Category Archives: Wafer Processing

Ultratech, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTEK), a supplier of lithography, laser-processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs), as well as atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems, today announced that the Laboratory for Emerging and Exploratory Devices (LEED), led by Professor Sayeef Salahuddin, Ph.D. of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at UC Berkeley (EECS UC Berkeley), has chosen the Ultratech-CNT Fiji G2 PEALD system as its instrument of choice for its research activities. Professor Salahuddin was recently honored at the White House by President Barack Obama for his work in developing nano-scale electronic and spintronic devices for low power logic and memory applications.

“ALD provides an exciting way of accessing ferroelectric materials, which play a key role in these types of devices, by providing a means of controlling the film properties through the precise engineering of the composition,” noted Professor Salahuddin. “This has led the way for us to explore the ferroelectric properties of rare earth oxides, such as Hafnium oxide, by adding a variety of dopants, such as silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), and yttrium (Y). Our decision in choosing the Fiji system was motivated not only by the system’s performance, and flexibility but also because of the strong reputation that the Ultratech ALD team has for R&D expertise, coupled with its excellent support.”

Adam Bertuch, senior thin film scientist at Ultratech-CNT, who has played a key role in the development of PEALD oxides at the company, said, “The Fiji is an extremely versatile instrument, which has been at the leading edge of the development of complex materials. Professor Salahuddin’s work in the field of ferroelectric materials speaks for itself, and we are looking forward to having a strong collaborative relationship with him, as well as his scientific group at UC Berkeley.”

Ultratech Fiji G2 ALD System

For advanced thin films, the Fiji series is a modular, high-vacuum ALD system that accommodates a wide range of deposition modes using a flexible architecture and multiple configurations of precursors and plasma gases. The result is a next-generation ALD system capable of performing thermal and plasma-enhanced deposition. Ultratech CNT has applied advanced computational fluid dynamics analyses to optimize the Fiji reactor, heaters, and vapor trap geometries. The system’s intuitive interface makes it easy to monitor and change recipes and processes as required. The Fiji is available in several different configurations, with up to six heated precursor ports that can accommodate solid, liquid or gas precursors, and up to six plasma gas lines. Options include a built-in ozone generator, Load Lock as well as several in-situ analysis tools, which offer significant experimental flexibility in a compact and affordable footprint.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $30.5 billion for the month of October 2016, an increase of 3.4 percent from last month’s total of $29.5 billion and 5.1 percent higher than the October 2015 total of $29.0 billion. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects roughly flat annual semiconductor sales in 2016, followed by slight market growth in 2017 and 2018.

“The global semiconductor market has rebounded in recent months, with October marking the largest year-to-year sales increase since March 2015,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Sales increased compared to last month across all regional markets and nearly every major semiconductor product category. Meanwhile, the latest industry forecast has been revised upward and now calls for flat annual sales in 2016 and small increases in 2017 and 2018. All told, the industry is well-positioned for a strong close to 2016.

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in China (14.0 percent), Japan (7.2 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (1.9 percent), and the Americas (0.1 percent), but decreased in Europe (-3.0 percent). Compared with last month, sales were up across all regional markets: the Americas (6.5 percent), China (3.2 percent), Japan (3.0 percent), Europe (2.2 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (2.0 percent).

Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Autumn 2016 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be $335.0 billion in 2016, a 0.1 percent decrease from the 2015 sales total. WSTS projects a year-to-year increase in Japan (3.2 percent) and Asia Pacific (2.5 percent), with decreases expected in Europe (-4.9 percent) and the Americas (-6.5 percent). Among major semiconductor product categories, WSTS forecasts growth in 2016 for sensors (22.6 percent), discretes (4.2 percent), analog (4.8 percent) and MOS micro ICs (2.3 percent), which include microprocessors and microcontrollers.

Beyond 2016, the semiconductor market is expected to grow at a modest pace across all regions. WSTS forecasts 3.3 percent growth globally for 2017 ($346.1 billion in total sales) and 2.3 percent growth for 2018 ($354.0 billion). WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.

Vigorous M&A activity in 2015 and 2016 has reshaped the landscape of the semiconductor industry, with the top companies now controlling a much greater percentage of marketshare.  Not including foundries, IC Insights forecasts to top five semiconductor suppliers—Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and SK Hynix— will account for 41% marketshare in 2016 (Figure 1).  This represents a nine-point increase from the 32% marketshare held by the top five suppliers ten years ago. Furthermore, the top 10 semiconductor suppliers are forecast to account for 56% marketshare in 2016, an 11-point swing from 45% in 2006, and the top 25 companies are forecast to account for more than three-quarters of all semiconductor sales this year.

semiconductor sales leaders

Figure 1

Following an historic surge in semiconductor merger and acquisition agreements in 2015, the torrid pace of transactions eased a bit in the first half of 2016.  However, 2016 is now forecast to be the second-largest year ever for chip industry M&A announcements, thanks to three major deals struck in 3Q16 that have a combined total value of $51.0 billion.  These deals were SoftBank’s purchase of ARM, Analog Devices’ intended purchase of Linear Technology, and Renesas’ potential acquisition of Intersil. With the surge in mergers and acquisitions expected to continue over the next few years, IC Insights believes that the consolidation will raise the shares of the top suppliers to even loftier levels.

SEMI, the global industry association representing more than 2,000 companies in the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$11.0 billion in the third quarter of 2016. The billings figure is 5 percent higher than the second quarter of 2016 and 14 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 95 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $11.3 billion in the third quarter of 2016. The figure is 30 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and 5 percent lower than the bookings figure for the second quarter of 2016.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:

 

3Q2016

2Q2016

 3Q2015

3Q2016/

2Q2016
(Qtr-over-Qtr)

3Q2016/

3Q2015
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

3.46

2.73

2.85

27%

22%
Korea

2.09

1.53

1.56

36%

34%
China

1.43

2.27

1.70

-37%

-16%
Japan

1.29

1.05

1.43

22%

-10%
Rest of World

1.13

1.31

0.58

-14%

95%
North America

1.05

1.20

1.18

-12%

-11%
Europe

0.53

0.37

0.34

42%

57%
Total

10.98

10.46

9.64

5%

14%

Totals may not add due to rounding; Source: SEMI/SEAJ

Leti CEO Marie Semeria today delivered a sweeping, optimistic assessment of a rapidly evolving world where “hyperconnectivity” and the Internet of Things – guided by a “human-centered research approach and symbiotic development strategies” – herald profound changes in the way individuals relate to each other and to the physical world.

Her keynote presentation during the opening session of IEDM 2016, one of the high-tech industry’s most prestigious annual events, was based on her invited paper, “Symbiotic Low-Power, Smart and Secure Technologies in the Age of Hyperconnectivity”.

Marie Semeria, Leti CEO

Marie Semeria, Leti CEO

Semeria presented a comprehensive view of ubiquitous connectivity’s vast potential to bring positive change for individuals, society, companies and governments. She envisions a world in which a human-centered research approach combined with symbiotic development strategies “along different technological axes will foster key innovations that address societal challenges with strong impact.”

IoT at ‘Epicenter of the Revolution’

“The vertiginous pace of technological progress has made civilization enter the age of hyperconnectivity, dramatically changing the way people live, interact, share information, work, travel, take care of their health (and) purchase goods,” she notes. “Enabled by the convergence of miniaturization, wireless connectivity, increased data-storage capacity and data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become the epicenter of a profound social, business and political revolution.”

The IoT, with billions of easy-access and low-cost connected devices, “has transformed the world into a truly global village, enabling people and machines to interact in a symbiotic way – anytime, anywhere – with both the physical and cyber worlds,” she notes. “A new economy has emerged, as new product-as-a-service business models have been enabled by smart, connected products, creating substitutes for product ownership.”

In R&D strategies where technologies are developed symbiotically, the technologies’ associated innovation potential strongly increases. “Leti masters hardware and software technologies that gather, filter, process, store, transfer and analyze information in an efficient way. What is crucial today is not to consider these technologies as independent from one another,” Semeria says.

In her paper, Semeria also addresses the many global challenges that predate the hyperconnectivity era, such as climate change, poverty, diminishing natural resources and pollution, and the major challenges that rapid technological advancements have enabled. These include the negative side effects of cyber-technologies, ranging from “digital addiction” of some young people to cyber attacks on systems and threats to personal data and privacy.

Security Is a Crucial Component

“The hyperconnected society presents challenges which will require collective learning and adaptation, by both the main actors and the users, to develop the literacy and regulatory frameworks that will recreate and sustain the right balance between accountability and freedom for all agents, people and corporations,” Semeria says.

“Hypersecurity is a crucial component needed to counteract the surge in cyber attacks, which affect our modern societies, critically dependent on cyber-infrastructures (banking, communication, business, etc.). Security and unobtrusive surveillance technologies are being developed to provide and maintain peaceful everyday lives.”

Citizen Concerns

Data breaches and unapproved use of private information have raised widespread concerns about privacy. “Information is sometimes exchanged for commercial or national security purposes, leading citizens to perceive a loss of control, freedom and privacy,” Semeria notes. “The hyperconnected society presents challenges which will require collective learning and adaptation, by both the main actors and the users, to develop the literacy and regulatory frameworks that will recreate and sustain the right balance between accountability and freedom for all agents, people and corporations.”

The hyperconnectivity value chain, which includes sensing, communication, computing and storage, energy harvesting, security and services, depends on key building blocks ranging from sensors to communication networks, including 5G, which is expected to provide a full-scale IoT that offers immersive services regardless of geography and time zones. Leti has strategic programs in each of the value chain fields and participates in the core of Europe’s 5G innovation initiatives.

A Major Role for RTOs

Semeria points out that research and technology organizations (RTOs) like Leti are playing a vital role in the twin pursuits of making the IoT and networks both more efficient and more secure. In the 50 years since its founding, Leti has shaped its strategy to tackle the main challenges presented by the evolution of society and the economic and industrial sectors.

RTOs “are ideally positioned to address and harmonize growing individual, private needs and global societal challenges, because they are neither embedded public administration organizations nor industrial corporate labs guided by private interests,” Semeria notes.

Biomimicry’s Natural Role

In addition to partnerships with companies on specific solutions to make them more competitive and its participation in EU research programs with broader strategic impact, Leti pursues multiple lines of inquiry with an eye on technologies for the future. These include bio-mimicry, which aims to adapt for commercial use the sensing efficiencies that insects have developed over billions of years of evolution.

“Bio-inspired ideas, which are currently experiencing an exponential growth, represent an area with very high hopes,” Semeria says.

GlobalWafers Co., Ltd. announced that the acquisition of SunEdison Semiconductor Limited by GlobalWafers has been successfully completed. This follows GlobalWafers’ announcement on August 18, 2016 to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of SunEdison Semiconductor in a transaction valued at USD 683 million, a figure that includes SunEdison Semiconductor’s outstanding net debt.

The combined entity will bring together GlobalWafers’ operating model and market strengths with SunEdison Semiconductor’s expansive global footprint and product development capabilities. GlobalWafers will see a meaningful expansion of its production capabilities and breadth in product and global customer base, including greater access to the Korea and EU as well as SOI product technologies and capacity. It will also have a significant increase in financial scale. The transaction will ultimately provide the foundation for GlobalWafers to be a good wafer solution provider and long term partner for all semiconductor customers.

“Our enterprise footprint of 17 operation sites located in 10 countries is strategically positioned in all regions to support our customers more effectively,” said Doris Hsu, Chairperson and CEO of GlobalWafers. “The new GlobalWafers will be customer-centric with our success being gauged by the satisfaction level of our customers. Our goal is to aggressively be our customers’ supplier of choice as it relates to quality, technology, supply, support and price.”

A simple solution-based electrical doping technique could help reduce the cost of polymer solar cells and organic electronic devices, potentially expanding the applications for these technologies. By enabling production of efficient single-layer solar cells, the new process could help move organic photovoltaics into a new generation of wearable devices and enable small-scale distributed power generation.

polymer-solar_2021

Developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and colleagues from three other institutions, the technique provides a new way of inducing p-type electrical doping in organic semiconductor films. The process involves briefly immersing the films in a solution at room temperature, and would replace a more complex technique that requires vacuum processing.

“Our hope is that this will be a game-changer for organic photovoltaics by further simplifying the process for fabricating polymer-based solar cells,” said Bernard Kippelen, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics and a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We believe this technique is likely to impact many other device platforms in areas such as organic printed electronics, sensors, photodetectors and light-emitting diodes.”

Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the work was reported December 5 in the journal Nature Materials. The research also involved scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Kyushu University in Japan, and the Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands.

The technique consists of immersing thin films of organic semiconductors and their blends in polyoxometalate (PMA and PTA) solutions in nitromethane for a brief time – on the order of minutes. The diffusion of the dopant molecules into the films during immersion leads to efficient p-type electrical doping over a limited depth of 10 to 20 nanometers from the surface of the film. The p-doped regions show increased electrical conductivity and high work function, reduced solubility in the processing solvent, and improved photo-oxidation stability in air.

This new method provides a simpler alternative to air-sensitive molybdenum oxide layers used in the most efficient polymer solar cells that are generally processed using expensive vacuum equipment. When applied to polymer solar cells, the new doping method provided efficient hole collection. For the first time, single-layer polymer solar cells were demonstrated by combining this new method with spontaneous vertical phase separation of amine-containing polymers that leads to efficient electron collection at the opposing electrode. The geometry of these new devices is unique as the functions of hole and electron collection are built into the light-absorbing active layer, resulting in the simplest single-layer geometry with few interfaces.

“The realization of single-layer photovoltaics with our approach enables both electrodes in the device to be made out of low-cost conductive materials,” said Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, a senior research scientist in Kippelen’s research group. “This offers a dramatic simplification of a device geometry, and it improves the photo-oxidation stability of the donor polymer. Although lifetime and cost analysis studies are needed to assess the full impact of these innovations, they are certainly very exciting developments on the road to transform organic photovoltaics into a commercial technology.”

By simplifying the production of organic solar cells, the new processing technique could allow fabrication of solar cells in areas of Africa and Latin America that lack capital-intensive manufacturing capabilities, said Felipe Larrain, a Ph.D. student in Kippelen’s lab.

“Our goal is to further simplify the fabrication of organic solar cells to the point at which every material required to fabricate them may be included in a single kit that is offered to the public,” Larrain said. “The solar cell product may be different if you are able to provide people with a solution that would allow them to make their own solar cells. It could one day enable people to power themselves and be independent of the grid.”

Organic solar cells have been studied in many academic and industrial laboratories for several decades, and have experienced a continuous and steady improvement in their power conversion efficiency with laboratory values reaching 13 percent – compared to around 20 percent for commercial silicon-based cells. Though polymer-based cells are currently less efficient, they require less energy to produce than silicon cells and can be more easily recycled at the end of their lifetime.

“Being able to process solar cells entirely at room temperature using this simple solution-based technique could pave the way for a scalable and vacuum-free method of device fabrication, while significantly reducing the time and cost associated with it,” said Vladimir Kolesov, a Ph.D. researcher and the paper’s lead author.

Beyond solar cells, the doping technique could be more broadly used in other areas of organic electronics, noted Ph.D. researcher Wen-Fang Chou. “With its simplicity, this is truly a promising technology offering adjustable conductivity of semiconductors that could be applied to various organic electronics, and could have huge impact on the industry for mass production.”

Also at Georgia Tech, the research involved professors Samuel Graham and Seth Marder, both from the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics. Beyond Georgia Tech, the project also involved Naoya Aizawa from Kyushu University; Ming Wang, Guillermo Bazan and Thuc-Quyen Nguyen from the University of California Santa Barbara, and Alberto Perrotta from Eindhoven University of Technology.

Infineon, a Germany-based world leader in semiconductor solutions, celebrated the Grand Opening of its new warehouse and Gallium Nitride (GaN) cleanroom at its Mesa facility located at 550 W. Juanita Ave. The multi-million-dollar expansion project added approximately 11,500 square foot and will create more than 20 new high-quality jobs.

“Infineon has been an important part of Mesa’s technology community for years and it is great to see them expand their facility,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said. “It’s exciting when a business in Mesa is on the cutting edge of new semiconductor technology.”

GaN is a new semiconductor material that will help increase the efficiency and performance of power electronics used in everyday life such as power adapters for laptops.

“It’s wonderful to see a business like Infineon show such a strong commitment to Mesa and District 3,” Vice Mayor and District 3 Councilmember Dennis Kavanaugh said. “We certainly hope that they will continue to grow their Mesa operation and remain a great partner in our business community.”

In attendance at the Grand Opening were Infineon management and employees from the U.S.; Villach, Austria; Munich, Germany; and Kulim, Malaysia. The event was hosted by Juergen Woehl, Managing Director, of Infineon EPI Services based in Mesa. Guest speakers included Bob LeFord president of Infineon Americas; Steffen Metzger, head of Infineon GaN projects based in Munich; and Alex Miehr, head of Materials Management, Munich.

Dr. Juergen Woehl, Managing Director, Infineon Epi Services, said, “As a leader in semiconductor technology, our Mesa facility underlines Infineon’s commitment to work on advanced materials here in Mesa and we were delighted to celebrate the expansion of our site with our executives, employees and state and local representatives.”

Infineon Technologies AG, headquartered in Neubiberg, Germany, is a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. In the 2016 fiscal year (ending September 30), the Company reported sales of about Euro 6.5 billion with some 36,000 employees worldwide.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SNPS) has completed its acquisitions of Cigital, a privately held provider of software security managed and professional services, and Codiscope, a 2015 spinoff of Cigital and provider of complementary security tools. Cigital is a large, global application security firm specializing in professional and managed services for identifying, remediating and preventing vulnerabilities in software applications. Codiscope has transformed the tools and intellectual property created by Cigital into a suite of accessible and streamlined products for a broad population of developers.

The security of software code throughout the software supply chain is a critical concern for companies across a broad range of industries, from financial services and medical devices to industrial controls and automotive. As the cyber security landscape becomes increasingly complex, many organizations are struggling to determine the right solution in the context of a multitude of point tool offerings and varying vendor strategies, as well as their own IT challenges and priorities. The acquisition of Cigital and Codiscope adds complementary products, services, and a highly skilled workforce to the Synopsys portfolio, enabling Synopsys to offer a comprehensive software security signoff solution.

The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

ClassOne Technology (www.classone.com), manufacturer of advanced wet processing equipment for ≤200mm substrates, announced the formation of a Board of Advisors. This body will be made up of highly-regarded senior executives from the semiconductor industry who will provide their perspective and guidance to ClassOne as it navigates the expansion of its operations. Three distinguished industry notables, Larry Murphy, Eric Choh and Tom Pilla have been named to the board.

“ClassOne is experiencing very rapid growth right now, and we wanted to incorporate the broad perspective and deep experience that these gentlemen can bring to our effort,” said Kevin Witt, President of ClassOne Technology. “Larry, Eric and Tom are long-respected leaders in this industry and have already proven to be a huge asset. We are fortunate and honored to have them on our team.”

“We are delighted to add our support and endorsement to ClassOne,” said Larry Murphy. “We’ve seen the customer focus and innovative technology that this company is bringing to the industry. ClassOne is disrupting the old status quo and delivering much-needed high-performance electroplating and wet process equipment to the smaller-substrate markets — markets that have been generally underserved.”

Larry Murphy is presently CEO at PROOF Research. Previously, he had been CEO at Thompson Technology Group, VP and GM of North America & Europe SSG Sales at Applied Materials, and VP and GM of the Semitool Business at Applied Materials. Earlier, he had served as President and COO at Semitool for six years, and before that, as President and CEO at Tosoh SMD for more than 14 years.

Eric Choh has spent more than 30 years in the semiconductor industry with extensive experience in wafer fab operations and advanced technology development. Most recently he was the VP/GM of GLOBALFOUNDRYS’ Fab 8. Mr. Choh had also held a number of senior positions at AMD, including VP of Advanced Process Development and Executive Managing Director of the AMD/UMC Alliance.

Tom Pilla now holds the position of Global Supply Chain Director and Electronic Materials/Business Manufacturing Director of Litho Materials at Dow Chemical. Previously, he served as VP of Operations at Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, VP of Operations at Rodel, and Global Supply Chain Director at Rohm and Haas.

ClassOne Technology offers a range of cost-efficient wet-processing tools specifically for emerging markets and other users of 3″ to 8″ wafers. The company’s mission is to provide advanced technology equipment at more affordable prices — to address the budget constraints that smaller-substrate markets typically have and fill a niche that larger equipment manufacturers historically have not addressed.

ClassOne’s current product line-up includes the Solstice family of high-performance, multi-purpose electroplating tools and the Trident families of Spin Rinse Driers and Spray Solvent Tools. All are specifically designed for processing ≤200mm wafers. Solstice systems are available both for development and production and are priced at less than half of what similarly configured plating systems from the larger manufacturers would cost. This is why Solstice is often described as delivering “Advanced Plating for the Rest of Us.” ClassOne supports customers with world-class process development, deployment and service around the globe.