Category Archives: Wafer Processing

Japanese researchers have developed a new method to build large areas of semiconductive material that is just two molecules thick and a total of 4.4 nanometers tall. The films function as thin film transistors, and have potential future applications in flexible electronics or chemical detectors. These thin film transistors are the first example of semiconductive single molecular bilayers created with liquid solution processing, a standard manufacturing process that minimizes costs.

Top surface view of 3-D computer model (left) and Atomic Force Microscopy image (right) of the new film made by University of Tokyo scientists. The well-organized structure of the molecules is visible in both the 3-D computer model and microscope image as a herringbone or cross-hair pattern. The color differences in the microscopy image are a result of the different lengths of the molecules' tails; the length differences cause the geometric frustration that prevents layers from stacking. pm = picometers, nm = nanometers. Credit: Shunto Arai and Tatsuo Hasegawa

Top surface view of 3-D computer model (left) and Atomic Force Microscopy image (right) of the new film made by University of Tokyo scientists. The well-organized structure of the molecules is visible in both the 3-D computer model and microscope image as a herringbone or cross-hair pattern. The color differences in the microscopy image are a result of the different lengths of the molecules’ tails; the length differences cause the geometric frustration that prevents layers from stacking. pm = picometers, nm = nanometers. Credit: Shunto Arai and Tatsuo Hasegawa

“We want to give electronic devices the features of real cell membranes: flexible, strong, sensitive, and super thin. We found a novel way to design semiconductive single molecular bilayers that allows us to manufacture large surface areas, up to 100 square centimeters (39 square inches). They can function as high performance thin film transistors and could have many applications in the future,” said Assistant Professor Shunto Arai, the first author on the recent research publication.

Professor Tatsuo Hasegawa of the University of Tokyo Department of Applied Physics led the team that built the new film. The breakthrough responsible for their success is a concept called geometric frustration, which uses a molecular shape that makes it difficult for molecules to settle in multiple layers on top of each other.

The film is transparent, but the forces of attraction and repulsion between the molecules create an organized, repeated herringbone pattern when the film is viewed from above through a microscope. The overall molecular structure of the bilayer is highly stable. Researchers believe it should be possible to build the same structure out of different molecules with different functionalities.

The individual molecules used in the current film are divided into two regions: a head and a tail. The head of one molecule stacks on top of another, with their tails pointing in opposite directions so the molecules form a vertical line. These two molecules are surrounded by identical head-to-head pairs of molecules, which all together form a sandwich called a molecular bilayer.

Researchers discovered they could prevent additional bilayers from stacking on top by building the bilayer out of molecules with different length tails, so the surfaces of the bilayer are rough and naturally discourage stacking. This effect of different lengths is referred to as geometric frustration.

Standard methods of creating semiconductive molecular bilayers cannot control the thickness without causing cracks or an irregular surface. The geometric frustration of different length tails has allowed researchers to avoid these pitfalls and build a 10cm by 10cm (3.9 inches by 3.9 inches) square of their film using the common industrial method of solution processing.

The semiconductive properties of the bilayer may give the films applications in flexible electronics or chemical detection.

Semiconductors are able to switch between states that allow electricity to flow (conductors) and states that prevent electricity from flowing (insulators). This on-off switching is what allows transistors to quickly change displayed images, such as a picture on an LCD screen. The single molecular bilayer created by the UTokyo team is much faster than amorphous silicon thin film transistors, a common type of semiconductor currently used in electronics.

The team will continue to investigate the properties of geometrically frustrated single molecular bilayers and potential applications for chemical detection. Collaborators based at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the Nippon Kayaku Company Limited, Condensed Matter Research Center, and High Energy Accelerator Research Organization also contributed to the research.

Cheap, flexible and sustainable plastic semiconductors will soon be a reality thanks to a breakthrough by chemists at the University of Waterloo.

Professor Derek Schipper and his team at Waterloo have developed a way to make conjugated polymers, plastics that conduct electricity like metals, using a simple dehydration reaction the only byproduct of which is water.

“Nature has been using this reaction for billions of years and industry more than a hundred,” said Schipper, a professor of Chemistry and a Canada Research Chair in Organic Material Synthesis. “It’s one of the cheapest and most environmentally friendly reactions for producing plastics.”

Schipper and his team have successfully applied this reaction to create poly(hetero)arenes, one of the most studied classes of conjugated polymers which have been used to make lightweight, low- cost electronics such as solar cells, LED displays, and chemical and biochemical sensors.

Dehydration is a common method to make polymers, a chain of repeating molecules or monomers that link up like a train. Nature uses the dehydration reaction to make complex sugars from glucose, as well as proteins and other biological building blocks such as cellulose. Plastics manufacturers use it to make everything from nylon to polyester, cheaply and in mind-boggling bulk.

“Synthesis has been a long-standing problem in this field,” said Schipper. “A dehydration method such as ours will streamline the entire process from discovery of new derivatives to commercial product development. Better still, the reaction proceeds relatively fast and at room temperature.”

Conjugated polymers were first discovered by Alan Heeger, Alan McDonald, and Hideki Shirakawa in the late 1970s, eventually earning them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000.

Researchers and engineers quickly discovered several new polymer classes with plenty of commercial applications, including a semiconducting version of the material; but progress has stalled in reaching markets in large part because conjugated polymers are so hard to make. The multi-step reactions often involve expensive catalysts and produce environmentally harmful waste products.

Schipper and his team are continuing to perfect the technique while also working on developing dehydration synthesis methods for other classes of conjugated polymers. The results of their research so far appeared recently in the journal Chemistry – A European Journal.

 

Research included in the recently released 50-page April Update to the 2018 edition of IC Insights’ McClean Report shows that in 2017, the top eight major foundry leaders (i.e., sales of ≥$1.0 billion) held 88% of the $62.3 billion worldwide foundry market (Figure 1).  The 2017 share was the same level as in 2016 and one point higher than the share the top eight foundries represented in 2015.  With the barriers to entry (e.g., fab costs, access to leading edge technology, etc.) into the foundry business being so high and rising, IC Insights expects this “major” marketshare figure to remain at or near this elevated level in the future.

TSMC, by far, was the leader with $32.2 billion in sales last year.  In fact, TSMC’s 2017 sales were over 5x that of second-ranked GlobalFoundries and more than 10x the sales of the fifth-ranked foundry SMIC.

Figure 1

Figure 1

China-based Huahong Group, which includes Huahong Grace and Shanghai Huali, displayed the highest growth rate of the major foundries last year with an 18% jump.  Overall, 2017 was a good year for many of the major foundries with four of the eight registering double-digit sales increases.

Of the eight major foundries, six of them are headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region. As shown, Samsung was the only IDM foundry in the ranking.  IBM, a former major IDM foundry, was acquired by GlobalFoundries in mid-2015 while IDM foundries Fujitsu and Intel fell short of the $1.0 billion sales threshold last year. Although growing only 4% last year, Samsung easily remained the largest IDM foundry in 2017, with over 5x the foundry sales of Fujitsu, the second-largest IDM foundry.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.42 billion in billings worldwide in March 2018 (three-month average basis), according to the March Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI. The billings figure is 0.4 percent higher than the final February 2018 level of $2.41 billion, and is 16.7 percent higher than the March 2017 billings level of $2.08 billion.

“March 2018 monthly billings for North American equipment manufacturers remain at robust levels,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “We are seeing sustained strength in the global semiconductor equipment market, aligning with our expectation for a fourth consecutive year of spending growth.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Billings
(3-mo. avg)
Year-Over-Year
October 2017
$2,019.3
23.9%
November 2017
$2,052.3
27.2%
December 2017
$2,398.4
28.3%
January 2018
$2,370.1
27.5%
February 2018 (final)
$2,417.8
22.5%
March 2018 (prelim)
$2,426.9
16.7%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), April 2018
SEMI publishes a monthly North American Billings report and issues the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Driven by strong growth in the memory market, worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $420.4 billion in 2017, a 21.6 percent increase from 2016 revenue of $345.9 billion, according to final results by Gartner, Inc.

“2017 saw two semiconductor industry milestones — revenue surpassed $400 billion, and Intel, the No. 1 vendor for the last 25 years, was pushed into second place by Samsung Electronics,” said George Brocklehurst, research director at Gartner. “Both milestones happened due to rapid growth in the memory market as undersupply drove pricing for DRAM and NAND flash higher.”

The memory market surged nearly $50 billion to reach $130 billion in 2017, a 61.8 percent increase from 2016. Samsung’s memory revenue alone increased nearly $20 billion in 2017, moving the company into the top spot in 2017 (see Table 1). However, Gartner predicts that the company’s lead will be short-lived and will disappear when the memory market goes into its bust cycle, most likely in late 2019.

Table 1. Top 10 Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue, Worldwide, 2017 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)

2017 Rank

2016 Rank

Vendor

2017 Revenue

2017 Market

Share (%)

2016 Revenue

2016-2017 Growth (%)

1

2

 Samsung Electronics

59,875

14.2

40,104

49.3

2

1

 Intel

58,725

14.0

54,091

8.6

3

4

 SK hynix

26,370

6.3

14,681

79.6

4

5

 Micron Technology

22,895

5.4

13,381

71.1

5

3

 Qualcomm

16,099

3.8

15,415

4.4

6

6

 Broadcom

15,405

3.7

13,223

16.4

7

7

 Texas Instruments

13,506

3.2

11,899

13.5

8

8

 Toshiba

12,408

3.0

9,918

25.1

9

17

 Western Digital

9,159

2.2

4,170

119.6

10

9

 NXP

8,750

2.1

9,314

-6.1
Others

177,201

42.2

159,655

11.0
Total Market

420,393

100.0

345,851

21.6

Source: Gartner (April 2018) 

The booming memory segment overshadowed strong growth in other categories in 2017. Nonmemory semiconductors grew $24.8 billion to reach $290 billion, representing a growth rate of 9.3 percent. Many of the broadline suppliers in the top 25 semiconductor vendors, including Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and Infineon, experience high growth as two key markets, industrial and automotive, continued double-digit growth, buoyed by broad-based growth across most other end markets.

The combined revenue of the top 10 semiconductor vendors increased by 30.6 percent during 2017 and accounted for 58 percent of the total market, outperforming the rest of the market, which saw a milder 11.0 percent revenue increase.

M&As are taking longer

2017 was a slower year for closing mergers and acquisitions (M&As), with roughly half the deal value and number of deals compared with 2016. However, the semiconductor industry continues to see escalating deal sizes with greater complexity, which are becoming more challenging to close. Avago set a record in its acquisition of Broadcom for $37 billion in 2016, and this record should soon be broken by Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP Semiconductors for $44 billion.

The IoT is starting to pay vendor dividends

Growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) is having a significant impact on the semiconductor market, with application-specific standard products (ASSPs) for consumer applications up by 14.3 percent and industrial ASSPs rising by 19.1 percent in 2017. Semiconductors for wireless connectivity showed the highest growth with 19.3 percent in 2017, and topping $10 billion for the first time, despite reduced component prices and the static smartphone industry.

More detailed analysis is available to Gartner clients in the report “Market Share Analysis: Semiconductors, Worldwide, 2017.”

The next generation of energy-efficient power electronics, high-frequency communication systems, and solid-state lighting rely on materials known as wide bandgap semiconductors. Circuits based on these materials can operate at much higher power densities and with lower power losses than silicon-based circuits. These materials have enabled a revolution in LED lighting, which led to the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics.

In new experiments reported in Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, researchers have shown that a wide-bandgap semiconductor called gallium oxide (Ga2O3) can be engineered into nanometer-scale structures that allow electrons to move much faster within the crystal structure. With electrons that move with such ease, Ga2O3 could be a promising material for applications such as high-frequency communication systems and energy-efficient power electronics.

Schematic stack and the scanning electron microscopic image of the β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 modulation-doped field effect transistor. Credit: Choong Hee Lee and Yuewei Zhang

Schematic stack and the scanning electron microscopic image of the β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 modulation-doped field effect transistor. Credit: Choong Hee Lee and Yuewei Zhang

“Gallium oxide has the potential to enable transistors that would surpass current technology,” said Siddharth Rajan of Ohio State University, who led the research.

Because Ga2O3 has one of the largest bandgaps (the energy needed to excite an electron so that it’s conductive) of the wide bandgap materials being developed as alternatives to silicon, it’s especially useful for high-power and high-frequency devices. It’s also unique among wide bandgap semiconductors in that it can be produced directly from its molten form, which enables large-scale manufacturing of high-quality crystals.

For use in electronic devices, the electrons in the material must be able to move easily under an electric field, a property called high electron mobility. “That’s a key parameter for any device,” Rajan said. Normally, to populate a semiconductor with electrons, the material is doped with other elements. The problem, however, is that the dopants also scatter electrons, limiting the electron mobility of the material.

To solve this problem, the researchers used a technique known as modulation doping. The approach was first developed in 1979 by Takashi Mimura to create a gallium arsenide high-electron mobility transistor, which won the Kyoto Prize in 2017. While it is now a commonly used technique to achieve high mobility, its application to Ga2O3 is something new.

In their work, the researchers created a so-called semiconductor heterostructure, creating an atomically perfect interface between Ga2O3 and its alloy with aluminum, aluminum gallium oxide — two semiconductors with the same crystal structure but different energy gaps. A few nanometers away from the interface, embedded inside the aluminum gallium oxide, is a sheet of electron-donating impurities only a few atoms thick. The donated electrons transfer into the Ga2O3, forming a 2-D electron gas. But because the electrons are now also separated from the dopants (hence the term modulation doping) in the aluminum gallium oxide by a few nanometers, they scatter much less and remain highly mobile.

Using this technique, the researchers reached record mobilities. The researchers were also able to observe Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, a quantum phenomenon in which increasing the strength of an external magnetic field causes the resistance of the material to oscillate. These oscillations confirm formation of the high mobility 2-D electron gas and allow the researchers to measure critical material properties.

Rajan explained that such modulation-doped structures could lead to a new class of quantum structures and electronics that harnesses the potential of Ga2O3.

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced that in 2017 the global semiconductor materials market grew 9.6 percent while worldwide semiconductor revenues increased 21.6 percent from the prior year.

According to the SEMI Materials Market Data Subscription, total wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials totaled $27.8 billion and $19.1* billion, respectively, in 2017. In 2016, the wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials markets logged revenues of $24.7 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively, for 12.7 percent and 5.4 percent year-over-year increases.

For the eighth consecutive year, Taiwan, at $10.3 billion, was the largest consumer of semiconductor materials due to its large foundry and advanced packaging base. China solidified its hold on the second spot, followed by South Korea and Japan. The Taiwan, China, Europe and South Korea markets saw the strongest revenue growth, while the North America, Rest of World (ROW) and Japan materials markets experienced moderate single-digit growth. (The ROW region is defined as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, other areas of Southeast Asia and smaller global markets.)

2016 and 2017 Regional Semiconductor Materials Markets (US$ Billions)

Region
2016**
2017
% Change
Taiwan
9.20
10.29
12%
China
6.80
7.62
12%
South Korea
6.77
7.51
11%
Japan
6.76
7.05
4%
Rest of World
5.39
5.81
8%
North America
4.87
5.29
9%
Europe
3.03
3.36
11%
Total
42.82
46.93
10%

Source: SEMI, April 2018

Note: Summed subtotals may not equal the total due to rounding.

* Includes ceramic packages and flexible substrates

** 2016 data have been updated based on SEMI’s data collection programs

The Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS) from SEMI provides current revenue data along with seven years of historical data and a two-year forecast. The annual subscription includes four quarterly updates for the materials segment reports revenue for seven market regions (North America, Europe, ROW, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China).

Intel’s huge water recycling plant, now under construction in Hillsboro, Oregon, is a key step toward meeting the company’s long-term water reduction and recycling goals.

Intel is reducing the water it uses in computer chip manufacturing. It also has set a 2025 worldwide goal to return 100 percent of its water to communities and watersheds for local use. Over the past 20 years, Intel has conserved about 60 billion gallons of water.

When the three-year Hillsboro project is complete, the facility will be able to recycle about 1 billion gallons of water every year – the equivalent of 90,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. The plant will be Intel’s biggest water recycling facility in the world.

From inside his cab 150 feet above the Hillsboro, Oregon, job site, crane operator Darren Starks looks down on Intel’s under-construction water recycling plant. Starks can hoist skyward up to 40 tons at a time, and on a busy day is responsible for about 80 lifts of construction equipment, piping and other gear. When the recycling plant is completed, it will help Intel cut its manufacturing water use. Intel has set a goal to return 100 percent of its water to communities and watersheds for local use by 2025. (Credit: Walden Kirsch/Intel Corporation)

From inside his cab 150 feet above the Hillsboro, Oregon, job site, crane operator Darren Starks looks down on Intel’s under-construction water recycling plant. Starks can hoist skyward up to 40 tons at a time, and on a busy day is responsible for about 80 lifts of construction equipment, piping and other gear. When the recycling plant is completed, it will help Intel cut its manufacturing water use. Intel has set a goal to return 100 percent of its water to communities and watersheds for local use by 2025. (Credit: Walden Kirsch/Intel Corporation)

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, this week presented its Congressional Leadership Awards to Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Congressman Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) for their leadership in enacting tax reform legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The Semiconductor Industry Association believes the corporate provisions included in the new law will strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry by making it easier for semiconductor companies to continue to grow and innovate in the United States.

“We applaud Senator Crapo and Congressman Roskam for their steadfast support of policies that strengthen the semiconductor industry, the tech sector, and the U.S. economy,” said John Neuffer, SIA President & CEO. “We especially appreciate the award winners’ resolute leadership in advancing critical corporate tax reform legislation that will help sustain U.S. leadership in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing. The new law has helped modernize the corporate tax code and improve the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry.”

“Semiconductors are foundational to America’s economic strength, national security, and technology leadership,” Neuffer said. “Corporate tax reform was urgently needed to help the industry take the next innovative steps forward and promote America’s global competitiveness. We salute Senator Crapo and Congressman Roskam for their instrumental work in helping to push the final bill across the goal line.”

SIA presented the Congressional Leadership Award in recognition of efforts to support policies that are vital to sustaining a strong and vibrant U.S. semiconductor industry.

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: KLIC) (“Kulicke & Soffa”, “K&S” or the “Company”) announced today that it has received the highest level of recognition, the prestigious 2017 Supplier Excellence Award, from Texas Instruments.

Texas Instruments works with more than 11,000 suppliers worldwide, and Kulicke & Soffa has received this accolade following a rigorous round of evaluation covering K&S’s commitment to ethical behavior, as well as its exceptional performance in areas including productivity, environmental and social responsibilities, technology, responsiveness, assurance of supply and quality.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from Texas Instruments and deeply value the close partnership we have built with them. We will continue to work to deliver innovative and quality solutions to support our broad base of customers now and in the future,” said Hoang Huy Hoang, Kulicke & Soffa’s Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Aftermarket Products & Services Business Unit.

“At TI, our customers depend on us for quality parts to help them innovate and grow, and we share these same rigorous expectations of quality from our suppliers,” said Rob Simpson, Vice President of TI Worldwide Procurement and Logistics. “The Supplier Excellence Award winners have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to delivering the products and services we need at the performance we expect.”