Category Archives: Wafer Processing

US demand for semiconductor machinery is forecast to reach $7.4 billion in 2021, according to Semiconductor Machinery: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports. Growth in demand for wafer processing equipment will account for the majority of value increases. Ongoing expansion in global production of mobile electronics will support demand for smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient logic integrated circuits, as well as the increasingly advanced wafer processing machinery required for production. Specifically, rising adoption of lithography equipment that utilizes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology will spur gains.

Semiconductor assembly machinery demand is forecast to grow the fastest among the product segments. Intensifying production of increasingly compact electronic systems for use in mobile devices will drive demand for more sophisticated semiconductor assembly equipment. For example, semiconductor device manufacturers such as integrated device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, and foundries will require systems capable of mounting ever-smaller semiconductors.

These and other key insights are featured in Semiconductor Machinery: United States. This report forecasts to 2021 US semiconductor machinery demand and shipments in nominal US dollars at the manufacturer level. Total demand is segmented by product in terms of:

  • wafer processing
  • testing
  • assembly

To illustrate historical trends, total demand, total shipments, the various segments, and trade are provided in annual series from 2006 to 2016.

More information about the report is available at https://www.freedoniafocusreports.com/Semiconductor-Machinery-United-States-FF75028/

The latest market research report by Technavio on the global semiconductor IP market predicts a CAGR of close to 10% during the period 2018-2022.

The report segments the global semiconductor IP market by application (healthcare, networking, industrial automation, automotive, consumer electronics, and mobile computing devices), by end-user (fabless semiconductor companies, IDMs, and foundries), and by geography (North America, APAC, and Europe). It provides a detailed illustration of the major factors influencing the market, including drivers, opportunities, trends, and industry-specific challenges.

Here are some key findings of the global semiconductor IP market, according to Technavio hardware and semiconductor researchers:

  • Complex chip designs and use of multi-core technologies: a major market driver
  • Proliferation of wireless technologies: emerging market trend
  • North America dominated the global semiconductor IP market with 47% share in 2016

Complex chip designs and use of multi-core technologies: a major market driver

Nowadays, the electronic device manufacturers develop products that have better functionalities while offering power-packed performances as compared to their earlier products. This is driving the semiconductor chip manufacturers to ensure that their IC designs are capable of and reliable for offer maximum use in terms of performance, which is propelling the product development process in the semiconductor industry.

Players in the market are competing against each other based on timely delivery of offerings while ensuring high performing and multi-functional devices. Semiconductor manufacturers are incorporating new and complex architecture and designs of semiconductor ICs to deliver high-end multi-functional products. For example, 3D ICs are compact, consume less power, and are more efficient in performance. They have a complex electronic circuit design and manufacturing process. Such complexity tends to hamper the overall productivity of the industry.

 

Proliferation of wireless technologies: emerging market trend

In the last 25 years, IoT has evolved a great deal. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) that was in the development phase since 1990 is replacing Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). This allows many hosts to connect to the Internet and increases the data traffic that can be transmitted.

The popularity of mobile computing devices has helped the network traffic to grow at an exponential rate. This led to the continued deployment of next-generation wireless standards such as 4G and 5G, and wireless technologies such as Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, ZigBee, and Z-Wave across the globe. Such wireless standards and wireless technologies offer a wireless connection that is equivalent to broadband connections that have resulted in an increase in the number of users accessing the Internet from anywhere and at any time.

According to a senior analyst at Technavio for research on semiconductor equipment, “At present, ZigBee is one of the three leading wireless technology used for connected devices such as connected bulbs, remote controls, smart meters, smart thermostats, and set-top boxes. High-bandwidth and content-rich applications such as audio, video, gaming, and Internet use the Wi-Fi technology. BLE is used for low power applications and is primarily used to connect wearables to smartphones. ZigBee is a low power version of Wi-Fi which is appropriate for smart home applications such as lighting, remote controls, security, and thermostats.”

Global market opportunities

In terms of regional dominance, North America led the global semiconductor IP market, followed by APAC and Europe in 2017. However, APAC is expected to grow at a faster rate due to increased prevalence of orthopedic surgical procedures. The emerging economies like China and Taiwan contributed to the growth of this market in APAC.

The market share of North America is expected to decrease during the forecast period due to factors such as strong governmental policies against exports from the governments of South Korea, Japan, China, and India, who want to become completely self-sufficient in the semiconductor industry.

 

Siemens announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Oulu, Finland-based Sarokal Test Systems Oy, a provider of test solutions for fronthaul networks that are comprised of links between the centralized radio controllers and the radio heads (or masts) at the “edge” of a cellular network. Sarokal products are used by chipset vendors, fronthaul equipment manufacturers, and telecom operators to develop, test and verify their 4G and 5G network devices from the early design stages through implementation and field-testing.

“The planned acquisition of Sarokal reinforces our ongoing commitment to EDA and the IC industry,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software. “Building on our acquisition of Mentor Graphics, we continue to make strategic investments which leverage Mentor’s existing strengths and enable Siemens to expand its offerings to the IC industry.”

Sarokal’s products are used to test transmission specifications across multiple domains. Its tester product family addresses the entire development and maintenance flow for cellular and wired transmission system testing. The technology is especially designed to detect radio frequency (RF) problems. With Sarokal’s foresight into the requirements of 5G testing, their testing models were created from the beginning for both the virtual (digitalization) environment as well as the physical testing environment.

“Sarokal has been on the forefront of the development of the 5G specification and its requirements for fronthaul networks since its inception. The 5G specification aims to greatly enhance performance for mobile broadband, network operation and Internet of Things (IoT) communication, and this requires new test methodologies,” said Harri Valasma, CEO at Sarokal. “Becoming part of Siemens and integrating our technology into the Veloce emulation platform will give us greater visibility into early customer adoption of 5G, which can help us maintain our leadership as this segment is forecasted to grow rapidly.”

“The addition of Sarokal’s one-of-a-kind fronthaul testing expertise is expected to provide our Veloce emulator customers with a unique advantage,” said Eric Selosse, vice president and general manager, Mentor Emulation Division, a Siemens business. “Sarokal’s tester technology in conjunction with Mentor’s Veloce emulation platform will enable customers to “shift left” the validation of 4G and 5G designs for accurate and timely pre- and post-silicon testing.”

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of calendar 2018, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Digital Factory Division, is a global provider of software solutions to drive the digital transformation of industry, creating new opportunities for manufacturers to realize innovation. With headquarters in Plano, Texas, and over 140,000 customers worldwide, Siemens PLM Software works with companies of all sizes to transform the way ideas come to life, the way products are realized, and the way products and assets in operation are used and understood.

By Cherry Sun, SEMI China

Yawning differences between cultures, economic systems and rules of law stand as barriers for many China- and US-based technology companies to do business on each other’s soil, making it imperative for both countries to work together to bridge the gaps that make it harder for tech businesses in each country to find partners and open markets in the other, SEMI China president Lung Chu said at a recent conference.

One answer is for SEMI, serving as a natural unifying communications platform, to help foster greater cooperation between US and China tech companies, Lung Chu said, speaking at the 2nd Silicon Valley Beijing International IoT Summit & Investment and Financing Competition in Santa Clara last month. The event gathered industry experts and experts to mine opportunities across technologies including smart and mobile medical care, virtual and augmented reality, wearables, smart homes, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 3D printing, Internet of Things (IoT) and manufacturing design.

In the IoT roundtable chaired by Chu, he asked mayors and other city officials from Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Cupertino to consider the potential of IoT technology for improving city management. Inspired by the idea of greater efficiency, the mayors pointed to IoT applications including traffic management to better regulate traffic flow; faster, more effective medical treatment from first responders and emergency medical technicians; more efficient energy usage by cities and the public; better water resources management; and bicycle sharing programs for commuters.

Deploying more advanced networking architectures, the mayors agreed, is the first step for cities seeking to fulfill the promise of IoT. A recognized global leader in smart city technologies, China is much more than a key trade partner with the U.S., having developed IoT use cases for cities in Silicon Valley and beyond to consider.

Chu also asked the mayors about the importance to their cities of attracting talent and encouraging entrepreneurship. The roundtable agreed that in Silicon Valley, taking risks in hopes of reaping huge profits is prized and that failure is embraced as necessary to innovation. In China, pressure on business startups to flourish can inhibit the free-wheeling thinking and calculated risk-taking often needed to build new enterprises.

On talent, one mayor underscored the importance of diversity in building a skilled workforce. According to a recent report based on 2016 census data, nearly three-quarters – about 71 percent of tech employees in Silicon Valley – “are foreign born, compared to around 50 percent in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward region,” The Mercury News reported. Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, has noted that this “diversity is the strength of Silicon Valley.”

Much as China can turn to Silicon Valley as a model of entrepreneurship and diversity, the U.S. can learn from China’s deployment of IoT technologies to power smart cities as the country’s prominence in the semiconductor manufacturing industry continues to grow. An ally in that rising influence, SEMI China follows the 5C principles – Connect, Collaboration, Community, Communication, China – to help narrow the differences between China and other countries and foster stronger partnerships.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: ORBK) today announced that SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech company and a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor and related industries, has received approximately $37M in orders for multiple etch and deposition systems from two GaAs foundry customers. SPTS’s Omega plasma etch, Delta PECVD, and Sigma PVD systems will be used to manufacture radio frequency (RF) devices for 4G and emerging 5G wireless infrastructure and mobile device markets. Delivery of the systems is expected to be split between the first quarter and second quarter of 2018.

“Compound semiconductor electronic devices based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) are the cornerstone of high speed wireless communications,” stated Kevin Crofton, Corporate Executive Vice President at Orbotech and President of SPTS Technologies. “RF devices are entering another exciting phase of growth with the proliferation of 4G mobile communications and preparation for 5G. IDMs and foundries are looking to add capacity to existing fabs to meet the growing demand, while new entrants are establishing new lines to address future demand for the 5G rollout. Our lead customer has been at the forefront of GaAs foundry services for almost two decades, and their repeat orders are a testament to the production advantages that our etch and deposition solutions continue to deliver to their core business.”

Power amplifiers (PAs) are among the most critical RF components in mobile communications and virtually all PAs in a modern smartphone are made from circuits built on GaAs semiconductors. Analysts[1] are predicting that the growth of 4G communications, gigabit LTE (Long Term Evolution) and emerging 5G will be the growth engine to drive the RF GaAs device market from over $8.1 billion in 2017 to over $9 billion by 2021.

“Our latest forecast[1] shows that PAs for cellular applications will continue to account for more than half of the RF GaAs device market,” noted Eric Higham, Director of the Advanced Semiconductor Applications service at Strategy Analytics. He added, “Despite smartphone growth slowing, the added complexity in mobile devices to support gigabit LTE and the emergence of 5G points to continuing growth in RF GaAs production.”

Applied Materials, Inc. announced today that it has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, on its 2018 list as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.

“Ethical business conduct at Applied Materials extends far beyond a set of rules or policies; it is engrained in our values and reflected in the actions of our employees every day,” said Steve Adams, vice president, Litigation, Protection and Compliance at Applied Materials. “I want to thank everyone throughout the company for maintaining responsibility and integrity in all our business and community interactions.”

Applied Materials has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for seven consecutive years. It is one of only six honorees in the Electronics & Semiconductors category.

“I congratulate everyone at Applied Materials for again being recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said Ethisphere’s CEO, Timothy Erblich. “Amidst a rapidly changing technology industry, it is encouraging to see companies like Applied that remain true to their values and continually raise the bar for responsible corporate citizenship.”

This year, Ethisphere recognized 135 companies, spanning 23 countries and 57 industries. These honorees each demonstrated record levels of involvement with their stakeholders and their communities. Listed companies make it a priority to measure and improve corporate culture around ethical practices, to lead authentically and to commit to transparency, diversity and inclusion.

The World’s Most Ethical Companies list is based upon the Ethics Quotient framework, which quantitatively measures a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. Scores are generated in five categories: ethics and compliance program; corporate citizenship and responsibility; culture of ethics; governance; and leadership, innovation and reputation.

The full list of the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

 

Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR) today announced that Doug Alexander and MaryFrances McCourt have been appointed as new members of the Company’s Board of Directors. With these appointments, Amkor’s Board has been expanded to twelve members.

“We are pleased to have Doug and MaryFrances join Amkor’s Board,” said James Kim, Amkor’s Executive Chairman. “The demonstrated leadership skills and breadth of experience that they each bring to the Board will be great assets to the Company.”

Mr. Alexander was an original member of the advisory board of Actua Corporation (formerly named ICG Group, Inc.), a multi-vertical cloud technology company. Mr. Alexander joined Actua full-time in September 1997 as Managing Director and was appointed President in January 2009 where he served until December 2017. During his tenure at Actua, Mr. Alexander served in many senior management roles including as CEO of WiseWire Technologies, which was acquired by Lycos; CEO of ICG Europe; CEO of Traffic.com, which was acquired by Navteq; and CEO of Channel Intelligence, which was acquired by Google.

Mr. Alexander has served on the boards of directors for GovDelivery, Procurian, and Bolt. Mr. Alexander has also served as the Co-Chairman of the Philadelphia National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and is Chairman of the Management & Technology Executive Board at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Alexander holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. McCourt is Vice President for Finance and Treasurer at the University of Pennsylvania. In her role, Ms. McCourt leads Penn’s cash and short-term investment and capital financing strategies as well as oversees Penn’s financial functions. Ms. McCourt is responsible for the University’s multi-year financial planning efforts and collaborates closely with Penn Medicine leadership on its growth and financial planning. She directly manages the strategic and operational direction of a variety of functions, including the Comptrollers Office, financial training, global support services, research services, risk management and insurance, student registration and financial services and the Treasurer’s Office.

Prior to joining Penn, Ms. McCourt was the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Indiana University. Ms. McCourt has also served in financial-management positions for Agilysis, Inc., a diversified enterprise focused on technology and enterprise system solutions.

She earned her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Duke University and an MBA from Case Western University.

 

Two Waterloo chemists have made it easier for manufacturers to produce a new class of faster and cheaper semiconductors.

The chemists have found a way to simultaneously control the orientation and select the size of single-walled carbon nanotubes deposited on a surface. That means the developers of semiconductors can use carbon as opposed to silicon, which will reduce the size and increase the speed of the devices while improving their battery life.

“We’re reaching the limits of what’s physically possible with silicon-based devices,” said co-author Derek Schipper, Canada Research Chair Organic Material Synthesis at the University of Waterloo. “Not only would single-walled carbon nanotube-based electronics be more powerful, they would also consume less power.”

The process, called the Alignment Relay Technique, relies on liquid crystals to pass orientation information to a metal-oxide surface. Small molecules called iptycenes then bond to the surface locking the orientation pattern into place. Their structure includes a small pocket large enough to fit a certain size carbon nanotube that remains after washing.

“This is the first time chemists have been able to externally control the orientation of small molecules covalently bonded to a surface,” said Schipper, a professor of chemistry and a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology. “We’re not the first ones to come up with potential solutions to work with carbon nanotubes. But this is the only one that tackles both orientation and purity challenges at the same time.”

Schipper further pointed out that the approach is from the bottom up with the use of organic chemistry to design and build a molecule which then does the hard work.

“Once you’ve built the pieces, the process is simple. It’s a bench-top method requiring no special equipment,” Schipper explained.

In contrast to self-assembly techniques which rely on the design of a suitable molecule to fit snuggly together, this process can be controlled at every step, including the size of the iptycene “pocket”. In addition, this is the first a solution has been found to tackling the challenge of aligning and purifying carbon nanotubes at the same time.

INFICON,a manufacturer of leak test equipment, introduced the UL3000 Fab leak detector for semiconductor manufacturing maintenance teams to easily check the tightness of vacuum chambers for wafer production. Special advantages of the new leak detector are its fast readiness and unrivaled simplicity enabling the operator to find leaks of all sizes with the same procedures. It also has a slim mobile design for easy maneuverability and an intuitive operating concept for easy operation. The UL3000 Fab, which uses helium as a test gas, detects even the smallest leakage rates up to 5 x 10-12 atm cc/, thus providing the highest seal confirmation tightness of vacuum chambers for wafer production.

Daniel Hoffman, Sales and Service Manager for Leak Detection in the Americas, sees the new model as a big step forward. “Constantly innovating and optimizing our products to meet customer needs is a core goal for INFICON. With our new UL3000 Fab we will enable leak detection productivity gains never before seen in the semiconductor leak testing process,” said Hoffman.

The powerful, compact and smart leak detector enables testing at atmospheric pressure (through MASSIVE leak function) with best in class time to test or background generation, saturation protection, smart power and PM saving control all in a compact package. With its narrow design (only 18.6 inches wide), the mobile leak detector is designed for high maneuverability. Also, UL3000 Fab features robust construction, a deep center of gravity and large tires to ensure optimum mobility.

UL3000Fab_sil_right_MEDIUM

IC industry wafer capacity, specifically in the memory segment, was inadequate to meet demand throughout 2017. However, with Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Toshiba/WD, and XMC/Yangtze River Storage Technology planning to significantly ramp up 3D NAND flash capacity over the next few years, and Samsung and SK Hynix boosting DRAM capacity this year and next, what does this mean for total industry capacity growth?  In its 2018-2022 Global Wafer Capacity report, IC Insights shows that new manufacturing lines are expected to boost industry capacity 8% in both 2018 and 2019 (Figure 1). From 2017-2022, annual growth in IC industry capacity is forecast to average 6.0% compared to 4.8% average growth from 2012-2017.

annual wafer trends

Figure 1

Large swings in the addition or contraction of wafer capacity by the industry, as a whole, appear to be moderating. Since 2010, annual changes in wafer capacity volume have been in the relatively narrow range of 2-8%, with the largest year-to-year difference being just three percentage points.  This suggests that IC manufacturers are better today than in years past about trying to match supply with demand.  It’s still an incredibly difficult task for companies to gauge how much capacity will be needed to meet demand from customers, especially given the time it takes a company to move from the decision to build a new fab to that fab being ready for mass production.

Many companies, DRAM and NAND flash suppliers in particular, have become much more active with new fab construction and expansion projects at existing fabs.  This surge in activity comes after four years (2014-2017) when capacity growth lagged wafer start volume increases.  During the past few years, IC producers have worked to increase utilization rates from the low levels in 2012-2013.

If all the new fab capacity expected to be brought on-line in 2019 happens as planned, the volume of capacity added that year will approach the record set in 2007.  Figure 2 shows more that 18 million wafers per year of new capacity is expected to be added in 2019, and this number even assumes some of the massive DRAM and NAND fabs being built by Chinese companies will not be carried out quite as aggressively as has been advertised.  IC Insights believes that construction of these China-owned fabs is progressing slower than planned.

Figure 2

Figure 2