through collaboration. By gathering global technology leaders at the ITF, imec provides an open forum to share issues and trends challenging the semiconductor industry. In this international exchange, imec and participants outline ways to collaborate in bringing innovative solutions to market.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announces new products that improve quality control and yield in semiconductor manufacturing. These new products will be showcased at SEMICON China (Hall N5 #5619), Shanghai, March 14-16, 2018.

“Thermo Fisher has deep roots in the advanced analytical technologies used to control manufacturing processes and diagnose the root causes of process and product failures in semiconductor and display manufacturing,” said Rob Krueger, vice president and general manager, semiconductor, Thermo Fisher. “This week, we are introducing new products that help propel the rapid pace of innovation and continuing expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Asia, and particularly, in China.”

Verios G4 Extreme High-Resolution SEM

The Thermo Scientific Verios G4 extreme high-resolution (XHR) scanning electron microscope (SEM) delivers the capability and flexibility needed to determine root cause defects, yield losses, and process and product failures.

“The Verios G4 is an SEM-only solution derived from our widely successful Helios family of DualBeam (focused ion beam/SEM) instruments,” said Krueger. “It offers industry leading performance across a wide range of conditions, especially at the low voltages required for beam-sensitive materials used in advanced processes.”

Hyperion II Fast & Efficient Nanoprober

Nanoprobers make direct electrical measurements of individual transistors. The new Thermo Scientific Hyperion II, the only commercially available nanoprober based on an atomic force microscope (AFM), eliminates the vacuum requirements and e-beam/sample interactions of SEM-based nanoprobers. The Hyperion II’s automated operation and imaging modes are designed for speed and ease of use. In addition, its ability to precisely localize electrical faults may improve the speed and efficiency of subsequent DualBeam or TEM analysis.

iCAP TQs ICP-MS for Fast and Reliable Chemical Monitoring

The Thermo Scientific iCAP TQs inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) is a dedicated semiconductor version of the well-established iCAP TQ ICP-MS. It provides the fast, reliable and reproducible measurement of low-level contaminants in ultra-high purity (UHP) chemicals required to support automated at-line monitoring and statistical process control for advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes. The iCAP TQs ICP-MS provides new levels of ultra-low detection and simplicity in a single high-performance solution. Moving chemical analysis from the lab to the fab is now possible with this new system and allows at-line control of chemical baths, which optimizes response times.

The Silicon Integration Initiative’s (Si2) Compact Model Coalition (CMC) has approved two integrated circuit design simulation standards that target the fast-growing global market for gallium nitride semiconductors.

The approved standards are the 12th and 13th models currently funded and supported by the CMC, a collaborative group that develops and maintains cost-saving SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) models for IC design.

John Ellis, president and CEO, said gallium nitride devices are used in many high-power and high-frequency applications, including satellite communications, radar, cellular, broadband wireless systems, and automotive. “Although it’s currently a small market, gallium nitride devices are expected to show remarkable growth over the coming years.”

To reduce research and developments costs and increase simulation accuracy, the semiconductor industry relies on the CMC to share resources for funding standard SPICE models. Si2 is a research and development joint venture focused on IC design and tool operability standards. “Once the standard models are proven and accepted by CMC, they are incorporated into design tools widely used by the semiconductor industry. The equations at work in the standard model-setting process are developed, refined and maintained by leading universities and national laboratories. The CMC directs and funds the universities to standardize and improve the models,” Ellis explained.

Dr. Ana Villamor, technology and market analyst at Yole Développement (Yole), Lyon, France, said that “2015 and 2016 were exciting years for the gallium nitride power business. We project an explosion of this market with 79% CAGR between 2017 and 2022. Market value will reach US $460 million at the end of the period1. It’s still a small market compared to the impressive US $30 billion silicon power semiconductor market,” Villamor said. “However, its expected growth in the short term is showing the enormous potential of the power gallium nitride technology based on its suitability for high performance and high frequency solutions.”

Yole_GaN_power_device_market_size_split_by_application_M_

Peter Lee, manager at Micron Memory Japan and CMC chair, said that “Gallium nitride devices are playing an increasingly important part in the field of RF and power electronics. With these two advanced models established as the first, worldwide gallium nitride model standards, efficiencies in design will greatly increase by making it possible to take into account accurate device physical behavior in design, and enabling the use of the various simulation tools in the industry with consistent results.”

Click here to download standard models.

 

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the companies agreed to sign a license agreement on laser debonding technology. EVG plans to integrate IBM’s patented Hybrid Laser Release process into EVG’s advanced, field-proven temporary bonding and debonding equipment solutions, which can provide high-volume manufacturers with greater flexibility to implement optimized temporary bonding and debonding process flows. Thanks to the added process variants from IBM that will be supported by EVG’s equipment portfolio, customers can choose from a wide range of bonding, cleaning and metrology process options to help address their temporary bonding and debonding requirements and applications.

The result, which is an advanced laser debonding solution based on EVG’s combination of the technology licensed from IBM with EVG’s know-how, encompasses methods and designs for UV and IR laser debonding (designed to enable the use of glass or silicon carriers) as well as inspection of the bond interfaces. The technologies contributed by IBM help EVG implement designs that address the industry’s critical requirements for temporary bonding and debonding, including high throughput, low wafer stress for high yield, and low cost of ownership of the laser equipment, processing and consumables. The advanced EVG solution encompasses techniques to help protect chips from heat and laser damage, as well as chemical clean technologies for device and carrier wafers.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today revealed new details of its silicon photonics roadmap to enable the next generation of optical interconnects for datacenter and cloud applications. The company has now qualified the industry’s first 90nm manufacturing process using 300mm wafers, while also unveiling its upcoming 45nm technology to deliver even greater bandwidth and energy efficiency.

GF’s silicon photonics technologies are designed to support the massive growth in data transmitted across today’s global communication infrastructure. Instead of traditional interconnects that transmit data using electrical signals over copper wires, silicon photonics technology uses pulses of light through optical fibers to move more data at higher speeds and over longer distances, while also minimizing energy loss.

“The explosive need for bandwidth is fueling demand for a new generation of optical interconnects,” said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president of sales and ASIC business unit at GF. “Our silicon photonics technologies enable customers to deliver unprecedented levels of connectivity for transferring massive amounts of data, whether it’s between chips inside a datacenter or across cloud servers separated by hundreds and even thousands of miles. When combined with our advanced ASIC and packaging capabilities, these technologies allow us to deliver highly differentiated solutions to this marketplace.”

GF’s silicon photonics technologies enable the integration of tiny optical components side-by-side with electrical circuits on a single silicon chip. This “monolithic” approach leverages standard silicon manufacturing techniques to improve production efficiency and reduce cost for customers deploying optical interconnect systems.

Available today on 300mm

GF’s current-generation silicon photonics offering is built on its 90nm RF SOI process, which leverages the company’s world-class experience in manufacturing high-performance radio frequency (RF) chips. The platform can enable solutions that provide 30GHz of bandwidth to support client side data rates of up to 800Gbps, as well as long-reach capabilities of up to 120km.

The technology, which had previously been manufactured using 200mm wafer processing, has now been qualified on larger-diameter 300mm wafers at GF’s Fab 10 facility in East Fishkill, N.Y. The migration to 300mm enables more customer capacity, greater manufacturing productivity, and up to a 2X reduction in photonic losses to improve reach and enable more efficient optical systems.

The 90nm technology is supported by a full PDK for E/O/E co-design, polarization, temperature and wavelength parametrics from Cadence Design Systems, as well as differentiated photonic test capabilities including five test sectors from technology verification and modeling to MCM product test.

A roadmap for tomorrow

GF’s next-generation monolithic silicon photonics offering will be manufactured on its 45nm RF SOI process, with production slated for 2019. By leveraging the more advanced 45nm node, the technology will enable reduced power, smaller form factor, and significantly higher bandwidth optical transceiver products to address next generation terabit applications.

A scientific team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a new way to take the local temperature of a material from an area about a billionth of a meter wide, or approximately 100,000 times thinner than a human hair.

This discovery, published in Physical Review Letters, promises to improve the understanding of useful yet unusual physical and chemical behaviors that arise in materials and structures at the nanoscale. The ability to take nanoscale temperatures could help advance microelectronic devices, semiconducting materials and other technologies, whose development depends on mapping the atomic-scale vibrations due to heat.

From left, Andrew Lupini and Juan Carlos Idrobo use ORNL's new monochromated, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, a Nion HERMES to take the temperatures of materials at the nanoscale. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept. of Energy; photographer Jason Richards

From left, Andrew Lupini and Juan Carlos Idrobo use ORNL’s new monochromated, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, a Nion HERMES to take the temperatures of materials at the nanoscale. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept. of Energy; photographer Jason Richards

The study used a technique called electron energy gain spectroscopy in a newly purchased, specialized instrument that produces images with both high spatial resolution and great spectral detail. The 13-foot-tall instrument, made by Nion Co., is named HERMES, short for High Energy Resolution Monochromated Electron energy-loss spectroscopy-Scanning transmission electron microscope.

Atoms are always shaking. The higher the temperature, the more the atoms shake. Here, the scientists used the new HERMES instrument to measure the temperature of semiconducting hexagonal boron nitride by directly observing the atomic vibrations that correspond to heat in the material. The team included partners from Nion (developer of HERMES) and Protochips (developer of a heating chip used for the experiment).

“What is most important about this ‘thermometer’ that we have developed is that temperature calibration is not needed,” said physicist Juan Carlos Idrobo of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science User Facility at ORNL.

Other thermometers require prior calibration. To make temperature graduation marks on a mercury thermometer, for example, the manufacturer needs to know how much mercury expands as the temperature rises.

“ORNL’s HERMES instead gives a direct measurement of temperature at the nanoscale,” said Andrew Lupini of ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division. The experimenter needs only to know the energy and intensity of an atomic vibration in a material–both of which are measured during the experiment.

These two features are depicted as peaks, which are used to calculate a ratio between energy gain and energy loss. “From this we get a temperature,” Lupini explained. “We don’t need to know anything about the material beforehand to measure temperature.”

In 1966, also in Physical Review Letters, H. Boersch, J. Geiger and W. Stickel published a demonstration of electron energy gain spectroscopy, at a larger length scale, and pointed out that the measurement should depend upon the temperature of the sample. Based on that suggestion, the ORNL team hypothesized that it should be possible to measure a nanomaterial’s temperature using an electron microscope with an electron beam that is “monochromated” or filtered to select energies within a narrow range.

To perform electron energy gain and loss spectroscopy experiments, scientists place a sample material in the electron microscope. The microscope’s electron beam goes through the sample, with the majority of electrons barely interacting with the sample. In electron energy loss spectroscopy, the beam loses energy as it passes through the sample, whereas in energy gain spectroscopy, the electrons gain energy from interacting with the sample.

“The new HERMES lets us look at very tiny energy losses and even very small amounts of energy gain by the sample, which are even harder to observe because they are less likely to happen,” Idrobo said. “The key to our experiment is that statistical physical principles tell us that it is more likely to observe energy gain when the sample is heated. That is precisely what allowed us to measure the temperature of the boron nitride. The monochromated electron microscope enables this from nanoscale volumes. The ability to probe such exquisite physical phenomena at these tiny scales is why ORNL purchased the HERMES.”

ORNL scientists are constantly pushing the capabilities of electron microscopes to allow new ways of conducting forefront research. When Nion electron microscope developer Ondrej Krivanek asked Idrobo and Lupini, “Wouldn’t it be fun to try electron energy gain spectroscopy?” they jumped at the chance to be the first to explore this capability of their HERMES instrument.

Nanoscale resolution makes it possible to characterize the local temperature during phase transitions in materials–an impossibility with techniques that do not have the spatial resolution of HERMES spectroscopy. For example, an infrared camera is limited by the wavelength of infrared light to much larger objects.

Whereas in this experiment the scientists tested nanoscale environments at room temperature to about 1300 degrees Celsius (2372 degrees Fahrenheit), the HERMES could be useful for studying devices working across a wide range of temperatures, for example, electronics that operate under ambient conditions to vehicle catalysts that perform over 300 C/600 F.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) received a Presidential Order to immediately and permanently abandon the proposed takeover of Qualcomm by Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ: AVGO). Under the terms of the Presidential Order, all of Broadcom’s director nominees are also disqualified from standing for election as directors of Qualcomm.

Qualcomm was also ordered to reconvene its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on the earliest possible date, which based on the required 10-day notice period, is March 23, 2018. Stockholders of record on January 8, 2018 will be entitled to vote at the meeting.

Broadcom’s official statement after receiving the order was to strongly disagree that its proposed acquisition of Qualcomm raises any national security concerns.

“This should be viewed as a very positive event not only for Qualcomm but also for the market as a whole,” said Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research. “The combined entity would have had dangerously dominant positions in some core markets such as location technologies, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF hardware and automotive semiconductors. A diverse supplier ecosystem will be key to supporting the IoT as well as vertical market developments such as smart mobility and smart manufacturing.”

The Presidential Order is available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-order-regarding-proposed-takeover-qualcomm-incorporated-broadcom-limited/.

 

“Si photonics growth is now confirmed,” announced Dr. Eric Mounier from Yole Développement (Yole). “Therefore, the development of Si photonics technologies is especially driven by the intra & inter data center applications. Silicon photonics is today one of the most valuable answers to high data rate/low cost for distances beyond VCSEL’s reach.”

The market research and strategy consulting company, Yole investigates the Si photonics sector for years now and was already announcing its take-off in 2017. This year, the trend is confirmed, strongly supported by the needs of data management and performances. Si photonics market forecasts are impressive: Yole’s analysts announce a US$560 million market value at chip level and an almost US$4 billion market at transceiver level, both in 2025. The Si photonics technology has reached its tipping point with lot of positive signs: Yole announces transceiver volume-shipping via two major players, Luxtera and Intel as well as a maturing supply chain. In addition, Yole’s analysts highlights the development of new startups and additional products reaching the market, mostly for 100G but soon for 200/400G. At the end, the market is showing very encouraging signs in terms of growing investments from the VC community.

illus_si_photonics_ecosystem_yole_jan2018_(433x280)

Yole, in collaboration with Jean-Louis Malinge, former CEO of Kotura, now at ARCH Venture Partners proposes a comprehensive analysis of the Si photonic industry, Silicon Photonics. It is a high added-value introduction to the silicon photonics technology, including market forecasts, description of applications and supply chain as well as manufacturing trends and challenges. Jean-Louis Malinge will attend OFC 2018 taking place this week in San Diego to meet the Si photonics companies.

The tipping point of the Si photonic industry is only at the very beginning, since there is massive, ongoing global development geared towards further integration. Indeed, Si Photonics today is restricted to the data center market and still competes with VCSEL, which continues to improve In parallel, metropolitan/long-haul applications are not still the main Si photonic targets since the cost is still too high. Long-haul require reliable components and volumes that are not interesting for SiPh. However, as FTTH specifications would converge to Metropolitan networks, this application could also be accessible to Si photonic solutions:

  •  The recent involvement of large IC foundries is a very encouraging sign that portends big things for Si photonics. They include: TSMC with Luxtera, GlobalFoundries with Ayar Labs…
•  The “zero-change”: it means manufacturing optical components without making any changes to a CMOS process. This processes currently in development target future inter-chip optical interconnects that could represents a huge market volume.
•  Datacom and telecom are not the only applications. As silicon photonics is an integration technology platform, it can also be used for sensing application where volume/small form factor are required: medical and automotive applications.

The analysis will not be completed if GAFAMs were not part of the game. Therefore, in development for years, Si photonics is still pushed hard by these major companies, due to their impressive advantages including low cost, higher integration, more embedded functionalities, higher interconnect density, lower power consumption, and better reliability compared with legacy optics and more. Big OEMs like Facebook, Google, and Amazon develop their own optical data center technology in partnership with chip firms. Indeed, while traffic continues to increase between users and data centers across the internet, more and more data communication is taking place within the data center. Current data center switching and interconnects make it difficult and costly to cope with this increasing flow. In this context, new approaches are necessary.

To identify the evolution of this industry and identify latest innovations, the consulting company is daily discussing with Si photonics players.

The SEMI-THERM Educational Foundation (STEF) proudly announces that the 34th Annual Thermal Measurement, Modeling and Management Symposium will take place from Monday, March 19th to Friday, March 23rd, 2018. World-class thermal experts will speak at the symposium and attendees will be able to visit with more than 40 exhibitors and experience hands-on demonstrations at vendor workshops.

Conference committee chairs and presenters are leaders and practitioners from companies including Cisco, IBM, Intel, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Huawei, Qualcomm, and other organizations and academia dedicated to solving thermal challenges.

“Not only will the attendees be able to network with the key technical players in the thermal management field, but they will also be able to get inspired by the keynote and luncheon speeches, while establishing an understanding of thermal principles,” said Bernie Siegal, co-founder of the conference and recipient of SEMI-THERM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “This program has been successful for 34 years because it offers something for everyone, from in-depth short courses and technical sessions to free evening tutorials and practical how-to courses,” he added.

Symposium Highlights

SEMI-THERM has an entire session dedicated to consumer electronics, along with the keynote address, “Thermal Challenges and Industry Trends of Consumer Electronic Devices” presented by Dr. Andre Ali of Google. And new to this year’s program is a special panel session titled “Challenges in Consumer Electronics”.

Additional technical sessions present best practices for keeping data centers and large electronic systems cool. Papers focus on low acoustics air mover technologies, two-phase and liquid cooling, thermal interfaces and heat sinks.

Other sessions help optimize chip package and microprocessors designs to minimize thermal factors. Multiple papers being presented are dedicated to addressing special requirements of devices and systems exposed to rugged conditions such as LEDS, power, and automotive devices.

Unique to the symposium, full conference registrants are able to attend fascinating luncheon speeches: “Mission Critical Facilities, Data Centers, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment” by Dr. Dustin W. Demetriou, IBM and “Tales from the Mars Science Laboratory Thermal Protection System Development” by Dr. Helen H. Hwang, NASA Ames .

Free programs include an evening tutorial presented by Dr. Bruce Guenin, “The Internet of Things – A Personal Perspective”, exhibits, vendor workshops, how-to courses, and two evening networking receptions.

For more information and to register, please visit:

http://semi-therm.org