Category Archives: Wafer Processing

Scientists have long searched for the next generation of materials that can catalyze a revolution in renewable energy harvesting and storage.

One candidate appears to be metal-organic frameworks. Scientists have used these very small, flexible, ultra-thin, super-porous crystalline structures to do everything from capturing and converting carbon into fuels to storing hydrogen and other gases. Their biggest drawback has been their lack of conductivity.

Now, according to USC scientists, it turns out that metal-organic frameworks can conduct electricity in the same way metals do.

This opens the door for metal organic-frameworks to one day efficiently store renewable energy at a very large, almost unthinkable scale.

The cobalt-based metal-organic framework used by the USC scientists, with purple representing cobalt, yellow representing sulfur and gray representing carbon. Credit: Smaranda Marinescu

The cobalt-based metal-organic framework used by the USC scientists, with purple representing cobalt, yellow representing sulfur and gray representing carbon. Credit: Smaranda Marinescu

“For the first time ever, we have demonstrated a metal-organic framework that exhibits conductivity like that of a metal. The natural porosity of the metal-organic framework makes it ideal for reducing the mass of material, allowing for lighter, more compact devices” said Brent Melot, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

“Metallic conductivity in tandem with other catalytic properties would add to its potential for renewable energy production and storage” said Smaranda Marinescu, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College.

Their findings were published July 13 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

An emerging catalyst for long-term renewable energy storage

Metal-organic frameworks are so porous that they are well-suited for absorbing and storing gases like hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Their storage is highly concentrated: 1 gram of surface area provides the equivalent of thousands of square feet in storage.

Solar has not yet been maximized as an energy source. The earth receives more energy from one hour of sunlight than is consumed in one year by the entire planet, but there is currently no way to use this energy because there is no way to conserve all of it. This intermittency is intrinsic to nearly all renewable power sources, making it impossible to harvest and store energy unless, say, the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

If scientists and industries could one day regularly reproduce the capability demonstrated by Marinescu, it would go a long way to reducing intermittency, allowing us to finally make solar energy an enduring and more permanent resource.

Metal or semiconductor: why not both?

Metal-organic frameworks are two-dimensional structures that contain cobalt, sulfur, and carbon atoms. In many ways, they very broadly resemble something like graphene, which is also a very thin layer of two-dimensional, transparent material.

As temperature goes down, metals become more conductive. Conversely, as the temperature goes up, it is semiconductors that become more conductive.

In the experiments run by Marinescu’s group, they used a cobalt-based metal-organic framework that mimicked the conductivity of both a metal and semiconductor at different temperatures. The metal-organic framework designed by the scientists demonstrated its greatest conductivity at both very low and very high temperatures.

The semiconductor IP market is expected to be valued at USD 6.22 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.87% between 2017 and 2023, according to the new research report “Semiconductor IP Market by Design IP (processor IP, interface IP, memory IP), Source (royalty and licensing), vertical (consumer electronics, telecom, industrial, automotive, commercial), and Geography – Global Forecast to 2023,” published by MarketsandMarkets. The major factors driving this market include the advancement in multicore technology for consumer electronics sector, increasing demand for modern SoC designs leading to market growth, and growing demand for connected devices.

Consumer electronics to hold largest share of semiconductor IP market during forecast period

The increase in the use of consumer electronics in all the regions is boosting the growth of the semiconductor IP market for the consumer electronics vertical. Moreover, the markets for consumer electronic in APAC and RoW are expected to provide further growth opportunities for the market players as these regions are in a growing phase. In addition, APAC holds dominant share in the market for consumer electronics.

Processor IP to hold largest share of semiconductor IP market during forecast period

Owing to the increased demand for microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, and graphics processing unit across various verticals, the processor IP segment held the largest share of the semiconductor IP market in 2016, and it is expected to continue the same during the forecast period. The growth of the segment during the forecast period is attributed to the increasing application of processors in the telecom industry for 5G and in high-end cars. The market for processor IP for the automotive vertical is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2017 and 2023 due to increasing use of processors in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems.

APAC to hold largest share of semiconductor IP market during forecast period

APAC held the largest share of the market in 2016 and is likely to dominate the semiconductor IP market with the largest market share during the forecast period as well. APAC is a major market for the consumer electronics, telecom, and automotive verticals. Also, this region has become a global focal point for large investments and business expansion opportunities. Moreover, the developments in electric vehicles are expected to provide an opportunity to the growth of the semiconductor IP market in China.

A wide variety of laser technologies is today available to semiconductor manufacturers and enable the development of innovative semiconductor manufacturing processes. According to Yole Développement (Yole), the laser equipment market will grow at a 15% CAGR between 2016 and 2022 and should reach more than US$4 billion by 2022 (excluding marking). Those figures are showing the massive adoption of laser technologies for semiconductor manufacturing processes.
In its latest report titled Laser Technologies for Semiconductor Manufacturing, the market research and strategy consulting company details the status of this industry, mainly driven by dicing, via drilling and patterning in PCB flex and PCB HDI, IC substrates and semiconductor device processing.

The Laser Technologies for Semiconductor Manufacturing report from Yole provides a thorough analysis of the different existing laser equipment and laser source solutions developed for semiconductor process steps. It is a comprehensive analysis highlighting the maturity level of each laser type, based on a technical roadmap until 2022. With this new report, Yole’s analysts offer a clear understanding of the laser technologies’ benefits and added value for each manufacturing process.

illus_laser_technologies_manufacturing_markets_yole_oct2017

The Laser Technologies for Semiconductor Manufacturing report is the first of a wide collection of reports that will be released by Yole during the next months. Further its 1st Executive Forum on Laser Technologies taking place in Shenzhen, China, welcoming more than 100 attendees, the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company Yole confirms the expansion of its activities towards the laser-based solutions. Technologies, roadmaps, market metrics, supply chain, competitive landscape, market shares and more. All these topics will be described and deeply analyzed in Yole’s laser technology & market reports.

Today, laser applications in the semiconductor industry are broad and diversified. Various laser technologies have started integrating into major semiconductor processes, including laser cutting, drilling, welding/bonding, debonding, marking, patterning, marking, measurement, deposition, driven by motherboards. They are used to process semiconductor devices, flexible and HDI PCBs , and in IC packaging applications.

Drivers of laser methods differ from one process step to another. However, there are similar and common drivers for applicability of lasers to semiconductor and PCB processing applications. The key trends driving laser applicability and contributing to its growth are:

   •  The desire for die size reduction and thus further miniaturization of devices driven by computers, hand-held electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and electronic book readers, wearable devices and consumer electronics.
•  Demand for increased yield and throughput.
•  Better die quality.
•  The need to inspect voids and particles through a transparent material such as glass, which requires the use of laser methods.
•  Laser annealing for very high flexibility.
However, the choice of the most suitable laser processing type depends strongly on the material to be processed, processing parameters, and the manufacturing process step.

Laser type is defined by parameters such as wavelength, emitting UV, green, or IR light, for example, as well as the duration of pulse, for example nanosecond, picosecond or femtosecond. Users must consider which pulse length and wavelength is right for their semiconductor process step and application.

Nanosecond lasers are the most commonly used type of laser applied in semiconductor manufacturing and PCB processing, with more than 60% market share. They are followed by picosecond, CO2 and femtosecond lasers. In the case of dicing step, the choice of laser type also depends on the material and substrate to be diced. For low dielectric constant (low-k) materials, nanosecond and picosecond UV lasers are used to optimize optical absorption. Picosecond and femtosecond IR lasers are typically used for cutting glass and sapphire substrates but not singulating SiC substrates.

In drilling, the type of laser employed depends on the substrate. Nanosecond UV lasers are usually employed in flexible PCBs, while CO2 lasers are largely applied for PCB HDI and IC substrates. However, for IC substrates, the choice between CO2 and nanosecond or picosecond UV lasers depends on via diameters. Below 20μm diameters, the industry tends to go to picosecond UV lasers which are much more expensive than nanosecond UV lasers but offer superior quality.

Generally speaking, CO2 is the cheapest and fastest laser solution and used in preference to nanosecond, picosecond or femtosecond solid state lasers for dicing, drilling, patterning, marking for applications that require high power and do not care about heat damage or dicing width. However, CO2 is limited when small features are needed. Nanosecond lasers are currently the dominant technology, but picosecond and femtosecond lasers could move ahead in the laser dicing equipment market. However, femtosecond laser implementation is more complex and expensive.

Yole’s laser report will provide a comprehensive overview of the laser equipment and laser sources used for each semiconductor process step application, along with a detailed analysis of laser technology trends and a market forecast. It will also offer a detailed analysis of the laser equipment market by volume and value, its growth for the 2016-2022 timeframe, and breakdown by laser type and process step application.

Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited and ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) today announced an agreement that ON Semiconductor will purchase a 30 percent incremental share of Fujitsu’s 8-inch wafer fab in Aizu-Wakamatsu, resulting in 40 percent ownership when the purchase is completed. The purchase is scheduled to be completed on April 1, 2018, subject to certain regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

The two companies entered into an agreement in 2014, under which ON Semiconductor obtained a 10 percent ownership interest in Fujitsu’s Aizu 8-inch fab. Initial transfers began in 2014, and successful production and ramp-up of wafers began in June 2015. ON Semiconductor continues to increase demand at the Aizu 8-inch fab, and both companies determined that further strategic partnership will maximize the value both companies provide.

ON Semiconductor plans to increase ownership to 60 percent by the second half of 2018 and to 100 percent in the first half of 2020, allowing ON Semiconductor to add capacity to their global footprint. This additional capacity will allow ON Semiconductor to continue scaling its business based on demand and enable increased supply chain flexibility.

“We believe that transforming into a globally competitive company is the key for the continuous growth of the Aizu 8-inch fab. Furthering our strategic partnership with ON Semiconductor, who provides a broad product portfolio, will enable the Aizu 8-inch fab to secure future growth,” said Kagemasa Magaribuchi, president of Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited. “We believe that the growth of the Aizu 8-inch fab will contribute to maintaining and expanding a strong workforce and assist with the development of the regions.”

“We have had a strong and successful partnership with Fujitsu since announcing our investment in 2014,” said Keith Jackson, president and CEO of ON Semiconductor. “We believe furthering our partnership with Fujitsu Semiconductor will enable us to maintain our industry-leading manufacturing cost structure and also help us optimize our capital spending in coming years. This is a strategic investment for ON Semiconductor to secure additional manufacturing capacity, in support of our accelerated production needs and for revenue growth in coming years.”

Manufacturing is a core competency for ON Semiconductor, and approximately 75 percent of manufacturing operations are done internally through the company’s industry leading cost structure.

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, and SwissLitho AG, a manufacturer of novel nanolithography tools, today announced a joint solution to enable the production of 3D structures down to the single-nanometer scale. Initially demonstrated within the “Single Nanometer Manufacturing for Beyond CMOS Devices (SNM)” project funded by the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union, the joint solution involves SwissLitho’s novel NanoFrazor thermal scanning probe lithography system to produce master templates with 3D structures for nanoimprint lithography (NIL), and EVG’s HERCULES NIL system with SmartNIL® technology to replicate those structures at high throughput.

Target applications

EVG and SwissLitho will initially target the joint solution for developing diffractive optical elements and other related optical components that support photonics, data communications, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) and other applications, with the potential to expand into biotechnology, nanofluidics and other nanotechnology applications.

As part of the joint solution, SwissLitho’s NanoFrazor system will be used to create imprint masters. Compared to conventional approaches, including electron beam (e-beam) and grayscale lithography, the novel technology has the unique ability to print 3D structures with unsurpassed accuracy. EVG’s HERCULES NIL system will then be used to create working templates for production use, cost-effectively and at high throughput, using the company’s proprietary large-area nanoimprint SmartNIL technology.

Dr. Thomas Glinsner, corporate technology director at EV Group, noted, “SwissLitho’s NanoFrazor solution is highly complementary to EVG’s SmartNIL technology. Together we can offer a complete NIL solution for photonics and other applications involving 3D structure patterning, providing significant opportunity for both companies to expand our customer base and market reach. Our NILPhotonics® Competence Center will be the first point of contact for customers interested in this joint solution, where we will be able to offer feasibility studies, demonstrations and pilot-line production.”

A closer look at the technologies

Thermal scanning probe lithography, the technology behind the NanoFrazor, was invented at IBM Research in Zurich and acquired by SwissLitho AG. This maskless, direct-write lithography approach involves spin-coating a unique, thermally sensitive resist onto the sample surface before patterning. A heated ultra-sharp tip is then used to decompose and evaporate the resist locally while simultaneously inspecting the written nanostructures. The resulting arbitrary resist pattern can then be transferred into almost any other material using lift-off, etching, plating, molding or other methodologies.

“We developed our NanoFrazor line to provide a high-performance, affordable alternative and extension to costly e-beam lithography systems,” said Dr. Felix Holzner, SwissLitho CEO. “The technology allows manufacturing of the master with many ‘levels’ in a single step. In particular, 3D structures with single nanometer accuracy can be produced more easily and with greater fidelity compared to traditional e-beam or grayscale lithography methods. We look forward to working with customers to combine our technology with EVG’s successful SmartNIL process at their NILPhotonics Competence Center in Austria.”

The HERCULES NIL combines EVG’s extensive expertise in NIL, resist processing and high-volume manufacturing solutions into a single integrated system that offers throughput of up to 40 wph for 200-mm wafers. The system’s configurable, modular platform accommodates a variety of imprint materials and structure sizes–giving customers greater flexibility in addressing their manufacturing needs. In addition, its ability to fabricate multiple-use soft stamps helps extend the lifetime of master imprint templates.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) announced that it had received the 2017 Excellence in Quality award from Cisco.

This prestigious award recognizes NXP for Excellence in Quality for displaying the highest quality standards, practices, and methodologies in their products and processes, and differentiating through their quality management systems and alignment to Cisco’s strategies and values.

The distinction was awarded during Cisco’s 26th Annual Supplier Appreciation Event, held August 31 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California.

“The theme this year for our Supplier Appreciation event is ‘Connecting the Unconnected: Transforming to the Digital Supply Chain,’ which highlights our laser focus on enabling break-through value in operational commitments and customer satisfaction through digital orchestration,” said Jeff Gallinat, senior vice president, Global Manufacturing Operations, Cisco.

“As we continue on our digitization journey, our strong relationships and close collaboration with our supplier and partner ecosystem will continue to play a critical role in our continued innovation, productivity and ultimately success.”

Cisco presented awards to its partners and suppliers in recognition of their contributions to Cisco’s success in the fiscal year 2017.  At the event, Cisco celebrated the collective achievements of its most strategic suppliers and partners, and reaffirmed its commitment to a strong, continued partnership that will further accelerate innovation, alignment and operational excellence.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $35.0 billion for the month of August 2017, an increase of 23.9 percent compared to the August 2016 total of $28.2 billion and 4.0 percent more than the July 2017 total of $33.6 billion. All major regional markets posted both year-to-year and month-to-month increases in August, and the Americas market led the way with growth of 39.0 percent year-to-year and 8.8 percent month-to-month. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“Global semiconductor sales were up significantly in August, increasing year-to-year for the thirteenth consecutive month and reaching $35 billion for the first time,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Sales in August increased across the board, with every major regional market and semiconductor product category posting gains on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis. Memory products continue be a major driver of overall market growth, but sales were up even without memory in August.”

Year-to-year sales increased in the Americas (39.0 percent), China (23.3 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (19.5 percent), Europe (18.8 percent), and Japan (14.3 percent). Month-to-month sales increased in the Americas (8.8 percent), China (3.7 percent), Japan (2.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (2.2 percent), and Europe (0.6 percent).

“With about half of global market share, the U.S. semiconductor industry is the worldwide leader, but U.S. companies face intense global competition,” said Neuffer. “To allow our industry to continue to grow and innovate here at home, policymakers in Washington should enact corporate tax reform that makes the U.S. tax system more competitive with other countries. The corporate tax reform framework released last week by leaders in Congress and the Trump Administration is an important step forward. We look forward to working with policymakers to enact corporate tax reform that strengthens our industry and the U.S. economy.”

Aug 2017

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                              

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

6.94

7.55

8.8%

Europe

3.20

3.22

0.6%

Japan

3.04

3.13

2.8%

China

10.68

11.08

3.7%

Asia Pacific/All Other

9.77

9.98

2.2%

Total

33.63

34.96

4.0%

Year-to-Year Sales                         

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.43

7.55

39.0%

Europe

2.71

3.22

18.8%

Japan

2.73

3.13

14.3%

China

8.99

11.08

23.3%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.35

9.98

19.5%

Total

28.22

34.96

23.9%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Mar/Apr/May

Jun/Jul/Aug

% Change

Americas

6.27

7.55

20.5%

Europe

3.11

3.22

3.8%

Japan

2.95

3.13

6.0%

China

10.25

11.08

8.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

9.43

9.98

5.9%

Total

31.99

34.96

9.3%

Today, SEMI announced the lineup of keynotes coming to SEMICON Japan’s “SuperTHEATER” ─ focusing on the future of the electronics manufacturing supply chain. SEMICON Japan 2017, the largest exhibition in Japan for electronics manufacturing, will take place at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo on December 13-15. Registration is now open for the exhibition and programs.

With the theme “Dreams Start Here,” SEMICON Japan 2017 will bring together the connections between people, technologies and businesses across the electronics manufacturing supply chain ─ extending to the internet of things (IoT) applications that inspire the dreams that shape the future.

Japan has the world’s third-largest 300mm wafer installed fab capacity and the world’s largest 200mm and smaller wafer fab capacity (including discrete devices production). Japan also supplies one third of the semiconductor equipment and more than half of the semiconductor materials that are purchased in the global market.

The SuperTHEATER offers nine keynote forums, all with simultaneous English-Japanese translation. On December 13, keynotes at SEMICON Japan’s SuperTHEATER include:

  • Opening Keynotes ─ Visions of the Game Changing Era
    • Soft Bank:  Ken Miyauchi, president and CEO, “The Information Revolution beyond the Singularity”
    • Qualcomm Technologies: Raj Talluri, senior VP of product management, “Qualcomm Viewpoint: Accelerating the Internet of Things”
       
  • Semiconductor Executive Forum ─ Growth Strategy in New Business Environment
    • TowerJazz Semiconductor: Russell Ellwanger, CEO, “Value Creation”
    • SMIC: Haijun Zhao, CEO, “Considerations in Developing Manufacturable IC Technologies”
    • Micron Technology: Wayne Allan, senior VP of global manufacturing, “Enabling Smart Manufacturing in Today’s Industry 4.0”

The SEMI Market Forum, also on December 13, will offer presentations from IHS Markit and SEMI, with the theme “In the Light and Shadow of Awaking China”

Additional SEMICON Japan 2017 highlights include:

  • IT/AI Forum on U.S. companies’ artificial intelligence strategies
  • IoT Global Trends Forum on semiconductors for IoT
  • IoT Key Technology Forum on Smart Transportation
  • Manufacturing Innovation Forum n “Manufacturing Technology for the Diversified Future”
  • Electronics Trends
  • Mirai (the Future) Vision

 

For more information and to register for SEMICON Japan, visit www.semiconjapan.org/en/

By Yoichiro Ando, SEMI Japan

Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, plans to stage a Robot Olympics in 2020 alongside the summer Olympic Games to be hosted in Tokyo. Abe said he wants to showcase the latest global robotics technology, an industry in which Japan has long been a pioneer. Japan’s Robot Strategy developed by the Robot Revolution Initiative Council plans to increase Japanese industrial robot sales to 1.2 trillion JPY by 2020. This article discusses how the robotics industry is not just a key pillar of Japan’s growing strategy but also a key application segment that may lead Japan’s semiconductor industry growth.

Japan leads robotics industry

According to International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the 2015 industrial robot sales increased by 15 percent to 253,748 units compared to the 2014 sales. Among the 2015 record sales, Japanese companies shipped 138,274 units that represent 54 percent of the total sales according to Japan Robot Association (JARA). The robotics companies in Japan include Yaskawa Electric, Fanuc, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujikoshi and Epson.

Source: International Federation of Robotics (global sales) and Japan Robot Association (Japan shipment)

Source: International Federation of Robotics (global sales) and Japan Robot Association (Japan shipment)

The automotive industry was the most important customer of industrial robots in 2015 that purchased 97,500 units or 38 percent of the total units sold worldwide. The second largest customer was the electrical/electronics industry (including computers and equipment, radio, TV and communication devices, medical equipment, precision and optical instruments) that showed significant growth of 41 percent to 64,600 units.

Semiconductors devices used in robotics industry

Robotics needs semiconductor devices to improve both performance and functionality. As the number of chips used in a robot increases and more advanced chips are required, the growing robotics market is expected to generate significant semiconductor chip demands.

FEA-RO-IA-R2000-SpotWeld-3

Semiconductor devices in robots are used for collecting information; information processing and controlling motors and actuators; and networking with other systems.

  • Sensing Devices: Sensors are used to collect information including external information such as image sensors, sound sensors, ultrasonic sensors, infrared ray sensors, temperature sensors, moisture sensors and pressure sensors; and movement and posture of the robot itself such as acceleration sensors and gyro sensors.

    Enhancing these sensors’ sensitivity would improve the robot performance. However, for robot applications, smaller form factors, lighter weight, lower power consumption, and real-time sensing are also important. Defining all those sensor requirements for a specific robot application is necessary to find an optimal and cost-effective sensor solution.

    In addition, noise immunity is getting more important in selecting sensors as robot applications expand in various environments that include noises. Another new trend is active sensing technology that enhances sensors’ performance by actively changing the position and posture of the sensors in various environments.

  • Data Processing and Motor Control Devices: The information collected by the sensors is then processed by microprocessors (MPUs) or digital signal processors (DSPs) to generate control signals to the motors and actuators in the robot. Those processors must be capable of operating real-time to quickly control the robot movement based on processed and analyzed information. To further improve robot performance, new processors that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and ability to interact with the big data cloud database are needed.
  • As robotics is adapted to various industry areas as well as other services and consumer areas, the robotics industry will need to respond to multiple demands. It is expected that more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) will be used in the industry to manufacture robots to those demands.

    In the control of motors and actuators, power devices play important roles. For precise and lower-power operation of the robot, high performance power devices using high band gap materials such as Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride will likely used in the industrial applications.

  • Networking Devices: Multiple industrial robots used in a production line are connected with a network. Each robot has its internal network to connect its components. Thus every robot is equipped with networking capability as a dedicated IC, FPGA or a function incorporated in microcontrollers.

Ando--industrial-automation

Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0 requires all equipment in a factory to be connected to a network that enables the machine-to-machine (M2M) communication as well as connection to the external information (such as ordering information and logistics) to maximize factory productivity. To be a part of such Smart Factories, industrial robots must be equipped with high-performance and high-reliability network capability.

Opportunities for semiconductor industry in Japan

Japanese semiconductor companies are well-positioned in the key semiconductor product segments for robotics such as sensors, microcontrollers and power devices. These products do not require the latest process technology to manufacture and can be fabricated on 200mm or smaller wafers at a reasonable cost. Japan is the region that holds the largest 200mm and smaller wafer fab capacity in the world and the lines are quite versatile in these product categories.

The robotics market will likely be a large-variety and small-volume market. Japanese semiconductor companies will have an advantage over companies in other regions because they can collaborate with leading robotics companies in Japan from early stages of development. Also, Japan may lead the robotics International Standards development which would be another advantage to Japanese semiconductor companies.

For more information about the robotics and semiconductor, attend SEMICON Japan on December 13 to 15 in Tokyo. Event and program information will be available at www.semiconjapan.org soon.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) released the following statement today from SIA president & CEO John Neuffer in support of the corporate tax reform framework released today by leaders in the Trump Administration and Congress. The proposal is expected to be considered by Congress in the coming weeks.

“Over the past three decades, the U.S. semiconductor industry has unleashed tremendous innovations that have transformed America’s economic, technological, and national security landscape. America’s corporate tax system, meanwhile, has remained largely unchanged, leaving U.S. businesses at a disadvantage to their overseas competitors.

“The tax reform framework is a step forward to make the U.S. corporate tax system more competitive and allow U.S. semiconductor companies to continue to grow and innovate here at home. The plan would advance the U.S. semiconductor industry’s core priorities for tax reform: a lower, globally competitive rate, a modern international tax system, and strong incentives for research and innovation.

“While there are many details of importance to our industry that need to be fleshed out, we support the plan as a framework for advancing corporate tax reform.  We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to enact corporate tax reform that makes the United States more globally competitive and boosts U.S. leadership in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing.”