Category Archives: Wafer Processing

3D-Micromac AG, a supplier of laser micromachining and roll-to-roll laser systems for the photovoltaic, medical device and electronics markets, announced that its microDICE laser micromachining system has been adopted by a major industrial manufacturer for volume production of high-power diodes. Leveraging 3D-Micromac’s proprietary TLS-Dicing technology, the microDICE system provides fast, clean and cost-effective dicing of wafers used for advanced semiconductors and power device applications. Its unique approach uses thermally induced mechanical stress to separate brittle semiconductor materials such as silicon, silicon carbide (SiC), germanium (Ge) and gallium arsenide (GaAs).

3d micromac

The microDICE laser micromachining system from 3D-Micromac supports volume production of high-power diodes.

TLS-Dicing is a contact- and residue-free process that provides significantly higher throughput, higher yields and greater functionality compared to traditional die-separation technologies. For example, throughput is up to 30X greater compared to saw dicing. The technology also provides lower cost of ownership than other approaches. A forceless and contactless machining process, TLS-Dicing eliminates tool wear and requires no expensive consumables for surface cleaning–resulting in cost savings of up to an order of magnitude or more.

“While significant time and resources are invested in the front-end of semiconductor manufacturing to produce a completed product wafer, back-end wafer processing has historically been viewed as a necessary evil,” stated Tino Petsch, CEO of 3D-Micromac. “That’s all changed with the adoption of new types of wafer substrates, thinner wafers and scaling to smaller dimensions, larger-size substrates, and new packaging technologies like 3D-stacking. Back-end process steps such as wafer dicing are evolving as critical value-add process steps that not only ensure, but also further enhance, device yields. Using our TLS-Dicing technology, the microDICE system provides superior wafer dicing performance over other approaches while considerably reducing the dicing cost per wafer. Our technology has been proven in the photovoltaic and other industrial markets, and we are pleased to bring the benefits of it to the semiconductor and power device manufacturing industry.”

3D-Micromac also announced today that it is expanding its global infrastructure with the opening of its new 3D-Micromac America headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley, in San Jose, Calif. Serving as both an applications lab and sales and support facility, the office marks the company’s first major presence in North America and will enable 3D-Micromac to better meet rising customer demand for its laser micromachining products across all of its served markets, including solar, semiconductor, MEMS, display and smart glass.

According to Daniel Weber, sales and business development manager for 3D-Micromac America, “With our new regional headquarters and applications lab, 3D-Micromac can offer our North American-based customers a first-class network of sales and support services for our laser micromachining systems. Providing customer evaluations, applications development, and small-scale contract manufacturing is a unique offering among wafer dicing technology suppliers. We look forward to delivering all of these capabilities to our existing, new and potential customers.”

The health of the semiconductor industry is increasingly tied to the health of the worldwide economy. Rarely can there be strong semiconductor market growth without at least “good” worldwide economic growth to support it. Consequently, IC Insights expects annual global semiconductor market growth rates to continue to closely track the performance of worldwide GDP growth (Figure 1).  In its upcoming Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report 2016 (to be released at the end of July), IC Insights forecasts 2016 global GDP growth of only 2.3%, which is below the 2.5% level that is considered to be the global recession threshold.

Figure 1

Figure 1

In many areas of the world, local economies have slowed.  China, which is the leading market for personal computers, digital TVs, smartphones, new commercial aircraft, and automobiles, is forecast to continue to lose economic momentum in 2016.  Its GDP is forecast to increase 6.6% this year, which continues a slide in that country’s annual GDP growth rate that started in 2010 when growth rates exceeded 10%.

IC Insights believes that the worldwide economy will be negatively impacted, at least over the next year or two, by the Brexit vote this past June.  At this point, since the U.K. is unlikely to officially be able to leave the European Union (EU) for a couple of years, the biggest negative effect on economic growth is the uncertainty of the entire situation.  Some of the uncertainty created by the vote includes:

•    Whether the U.K. will actually leave the EU.  Since the Brexit vote is not legally binding, and still needs to be approved by the U.K. government, there is uncertainty if its departure from the EU will actually happen.

•    Whether the U.K. will come apart itself.  There are rumblings about Scotland breaking away from being a part of the U.K. in order for it to remain as part of the EU.

•    What trade deals will be made by the U.K. if it does leave the EU?  As part of its exit from the EU, the U.K. will need to establish numerous new trade deals with the EU.  There is tremendous uncertainty regarding whether these deals would have a positive or negative effect on the U.K. economy.

•    Will other countries follow the U.K. and depart from the EU?  Anxiety persists over whether the EU will fall apart as other countries attempt their own exit.  Some countries mentioned as possibly following the U.K. out of the EU include the Netherlands (Nexit), France (Frexit), Italy, Austria, and Sweden (Swexit).

The other major “culprit” dragging down semiconductor industry growth this year is the very weak DRAM market.  At $45.0 billion, the DRAM market was the largest single product category in the semiconductor industry in 2015.  IC Insights forecasts that the DRAM market will register a 19% drop of $8.5 billion this year to $36.5 billion.  The DRAM market alone is forecast to shave three percentage points off of total semiconductor market growth this year. Semiconductor market growth excluding DRAM is forecast to be +2%.

Most of the DRAM market decline expected for this year is due to a rapid decline in DRAM pricing over the past 18 months.  For 2016, the average price for a DRAM device is forecast to drop to $2.55, a steep 16% decline as compared to 2015’s DRAM ASP of $3.03. Further trends and analysis relating to semiconductor market forecasts through 2020 will be covered in the 250-plus-page Mid-Year Update to the 2016 edition of The McClean Report.

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:LSCC) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Brian Beattie to the Company’s Board of Directors and Audit Committee. Mr. Beattie brings to the Board more than 35 years’ experience in finance, business operations, information technology, corporate development and strategy.

Mr. Beattie is currently Executive Vice President, Business Operations, and Chief Administrative Officer of Synopys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS), where he served as Chief Financial Officer from January 2006 to December 2014. Prior to joining Synopsys, Mr. Beattie was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration at SupportSoft for 6 years. He was instrumental in growing the business and helped lead the company from the start-up phase through its successful IPO in 2000. Mr. Beattie began his career at Nortel Networks where over a 19 year period he took on increasing corporate, financial and operational responsibilities, and rose to become the finance executive responsible for the company’s merger and acquisition strategy. He earned both his Bachelor of Commerce degree and MBA in International Finance and Management from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

John Bourgoin, Lattice’s Chairman of the Board, commented, “We are very pleased to have Brian join our Board of Directors given his proven track record. He brings substantial additional financial and operations expertise to our Board, which will be helpful as the Company continues to execute on its business strategy and lays the groundwork for its longer-term growth.”

According to the latest market research report by Technavio, the semiconductor chip handler market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% until 2020.

In this report, Technavio covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global semiconductor chip handler market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, we consider the revenue generated from the sales of automated test equipment and the contribution of chip handlers in the automated test equipment market.

“A large number of fabless semiconductor companies are increasing the net aggregate demand for semiconductor ICs, creating the demand for automated test equipment. An increase in test houses has resulted in a rising number of potential automated test equipment customers, boosting revenue sales of market vendors,” said Asif Gani, one of Technavio’s lead industry analysts for semiconductors.

Semiconductor chip handler market in APAC: largest region

The global chip handler market in APAC was valued at USD 469.8 million in 2015. Taiwan, South Korea, China, and Japan are the key countries contributing to the growth of this region. The presence of prominent semiconductor foundries, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, United Microelectronics Corporation, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, is creating the demand for chip handlers in APAC. The increase in the demand for consumer electronics and the rollout of LTE technology have led to an expansion of LTE base station infrastructure in China, increasing the demand for semiconductor ICs. These ICs need to be tested to avoid glitches and snags, thereby creating the demand for chip handlers.

The presence of prominent mobile and consumer electronic device manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, Fujitsu, and Panasonic in APAC is supporting the demand for semiconductor devices and thereby the demand for chip handlers in the region.

Semiconductor chip handler market in the US: second largest region

The global chip handler market in the US was valued at USD 104.4 million in 2015. The sports nutrition market in Europe is growing steadily. The increase in the demand for communication devices, such as smartphones and phablets, and automobile applications has been driving the production of semiconductor ICs in the US. The presence of few prominent semiconductor manufacturers, such as GlobalFoundries and Intel that fabricate wafers of sizes 200 nm and 300 nm, will create the demand for chip handlers in the nation.

Semiconductor chip handler market in Europe

The global chip handler market in Europe was valued at USD 43.96 million in 2015. Infineon Technologies, NXP Semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics are among the semiconductor manufacturing companies that account for the majority market share in this region. However, Europe will contribute low revenue to this market during the forecast period due to small concentrations of semiconductor IC manufacturers compared to APAC and the US. In addition, the Euro crisis in 2009 compelled many manufacturers to shift their semiconductor manufacturing facilities to APAC due to the availability of cheaper resources. This is likely to reduce the demand for chip handlers in the region during the forecast period.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $26.0 billion for the month of May 2016, an increase of 0.4 percent compared to the previous month’s total of $25.9 billion, but a decrease of 7.7 percent compared to the May 2015 total of $28.1 billion. Month-to-month sales into all regional markets held relatively steady, with China leading the way with 3.1 percent market growth. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“The small uptick in global semiconductor sales in May marked the market’s largest month-to-month growth in six months, but the overall landscape remains somewhat stagnant due to soft demand and unfavorable macroeconomic conditions,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Most regional markets have struggled to gain traction in 2016, with the Americas falling well behind sales posted through the same point last year. Sales of analog products were a bright spot in May, notching both month-to-month and year-to-year increases.”

Regionally, month-to-month sales increased in China (3.1 percent), but slipped slightly in the Americas (-0.1 percent), Europe(-0.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (-0.8 percent), and Japan (-1.8 percent). Year-to-year sales increased marginally in Japan(0.4 percent), but dropped in China (-0.5 percent), Europe (-8.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (-11.5 percent), and the Americas (-15.0 percent).

May 2016

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

4.78

4.78

-0.1%

Europe

2.64

2.62

-0.8%

Japan

2.60

2.55

-1.8%

China

7.80

8.04

3.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.03

7.96

-0.8%

Total

25.85

25.95

0.4%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.62

4.78

-15.0%

Europe

2.87

2.62

-8.8%

Japan

2.54

2.55

0.4%

China

8.08

8.04

-0.5%

Asia Pacific/All Other

9.00

7.96

-11.5%

Total

28.11

25.95

-7.7%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Dec/Jan/Feb

Mar/Apr/May

% Change

Americas

5.03

4.78

-5.0%

Europe

2.66

2.62

-1.5%

Japan

2.47

2.55

3.0%

China

8.03

8.04

0.2%

Asia Pacific/All Other

7.83

7.96

1.6%

Total

26.03

25.95

-0.3%