Category Archives: MEMS

Ultratech, Inc., a supplier of lithography, laser-processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs), announced last week that it has moved Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech to Waltham, Mass. The new facility will expand its operations for next-generation atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment development and enable leading-edge scientific research. After acquiring the assets of Cambridge NanoTech last December, Ultratech invested in a new facility to enhance ALD development. With this new facility, Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech now has greatly enhanced its capability to develop innovative process technology for ALD applications.

ALD is an enabling technology which provides coatings and material features with significant advantages compared to other existing techniques for depositing precise nanometer-thin films.  This technology is expected to be in high demand in volume manufacturing environments for integrated optics, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMs), implantable devices in the biomedical sector and batteries and fuel cells in the energy market.

Ultratech Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arthur W. Zafiropoulo stated, "By creating a new facility and leveraging the valuable Cambridge NanoTech intellectual property, we have further enhanced our ability to advance the development of next-generation ALD solutions.  In addition, we have retained the same team that Cambridge NanoTech customers have worked with in the past.  The completion of the new facility marks our successful integration of the Cambridge NanoTech assets into Ultratech’s nanotechnology product group.  By investing in the expansion of these operations, we expect to generate increased revenue in new and existing markets.  Ultratech, and our ALD unit, Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech, will continue to focus on technology solutions that support our global customers’ advanced product and technology roadmaps."

Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech is located at:

130 Turner Street, Building 2

Waltham, Massachusetts   02453

SEMATECH today announced that Silvaco, Inc., a provider of Technology Computer Aided Design and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, has joined SEMATECH to collaboratively develop advanced modeling and simulation tools.

As the microelectronics industry develops emerging and future products, new and improved methods will be necessary to meet the associated manufacturing challenges. Through their collaboration, SEMATECH will use Silvaco’s TCAD and EDA software tools to perform advanced device simulations. Additionally, Silvaco will work with SEMATECH to develop new design, modeling, and simulation methods that will address thermal, mechanical, and reliability issues for next-generation technologies.

“As the industry considers numerous new materials, there is a need to develop new modeling infrastructure for those materials and structures,” said Paul Kirsch, director of SEMATECH’s Front End program. “SEMATECH is pleased to welcome Silvaco as a partner. We will work together to accelerate the investigation and verification of new materials modeling and optimization for silicon, non-silicon and beyond CMOS technologies.”

Silvaco’s TCAD and EDA tools provide research and development capabilities for process and device simulation, circuit simulation and design of analog, mixed-signal and RF integrated circuits. Such methodologies and technologies will be used to address scalability of materials, processes, equipment and subcomponents for next-generation wafers and devices.

“We are excited to join this industry-leading consortium in which Silvaco will provide simulation solutions that address mechanical stress and the reliability challenges for vertical chip integration, as well as meeting the simulation challenges presented by nanometer-scale FinFET devices,” said David Halliday, CEO of Silvaco. “We expect that this partnership will enable Silvaco to provide additional unique solutions to our customers requiring simulation tools for the next generation of wafers and devices.”

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $74.65 billion during the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 6 percent from the first quarter when sales were $70.45 billion. This marks the largest quarterly increase in three years. Global sales for June 2013 hit $24.88 billion, an increase of 2.1 percent compared to June 2012 and 0.8 percent higher than the May 2013 total. Regionally, sales in the Americas jumped 8.6 percent in Q2 compared to Q1 and 10.6 percent in June 2013 compared to June 2012, marking the region’s largest year-over-year increase of 2013. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

"There’s no question the global semiconductor industry has picked up steam through the first half of 2013, led largely by the Americas," said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. "We have now seen consistent growth on a monthly, quarterly, and year-to-year basis, and sales totals have exceeded the latest industry projection, with sales of memory products showing particular strength."

Quarterly sales outperformed the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s latest industry forecast, which projected quarter-over-quarter growth of 4.6 percent globally and 3.4 percent for the Americas (compared to the actual increases of 6 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively). Total year-to-dates sales of $145.1 billion also exceeded the WSTS projection of $144.1 billion. Actual year-to-date sales through June are 1.5 percent higher than they were at the same point in 2012.

Regionally, sales in June increased compared to May in the Americas (3.5 percent), Asia Pacific (0.4 percent), and Europe (0.1 percent), but declined slightly in Japan (-0.9 percent). Compared to the same month in 2012, sales in June increased substantially in the Americas (10.6 percent), moderately in Asia Pacific (5.4 percent), and slightly in Europe (0.8 percent), but dropped steeply in Japan (-20.8 percent), largely due to the devaluation of the Japanese yen.

"While we welcome this encouraging data, it is important to recognize the semiconductor workforce that drives innovation and growth in our industry," continued Toohey. "A key roadblock inhibiting our innovation potential is America’s outdated high-skilled immigration system, which limits semiconductor companies’ access to the world’s top talent. The House of Representatives should use the August recess to work out their political differences on this issue and return to Washington next month ready to approve meaningful immigration reform legislation."

Later this month, IC Insights’ August Update to the 2013 McClean Report will show a ranking of the top 25 semiconductor suppliers in 1H13.  A preview of the top 20 companies is listed in Figure 1.  The top 20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, discrete, and sensor) sales leaders for 1H13 include eight suppliers headquartered in the U.S., four in Japan, three in Europe, three in Taiwan, and two in South Korea.

The top-20 ranking includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and four fabless companies.  IC foundries are included in the top-20 semiconductor supplier ranking because IC Insights has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not as a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  Overall, the list shown in Figure 1 provides a guideline to identify which companies are the leading semiconductor suppliers, whether they are IDMs, fabless companies, or foundries.

There were numerous changes within the top-20 semiconductor ranking in 1H13 as compared to the top 20 ranking of 2012.  Some of the companies rising in the ranking included SK Hynix, which moved up three places and into the top 5; Broadcom, which edged into the top 10; Elpida, which was officially purchased by Micron on July 31, 2013, shot up seven places to 17th place; and MediaTek, which jumped up four positions to make it into the top 20 (now ranked 18th).  In contrast, Fujitsu dropped five places and fell out of the top 20 ranking, going from being ranked 17th in 2012 to 22nd in 1H13.  The other company to fall out of the top 20 ranking was fabless supplier Nvidia, which went from being ranked 18th in 2012 to 21st in 1H13, even though the company posted a two percent increase in year-over-year sales.  Another “casualty” in the top 20 ranking was Sony, which fell to 16th place in 1H13 from the 12th position in 2012.

Micron’s acquisition of Elpida was completed on July 31, 2013.  It is interesting to note that if Micron and Elpida’s 1H13 sales were combined, the “new” company would have had $6,699 million in total sales in 1H13 and would have been ranked as the fifth-largest semiconductor supplier worldwide.  Now that the two companies are officially combined, look for Micron to move up in the ranking of top suppliers over the remainder of 2013 and in 2014.

Figure 1

In total, the top 20 semiconductor companies’ sales increased by 4 percent in 1H13 as compared to 1H12, one point better than the total 1H13/1H12 worldwide semiconductor market increase of 3 percent.  It took semiconductor sales of just over $1.9 billion in 1H13 to make the top-20 ranking.

As shown in Figure 2, there was a 64-percentage-point range of growth rates among the worldwide top 20 semiconductor suppliers in 1H13 (from +38 percent for SK Hynix to -26 percent for Sony).  The continued success of the fabless/foundry business model is evident when examining the top 20 semiconductor suppliers ranked by growth rate.  As shown, the top 10 performers included three fabless companies (Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Broadcom) and three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC).

Figure 2

Figure 2 illustrates that two of the three top-20 ranked companies that registered a double-digit sales decline in 1H13 were headquartered in Japan (Renesas and Sony).  Japan-based Fujitsu also registered a double-digit decline (-19 percent) in 1H13 to drop out of the top 20 ranking.  However, it should be noted that the conversion of Japanese company semiconductor sales from yen to U.S. dollars, at 95.47 yen per dollar in 1H13 versus 79.70 yen per dollar in 1H12, had a significant impact on the sales figures for the Japanese companies.  Still, Sony would have logged a double-digit (12 percent) semiconductor sales decline even if its sales results were not converted to U.S. dollars while Renesas would have posted a two percent increase in semiconductor sales if the numbers were expressed in yen.

Unfortunately for AMD, it cannot attribute its extremely poor 1H13 sales performance (-25 percent) to currency conversion issues.  However, the company’s 3Q13/2Q13 guidance is for a 22 percent surge in sales, a significant rebound but one that still may not prevent the company from posting another full-year decline in sales in 2013 (AMD registered a steep 17 percent sales decline in 2012).

More details on the 1H13 top 25 semiconductor suppliers, including a look at the companies’ 3Q13 expectations and guidance, will be provided in the August Update to The McClean Report.

 

InvenSense, Inc., a provider of MotionTracking system on chip devices, is relocating its headquarters to 1745 Technology Drive, San Jose, California. To accommodate continued company growth, InvenSense is moving into a 130,000 square-feet of office space near San Jose Airport and several important customers and partners.

This announcement is made in conjunction with InvenSense opening a new office in Shenzhen, China to meet the needs of its growing customer base in southern China. The new office, which includes sales, applications and support personnel will be the company’s 2nd office in China. InvenSense has its China headquarter office located in Shanghai, China.

“InvenSense is going through a significant growth in market share as it enables the next generation of MEMS System on Chip (SoC) market. As a result, we are scaling our operations with a new regional office and new corporate headquarters,” said Behrooz Abdi, CEO and president, InvenSense, Inc.

David DiPaola is managing director for DiPaola Consulting a company focused on engineering and management solutions for electromechanical systems, sensors and MEMS products.  A 17-year veteran of the field, he has brought many products from concept to production in high volume with outstanding quality.  His work in design and process development spans multiple industries including automotive, medical, industrial and consumer electronics.  He employs a problem solving based approach working side by side with customers from startups to multi-billion dollar companies.  David also serves as senior technical staff to The Richard Desich SMART Commercialization Center for Microsystems, is an authorized external researcher at The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at NIST and is a senior member of IEEE. Previously he has held engineering management and technical staff positions at Texas Instruments and Sensata Technologies, authored numerous technical papers, is a respected lecturer and holds 5 patents.  To learn more, please visit http://www.dceams.com.   

Product validation is an essential part of all successful MEMS new product developments.  It is the process of testing products under various environmental, mechanical or electrical conditions to simulate life in an accelerated manner.  Testing early and often needs to be a daily routine and not just a popular phase used in meetings.  This blog will cover proven methods to accurately perform MEMS product validation while mitigating potential issues resulting in repeated tests and non accurate results. 

Measurement system analysis or MSA is a methodology to qualify the measurement system that will be used to characterize the product.  In the context of MEMS, this could be a function test system for characterizing the performance of a MEMS pressure sensor by applying known pressures / temperatures and measuring sensor output.  The first step of MSA is to calculate total system accuracy determined by a tolerance stack of subcomponent errors traceable to NIST reference standards.  This will ensure your test system has the accuracy needed to properly characterize the samples.  In addition, system linearity of the true and measured value with minimal bias change and stability of the measurement system over time should be demonstrated.  Lastly, a Gage R&R (using average and range or ANOVA methods) in percent of process variation (not tolerance) should be completed to demonstrate repeatability and reproducibility for each test system utilized.  An excellent reference for MSA is aiag.org, Measurement System Analysis.   

Verification of the test system setup and function of the equipment is an important step prior to the start of validation.  Often times, improper test set up or malfunctioning equipment results in repeated tests and delayed production launches.  This is easily avoidable by documenting proper system setup and reviewing the setup thoroughly (every parameter) prior to the start of the test.  Equally important, the engineer should verify the system outputs are on target using calibrated tools after the tools themselves are verified using a known good reference. 

We all like to believe that customer specifications are well thought out and based on extensive field and laboratory data.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.  Hence it is prudent for engineers to challenge areas of the customers’ specifications that do not appear robust.  Neither the customer nor the supplier wins if the product meets the defined specification but fails in the field.  The pain of such events is pervasive and extremely costly for all parties.   As parts complete laboratory tests, take the added step of comparing the results to similar products in the field at the end of life and ensure similar degraded appearance.  When ever possible, test products to failure in the laboratory setting to learn as much as possible about failure mechanisms.  When testing to failure is not possible, perform the validation to 3 – 5X the customer specification to ensure proper margin exists mitigating the risk of field failures.  Furthermore, always take advantage of field tests even if limited in duration.  They can provide valuable information missed in a laboratory validation. 

As briefly stated earlier, a function test or product characterization is the process of applying known inputs such as pressure, force, temperature, humidity, acceleration, rotation, etc. (sometimes two or more simultaneously), measuring the output of the MEMS product and comparing it to the desired target.  This is completed to ensure the product is compliant with the stated performance specification from the manufacturer.  As product life is accelerated through the validation, the device function should be characterized multiple times during the test to understand product drift and approximate time of failures.  It is recommended to perform function tests three to eight times at periodic (equally spaced or skewed) intervals during the validation after the initial pretest characterization.  As an example, I often test products at intervals of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent of the validation. 

Use of test standards is highly encouraged as it brings both consistency and credibility to validations performed.  Several organizations develop test standards for general use such as ASTM, JEDEC, AEC, Military and more.   When a product is tested to standards widely excepted in the industry, the intended audience is more likely to accept the results than if a non-familiar possibly less stringent test method was applied.  Some commonly used standards include ASTM B117 (salt spray), JEDEC JESD22-A106B (thermal shock), Automotive Electronics Council AEC-Q100 (stress test for integrated circuits) and MIL-STD-883 (various environmental tests) just to mention a few.  A list of validation standards used across the MEMS industry can be found in the MEMS Industry Group Member Resource Library, Standards Currently in Use at MEMS Companies.

In the validation of MEMS products, it is tempting to perform the testing on units from one wafer that has yielded 1000 pieces.  However, this is a single window in time and does not properly reflect the true process variation that can occur.  A better sampling approach for validation is taking units from multiple wafers within a lot and across multiple wafer lots.  Equally important, differing raw material lots should be used (one example is the starting SOI wafers).  This will ensure supplier, equipment, process, operator and time sensitive factors are well understood.  

Controls are another method to learn valuable information about the products being validated and the equipment being used.  A basic control could be as simple as a product that is function tested at each stage of the test, but does not go through any of the validation (i.e. sits on a shelf at room temperature).  This will give an indication if something has gone wrong with your test system should the same errors be seen in both experimental (parts going through validation) and control groups.  Another use of a control is testing a product that has previously passed a given validation (control group) while simultaneously testing a product that has under gone a change or is entirely new (experimental group).  This will provide information on whether the change had any impact on the device performance or if the new device is as capable as a previous generation.          

Lastly validation checklists are a valuable tool to ensure each test is set up properly before the test begins.  Without the checklist, it is easy to over look a step in pursuit of starting the test on time to meet a customer’s schedule.  Below is a sample validation check lists for thermal shock.  This can be modified for other tests as well. 

Thermal Shock Validation Checklist

 

  • Perform proper preventative maintenance on the environmental chambers before the start of the test to prevent malfunction during the test
  • Identify appropriate control and experimental groups and ensure proper sampling from multiple wafers and lots
  • Document sample sizes
  • Identify a proper validation standard or customer specification to define the test
  • Document pass / fail criteria for the devices under test
  • Create a test log and record any time an event occurs (i.e. start of test, end of test, devices removed from thermal chamber for testing, etc.)
  • Verify calibration of measurement reference and trace it back to a national standard
  • Verify the measurement reference with appropriate simple test.  (i.e. thermal couple’s accuracy and repeatability with boiling water, room temperature, ice water and other known sources)
  • Measure the temperature of the hot and cold chambers with an accurate and verified reference prior to the start of the test (i.e. thermal couple ± 1°C)
  • Verify chamber temperature is consistent across the part loading
  • Verify the time it takes the thermal load to reach the desired temperature (i.e. -40°C) and that its within test guidelines
  • Measure the transition time between hot and cold chambers and verify its within test guidelines
  • Complete all necessary MSA on test equipment and document the results
  • Engrave serial number on each device (paint pen can be easily removed)
  • Document the location of devices in environmental chamber with digital photograph
  • Record serial number and manufacturer for environmental chambers used
  • Determine and document periodic intervals for device function test
  • Continuously monitor environmental chamber temperature for the duration of the test using an appropriate chart recorder
  • Document location of thermal couple (photo) and verify it is located close to parts
  • Monitor device output continuously during the test
  • Check on the environmental chamber daily to ensure no malfunctions have occurred and monitor daily cycle count
  • Create a test in process sign with appropriate contact information for support staff
  • This will likely prevent individuals from accidentally turning off the environmental chamber or changing temperature profiles without notifying you
  • Document any changes to this specification for future reference

Product validation is a critical tool to learn about MEMS performance over a laboratory based accelerated life.  Its an excellent method to validate theory and ensure product robustness in the field.  The due diligence presented in this blog will help engineers avoid seemly small mistakes that cause repeated tests, inaccurate results and missed customer deadlines. 

Light and proximity sensors in mobile handsets and tablets are set for expansive double-digit growth within a five-year period, thanks to increasing usage by electronic giants Samsung and Apple. Light and proximity sensors can detect a user’s presence as well as help optimize display brightness and color rendering.

Revenue for the sensors is forecast to reach $782.2 million this year, up a prominent 41 percent from $555.1 million in 2012, according to insights from the MEMS and Sensors Service at information and analytics provider IHS. The market is also expected to grow in the double digits for the next three years before moderating to a still-robust eight percent in 2017. By then, revenue will reach $1.3 billion, as shown in the figure below.

“The continued growth of the smartphone and tablet markets serve as the foundation of a bright future for light sensors,” said Marwan Boustany, senior analyst for MEMS & sensors at IHS. “Market leaders in these areas are driving the growth, with Apple pioneering their adoption and Samsung later taking the lead in their usage.”

Sensor segments

There are three types of light and proximity sensors: ambient light sensors (ALS) that measure the intensity of the surrounding light enveloping a cellphone or tablet to adjust screen brightness and save battery power; RGB sensors that measure a room’s color temperature via the red, green and blue wavelengths of light to help correct white balance in the device display; and proximity sensors that disable a handset’s touch screen when it is held close to the head, in order to avoid unwanted input, and also to turn off the light in the display to save battery power.

Overall, the compound annual growth rate for the sensors from 2012 to 2017 equates to 19 percent.

Driving this growth is the shift in use from ALS to RGB in mid- to high-end smartphones; the growing deployment of proximity sensors with gesture capabilities compared to just simple proximity sensors; and the price premiums associated with such changes in usage.

Aside from their most conspicuous use in wireless communications typified by handsets and tablets, light sensors are also utilized in various other applications. These include consumer electronics and data processing for devices like televisions, laptops and PC tablets; the industrial market for home automation, medical electronics and general lighting; and the automotive space for vehicle displays and car functionalities like rain sensors.

Samsung and Apple are leaders in sensor use

Both Samsung and Apple have made use of light and proximity sensors in recent years, helping the sensor market grow in no small measure.

In 2010, Apple included an RGB and proximity sensor for its iPhone 4 and an RGB sensor in its iPad, even though the sensors were subsequently dropped in the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and later iPads. Apple let go of the sensors, which were made available at that time in a combination—or combo package—in favor of discrete solutions consisting of individual proximity as well as ALS sensors for its products. While combo sensors offer the convenience of a single configured package and sourcing from a single supplier, discrete solutions can offer flexibility in the choice of sensor.

Samsung, meanwhile, has gone on to use light and proximity sensors in even larger quantities than Apple. Last year Samsung included an RGB, proximity and infrared (IR) combo sensor, for both its Galaxy SIII smartphone and flagship Galaxy Note 2 device that the company termed as a “phablet.” This year, Samsung deployed a discrete RGB sensor in its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S4, switching from a combo package due to lack of availability of a combo sensor with gesture capability. Samsung’s move toward using RGB sensors in its high-end handsets currently sets the tone for the RGB sensor market given Samsung’s high unit sales. Such a move by the South Korean maker is expected to open the door for other brands to also include RGB sensors in their handsets and tablets, IHS believes.

The new gesture functionality, such as that found in the Galaxy S4, will see especially vigorous growth in the years to come, with revenue enjoying an astonishing 44 percent compound annual growth rate from 2013 to 2017. Maxim Integrated Solutions of California provides the discrete gesture solution for the Galaxy S4, but Japan’s Sharp will be producing a combo sensor product with gesture capabilities by September this year.

Sensor suppliers and buyers tussle

Samsung and Apple are the top buyers of light sensors, accounting for more than 50 percent of light sensor revenue last year. Samsung pulled away from Apple after impressive 90 percent growth in sensor purchases between 2011 and 2012, compared to Apple’s 54 percent growth rate of spend during the period.

This is due to Samsung’s shift toward RGB sensors in its Note 2 and SIII devices, which command higher average selling prices. In third place after Samsung and Apple is a collective group of original equipment manufacturers from China. Included here are global players with significant name recognition like Huawei Technologies, ZTE and Lenovo, as well as a multitude of lesser-known companies such as Coolpad and Xiaomi.

Meanwhile, the top sensor suppliers are Austrian-based ams via its Taos unit in Texas, which supplies to Apple; and Capella Microsystems from Taiwan, the top light sensor supplier to Samsung. Together the two manufacturers furnish more than half of the light sensor market. Other important sensor makers are Avago Technologies from California and Sharp from Japan.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article stated that Mike Splinter became president/CEO of Applied Materials in 2005. This is incorrect. Mike Splinter became president/CEO of Applied in 2003. The correction has been made to this article. Solid State Technology regrets the error.

Mike Splinter, chairman and chief executive officer of Applied Materials, was awarded the 2013 Robert N. Noyce Award, presented annually by the Semiconductor Industry Association, for outstanding achievement and leadership in support of the U.S. semiconductor industry. Splinter has been on the SEMI International Board of Directors since 2005.

The award is one of the industry’s highest honors and celebrates the memory of Robert Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit and co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corporation. The award will be presented at the annual SIA Award Dinner to be held on November 7, 2013.

"We applaud the SIA for recognizing Mike Splinter for his enormous contributions to the semiconductor industry,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “As the first recipient of the Robert N. Noyce Award from the SEMI Board of Directors, his selection underscores the critical contributions of equipment and materials suppliers to the continued health and progress of the semiconductor industry."

With a portfolio of more than 10,000 patents, Applied Materials is a key equipment and technologies supplier that helps build the advanced microchips and displays essential to today’s top-selling electronic devices. Mike Splinter was named president and chief executive officer of Applied Materials in 2003 and chairman of the board of directors in 2009. Splinter is a 40-year veteran of the semiconductor industry and has led Applied Materials to record revenue and profits during his tenure.

Prior to joining Applied Materials, Splinter was an executive at Intel Corporation where he held a number of positions in his 20 years at the company, including executive vice president and director of Sales and Marketing and executive vice president and general manager of the Technology and Manufacturing Group.

Splinter began his career at Rockwell International in the firm’s Electronics Research Center. During his tenure, he became manager of the company’s Semiconductor Fabrication Operations and was awarded two patents. Author of numerous papers and articles, Splinter earned both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

MediaTek Inc., a  fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced its breakthrough MT8135 system-on-chip (SoC) for high-end tablets. The quad-core solution incorporates two high-performance ARM Cortex-A15 and two ultra-efficient ARM Cortex-A7 processors, and the latest GPU from Imagination Technologies, the PowerVR Series6. Complemented by a highly optimized ARM big.LITTLE processing subsystem that allows for heterogeneous multi-processing, the resulting solution is primed to deliver premium user experiences. This includes the ability to seamlessly engage in a range of processor-intensive applications, including heavy web-downloading, hardcore gaming, high-quality video viewing and rigorous multitasking — all while maintaining the utmost power efficiency.

In line with its reputation for creating platform solutions, MediaTek has deployed an advanced scheduler algorithm, combined with adaptive thermal and interactive power management to maximize the performance and energy efficiency benefits of the ARM big.LITTLE architecture. This technology enables application software to access all of the processors in the big.LITTLE cluster simultaneously for a true heterogeneous experience.

"ARM big.LITTLE technology reduces processor energy consumption by up to 70 percent on common workloads, which is critical in the drive towards all-day battery life for mobile platforms," said Noel Hurley, vice president, Strategy and Marketing, Processor Division, ARM. "We are pleased to see MediaTek’s MT8135 seizing on the opportunity offered by the big.LITTLE architecture to enable new services on a heterogeneous processing platform."

"The move towards multi-tasking devices requires increased performance while creating greater power efficiency that can only be achieved through an optimized multi-core system approach. This means that multi-core processing capability is fast becoming a vital feature of mobile SoC solutions. The MT8135 is the first implementation of ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture to offer simultaneous heterogeneous multi-processing.  As such, MediaTek is taking the lead to improve battery life in next-generation tablet and mobile device designs by providing more flexibility to match tasks with the right-size core for better computational, graphical and multimedia performance," said Mike Demler, senior analyst with The Linley Group. 

The MT8135 features a MediaTek-developed four-in-one connectivity combination that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM, designed to bring highly integrated wireless technologies and expanded functionality to multimedia tablets. The MT8135 also supports Wi-Fi certified Miracast which makes multimedia content sharing between devices remarkably easier.

In addition, the tablet SoC boasts unprecedented graphics performance enabled by its PowerVR Series6 GPU from Imagination Technologies. "We are proud to have partnered with MediaTek on their latest generation of tablet SoCs" says Tony King-Smith, EVP of marketing, Imagination. "PowerVR Series6 GPUs build on Imagination’s success in mobile and embedded markets to deliver the industry’s highest performance and efficient solutions for graphics-and-compute GPUs. MediaTek is a key lead partner for Imagination and its PowerVR Series6 GPU cores, so we expect the MT8135 to set an important benchmark for high-end gaming, smooth UIs and advanced browser-based graphics-rich applications in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Thanks to our PowerVR Series6 GPU, we believe the MT8135 will deliver five-times or more the GPU-compute-performance of the previous generation of tablet processors."

The MT8135 is the latest SoC in MediaTek’s line of quad-core processors, which since its launch last December has given rise to more than 350 projects and over 150 mobile device models across the world.

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of North Carolina have demonstrated a new design for an instrument, a "instrumented nanoscale indenter," that makes sensitive measurements of the mechanical properties of thin films — ranging from auto body coatings to microelectronic devices — and biomaterials. The NIST instrument uses a unique technique for precisely measuring the depth of the indentation in a test surface with no contact of the surface other than the probe tip itself.

Nanoindenter head

Indenters have a long history in materials research. Johan August Brinell devised one of the first versions in 1900. The concept is to drop or ram something hard onto the test material and gauge the material’s hardness by the depth of the dent. This is fine for railway steel, but modern technology has brought more challenging measurements: the stiffness of micromechanical sensors used in auto airbags, the hardness of thin coatings on tool bits, the elasticity of thin biological membranes. These require precision measurements of depth in terms of nanometers and force in terms of micronewtons.

Instead of dents in metal, says NIST’s Douglas Smith, "We are trying to get the most accurate measurement possible of how far the indenter tip penetrates into the surface of the specimen, and how much force it took to push it in that far. We record this continuously. It’s called ‘instrumented indentation testing’."

A major challenge, Smith says, is that at the nanoscale you need to know exactly where the surface of the test specimen is relative to the indenter’s tip. Some commercial instruments do this by touching the surface with a reference part of the instrument that is a known distance from the tip, but this introduces additional problems. "For example, if you want to look at creep in polymer — which is one thing that our instrument is particularly good at—that reference point itself is going to be creeping into the polymer just under its own contact force. That’s an error you don’t know and can’t correct for," says Smith.

The NIST solution is a touchless surface detector that uses a pair of tiny quartz tuning forks — the sort used to keep time in most wrist watches. When the tuning forks get close to the test surface, the influence of the nearby mass changes their frequency — not much, but enough. The nanoindenter uses that frequency shift to "lock" the position of the indenter mechanism at a fixed distance from the test surface, but without exerting any detectable force on the surface itself.

"The only significant interaction we want is between the indenter and the specimen," says Smith, "or at least, to be constant and not deforming the surface. This is a significant improvement over the commercial instruments."

The NIST nanoindenter can apply forces up to 150 millinewtons, taking readings a thousand times a second, with an uncertainty lower than 2 micronewtons, and while measuring tip penetration up to 10 micrometers to within about 0.4nm. All of this in done in a way that can be traceably calibrated against basic SI units for force and displacement in a routine manner.

The instrument is well suited for high-precision measurements of hardness, elasticity and creep and similar properties for a wide range of materials, including often difficult to measure soft materials such as polymer films, says Smith, but one of its primary uses will be in the development of reference materials that can be used to calibrate other instrumented indenters. "There still are no NIST standard reference materials for this class of instruments because we wanted to have an instrument that was better than the commercial instruments for doing that," Smith explains.