Category Archives: LEDs

March 26, 2008 — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced the establishment of the Midwest Academy for Nanoelectronics and Architectures (MANA), a new research consortium led by the University of Notre Dame and designed to discover and develop the next nanoscale logic device, which will be the basic building block of future computers.

The consortium also includes Purdue University, the University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan, Argonne National Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Also participating in the joint announcement were representatives of the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Indiana Speaker of the House B. Patrick Bauer, South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke, Purdue Interim Provost Vic Lechtenberg, Notre Dame vice president for research Robert Bernhard, and Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

Direct support for MANA from the public and private sectors and the participating universities will total more than $25 million over three years. Notre Dame also will offer other additional support. The consortium organizers anticipate that additional funds will be obtained through federal grant applications under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, for which the federal government plans to allocate $1.5 billion a year.

MANA’s mission will be to explore and develop advanced devices, circuits and nanosystems with performance capabilities beyond conventional devices.

by Bob Haavind, Editorial Director, Solid State Technology

Problems with complex circuit patterns using alternating phase shift masks for low k1 lithography, even with strong off-axis illumination, led Intel to experiment with using pixels — about a trillion of them for a 65nm mask layer — for imaging. A number of papers at this year’s SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference described the techniques developed to successfully do the critical first metallization layer (M1) using pixelated phase-shift masks.

The trouble with phase shift came when exposure wavelengths became smaller even than the features on a 4× mask, according to Intel’s Y.A. Borodovsky, et. al. Undesirable “thick mask” effects results from interactions between the light radiation and mask materials and features. Pixelated Phase Mask (PPM) technology, using pixels with lateral dimensions much smaller than the wavelength, was developed as an alternative.

Investigations showed that while an alternating phase shift approach with highly coherent illumination proved robust for simple patterns, more complex structures were better handled by a phase-edge style with off-axis illumination, according to R.E. Schenker of Intel in a companion paper. Thus, to avoid design restrictions, the off-axis approach was chosen. Also, while a three-tone pixel mask (unetched glass, etched glass and chrome) offered superior patterning capabilities, a two-tone chromeless mask gave better CD control by avoiding CD shifts due to variations in e-beam alignment.

The size of individual pixels did not have much effect on final patterning performance, but MEEF effects were very asymmetric — so CD displacement in one direction would have little effect, but patterning would be degraded if it was in the other direction. This required the use of rule-based compensation, and wafer data was used to derive required mask making tolerances for pixel masks, including phase and glass angle uniformity.

The techniques were applied for the M1 layer of a 65nm microprocessor, and mask defects were successfully detected and repaired, according to Schenker. Early versions of full-chip pixel designs had some areas with weak images, but those weak patterning sites were corrected. Schenker concluded that there will be some issues in scaling this pixilation technology, and new mask materials may be needed to deal with them.

Getting pixilation to work required some heavy duty modeling, as described by Vivek Singh, et. al. of Intel in a paper quaintly titled “Making a trillion pixels dance.”

A thin mask model proved entirely inadequate, and although a thick mask model was better, it still needed considerable tuning. A rigorous model based on an optimization algorithm would be best, but the number of possible combinations of a trillion pixels on the final product mask would prove larger than the number of elementary particles in the known universe, Singh lamented. Once an upgraded thick mask model was devised, the software had to be extended from the μm to cm length scale for full-chip layout, with several non-trivial components such as handling pixilated domain boundaries, repair of regions where image quality did not converge, and then verification of the entire assembled database.

Although the exercise taught Intel a good deal, the approach evidently has been abandoned. — B.H.

Mar. 25, 2008 – Intel’s decision to locate a 300mm fab in Dalian, China, has spurred interest in the area for other industries, including LED makers from Taiwan, with Epistar and Everlight Electronics considering building a joint facility there, according to the Taiwan Economic News.

If it happens, the combination would form “a relatively dominant conglomerate” with Hon Hai Precision Industry, which already makes LEDs in China, and could “trigger a shakeup in local LED makers’ share of China’s domestic market” for end applications in autos and streetlights, the publication reports.

Growth of an automotive sector in northeastern China has spurred big demand for LED auto lamps and LED lights here. In concert with national policies to sponsor high-tech industry development, the local Dalian government has approved a 15% income tax rate and 5%-17% tax return rate for companies in the Jinzhou IT Park, about 30 miles from Dalian’s economic zone.

March 24, 2008 — NanoImaging Services Inc., a provider of high-resolution, 3D transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging services to manufacturers of large molecule biopharmaceuticals, has secured $1.5 million in a round of financing led by Merck Capital Ventures LLC. The investment will be used to expand the company’s service laboratory. NanoImaging will relocate to a larger facility in La Jolla, CA, next month.

“Advanced TEM imaging allows biopharmaceutical manufacturers to actually see the complex macromolecular structures they create, in 3D, with resolution as high as 1nm,” says Clint Potter, NanoImaging’s CEO. “It provides powerful visual support for structural characterization and validation throughout the drug development pipeline, promising to shorten development cycles and improve confidence at every stage from discovery, through development and regulatory review, and into long-term quality control and manufacturing process improvement.”

NanoImaging Services offers a range of services such as simple visual inspection; statistical characterization; antibody/labeling experiments; and nanometer-scale, 3D reconstruction. Advanced instrumentation within the laboratory includes a state-of-art Tecnai TEM and Vitrobot cryo-preservation system from FEI. Advanced cryo
techniques preserve delicate biological structures in their native, fully hydrated state.

Mar. 20, 2008 – An unexpectedly soft memory market in 4Q07 has caused analyst firm iSuppli to trim about $2B off its totals for the full year, pushing overall annual growth down to 3.3% vs. a preliminary forecast of 4.1% in November.

The culprit, as usual, is the memory segment, which the firm says came in well below expectations in 4Q — -19.1% in worldwide DRAM revenues (vs. -4.7% projections), and -3.9% for NAND flash (instead of growing ~3.0% as expected), causing total memory chip revenue in 4Q to slide 11% sequentially instead of just -1.2%.

The memory meltdown was “a complete role reversal” compared with the prior year, where memory IC revenues helped prop up the overall industry, noted Dale Ford, SVP of market intelligence, for iSuppli, in a statement. Taking memory out of the 4Q07 picture, he noted, semiconductor market growth in the quarter would have been 2.4% — but with memory, it was -0.5%. (See revised 2007 rankings and growth below.)

Beyond 4Q, the full year 2007 wasn’t kind to most memory firms either, iSuppli noted. Nanya Technology and Qimonda saw annual revenues slide 32.4% and 26%, respectively. Market leader Samsung fared better but still lost 3.3% in sales. Still, some weathered the storm better than others — Hynix (15%) and Toshiba (14.5%) managed positive growth in the teens, with Elpida (8.8%) not far behind.

Outside of the memory segment, life was notably better for many firms. Infineon, which had slipped to 15th among global semiconductor suppliers in 2006 after carving out its memory biz (now Qimonda), climbed back into the top 10 rankings in 2007 (21.1% growth), due largely to its acquisition of TI’s DSL chip biz and its wireless baseband semiconductor unit. Sony posted “extraordinary” growth of 55.5% to also surge into the top 10, though iSuppli noted a big chunk of those sales were internal for its PlayStation 3 gaming console. Toshiba (20.2%) also helped supply chips for the PS3, and managed gains in the NAND flash sector too, iSuppli noted.

Two US fabless firms, Qualcomm (No. 13, 24.1%) and nVidia (No. 20, 34.4%) also moved up the 2007 supplier ranks. iSuppli noted that for the first time, the top-10 supplier ranks are within striking distance for a fabless semiconductor supplier.

Other tidbits from the iSuppli 2007 summary report:

– Best growth by chip segment was logic ASICs (12.9%), with Sony and Toshiba key drivers due to PS3 demand. nVidia also had a good year here. Optical semiconductors (7.4%), sensors and actuators (7.3%), and discretes (4.2%) also outperformed the broader market.

– The microprocessor segment managed 2.1% in 2007, led by Intel’s 8% growth, which came at the expense of rival AMD (-21.2%).

– Analog IC sales tallied 2.9% growth, with strong performances by Qualcomm and Infineon, each with >20% growth.

– Automotive electronics (11.2%) was the best growth opportunity for semiconductor applications in 2007.

– The Asia-Pacific region posted the best regional growth, with 6.6%.

March 19, 2008 — As nanotechnology aids in improving the performance of wireless handsets, the market for nanotech-enabled wireless components is expected to grow rapidly. Pioneer Consulting’s latest report, entitled, “Nanotechnology in Wireless Handsets,” forecasts that the market for nanotech-enabled components in wireless handsets will grow at a CAGR of 70% from 2007 to 2012 and will reach $15 billion by the end of 2012.

Among the various handset components, the largest market share will be for batteries, followed by displays, processors, and memories. According to the report, the only components that are currently using nanotechnology include RF and display modules, while the other components will undergo a phased introduction between now and 2012.

Aditya Kaul, senior analyst of the emerging wireless practice at Pioneer, says, “Although the short-term investments required for introducing nanotechnology into handset components are huge, the stakeholders in the handset industry will need to focus on the long-term advantages that nanotechnology has to offer.”

Kaul adds that “the cost-benefit analysis of the various nanoprocesses and nanomaterials leads us to believe that improved performance of handset components outweighs the initial investment risks taken by stakeholders. In the long-run, the incremental process and material improvements coupled with the large economies of scale will lead to lower Bill of Material costs, allowing for a subsequent ROI.”

Some of the nano processes and materials included in the report are carbon nanotubes, buckyballs/fullerenes, spintronics and quantum dots. Other product-specific nanomaterials included are hydrocarbon fuel membranes, electron based LEDs, and bulk acoustic oscillators.

Mar. 18, 2008 – The market for transparent semiconductors used in display, photovoltaics, and lighting markets will surge to ~$9.4B by 2015, according to a study from analysis firm NanoMarkets. And a key element in the devices, indium tin oxide (ITO), will continue to be in heavy demand despite surging prices and other limitations.

ITO will continue to take a large share of the transparent conductor market over the next decade, and demand for the material will grow even if indium prices go up. by 2015, the firm says ITO-coated substrate sales will top $8.0B, while ITO inks and pastes achieve commercialization and surge to $600M in sales.

Many materials explored at ITO replacements — including other transparent conducting oxides such as AZO and IZO as well as organic conductors and materials using carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials — fall short in terms of conductivity and transparency, the firm notes. But work continues to improve formulations utilizing nanotubes and other nanomaterials, and these nanoengineered transparent conductors could end up taking a bigger chunk of the market, possibly worth $750M by 2015.

The main application entry-point for ITO replacements will be in touch-screen displays, where transparency and conductivity are less important than long-term resilience, an area in which ITO substitutes such as PEDOT and carbon nanotube formulations fare well. NanoMarkets forecasts a $400M market by 2015 for such transparent conductors used in touch screen displays.

Two other emerging markets for ITO replacement technologies include OLED lighting and flexible displays, areas that are not well suited for classical ITO for various reasons, notably flexibility with resistance to high-temperature manufacturing approaches typically associated with conventional ITO deposition. The analysis firm reports the market for transparent conductors for OLED lighting alone will total $670 million in 2015, with 70% of that derived from alternatives to the classic ITO approach.

Mar. 18, 2008 – Despite a late-year slowdown among industry and US economic uncertainty, 2007 turned out to be a decent year for major IC and related equipment suppliers, with just a few shufflings in the rankings reflecting marketshare gains and losses, according to new data from VLSI Research.

The top 10 IC/related equipment suppliers collectively posted annual sales of $33.5B, a 10% increase from 2006, and outpacing the overall chip-tool industry’s 8% growth (to $57.5B), according to VLSI’s numbers. The rankings include suppliers of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, thin-film heads, and MEMS (but not FPDs), and include service/support and refurbished systems.

Applied Materials once again led the way (though with just 3.4% growth, well below the average of the other top suppliers), followed by TEL, ASML, KLA-Tencor, and Lam Research. Nikon and Advantest switched places at Nos. 6-7; Hitachi High-Tech climbed from 11th to 9th, while DNS fell one spot to No. 10. Canon, a familiar resident of the top 10, fell to No. 11 losing marketshare to litho competitors ASML and Nikon with their immersion tools, according to Ha Pham, senior market analyst with VLSI Research.

Best growth in 2007 among the top 15 firms went to Varian Semi. Equip. Assoc., which has solidified a “monopoly” in the ion implant sector vs. Axcelis and SEN (and with the recent exit of Applied Materials), Pham told WaferNEWS. She expects VSEA to continue to be the dominant player in 2008, despite indications from Axcelis that it’s finally recording sales of its delayed Optima HD tool.

A quick look at the underperformers on the 2007 top IC tool suppliers roster indicates it wasn’t a great year for backend firms (Advantest -13%, Teradyne -19%, Verigy -19%). Pham noted that 2008 should be a little better, indicating that particularly Teradyne should regain ground close to its 2006 levels (~$1.09B, implying ~20% growth) due to its recent purchase of Nextest and new inroads into the memory segment.

Other tidbits from the new rankings:

– Eleven of the top 15 suppliers saw positive growth in 2007.
– The top 15 suppliers represented an even two-thirds (67%) of the total market, up from 65% a year ago.
– Regional representation among the top 15 didn’t change a whole lot from 2006, with the US (47%) and Europe (16%) both adding a percentage point in terms of total revenues, while Japan (37%) lost two percentage points.

Top 10 IC equipment suppliers in 2007*

(Revenues in US $M)

Company……………………………………2007……….vs. 2006 (%)

Applied Materials………………………8523……….8494 (3.4)
Tokyo Electron Ltd…………………….6291……….5072 (24.0)
ASML………………………………………..5145……….4538 (13.4)
KLA-Tencor……………………………….2781……….2357 (18.0)
Lam Research…………………………..2624……….2201 (19.2)
Nikon…………………………………………2148………1895 (13.4)
Advantest………………………………….1657……….1906 (-13.1)
Novellus Systems………………………1555……….1637 (-5.0)
Hitachi High-Technologies………..1445……….1272 (13.6)
Dainippon Screen Mfg………………1330……….1323 (0.5)

Top 10…………………………………….33,499……….30,620 (9.4)
Total industry…………………………..57,500……….53,500 (7.5)
Top 10 % of total………………………58.3%……….57.2%…..–

Next five:
Canon………………………………………..1309……….1287 (1.7)
ASMI………………………………………….1172……….967 (21.2)
Varian Semi. Equip. Assoc…………1074……….786 (36.6)
Teradyne……………………………………..876……….1086 (-19.3)
Verigy…………………………………………..762……….941** (-19.0)

*Includes revenues from IC & related system sales, service, and support. FPD equipment revenues are not included.
** spun out of Agilent Technologies in June 2006

Source: VLSI Research Inc.

March 17, 2008 — /FDA/ — Commissioner of Food and Drugs Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach announced March 10, after a national search, the appointment of Janet Woodcock, M.D., as director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

This appointment is of significance because CDER is charged with assuring that safe and effective drugs, including prescription, over-the-counter, and generics, are available to Americans.

“Dr. Woodcock’s outstanding scientific credentials and historical knowledge of the complexities involved in drug safety and regulation make her uniquely qualified to oversee, as well as modernize, the techniques, tools, and methods used for evaluating the safety and effectiveness of drugs throughout the product life-cycle,” says Dr. von Eschenbach.

A prominent FDA scientist and executive, Dr. Woodcock has received numerous awards, including a Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award, the American Medical Association’s Nathan Davis Award, the American Association for Cancer Research Public Service Award, the National Organization for Rare Disorders Public Health Leadership Award, the Personalized Medicine Coalition’s Award for Leadership in Personalized Medicine, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s VIDA Award, and six special citations from FDA commissioners.

Dr. Woodcock received her doctorate from Northwestern Medical School and completed further training and held teaching appointments at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of California in San Francisco.

Throughout her career at the FDA, Dr. Woodcock has played an integral role in advancing the health of the American public. Under her strong leadership, FDA launched the Critical Path Initiative designed to bridge the gap between basic scientific research and the medical product development process. This initiative called for a collaborative cross-sector effort to modernize the drug development process and has resulted in several prominent partnerships looking at a wide variety of scientific issues. Dr. Woodcock will continue to be involved in this initiative, as well as the emerging post-market surveillance collaborations with the private sector.

While serving as the agency’s deputy commissioner and chief medical officer, where she oversaw scientific and regulatory operations, Dr. Woodcock agreed to assume the role of acting director of CDER in October 2007. The recently announced Safety First program is one of the initiatives she has led since assuming the center director role in an acting capacity.

“Dr. Woodcock’s exemplary service since October was confirmation of her being ideally suited to lead the center during this crucial period following the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007,” notes Dr. von Eschenbach. “The agency is fully committed to implementing the drug safety programs laid out by this act and meeting the goals set under the Prescription Drug User Fee program, which will help ensure that CDER has the additional resources that are needed to conduct these very complex and comprehensive reviews.”

An internist and rheumatologist, Dr. Woodcock has previously held several other leadership positions in the agency, including director, Office of Therapeutics Research and Review, and acting deputy director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, as well as director of CDER.

“The FDA is truly blessed to have extraordinary public servants like Janet who are willing to use their skills and talents to guide the centers in achieving the agency’s mission of protecting and promoting the public health,” notes Dr. von Eschenbach.

Visit www.fda.gov

Mar. 13, 2008 – eASIC, a company that develops technology for making structured ASICs, say sit has raised $48M in “late stage” financing, led by Advanced Equities, with participation from previous investor s Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KCPB), Crescendo Ventures and Evergreen Venture Partners, as well eASIC’s own CFO Craig Klosterman.

The company configures structured logic by combining programmable logic such as an FPGA with routing with metal connections like a standard cell. It touts design wins in a variety of applications including portable video devices, cell phones, wireless basestations, routers, gateways, video surveillance, and digital displays. “Our Nextreme product is winning designs in the traditional standard cell ASIC, the Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP) and the FPGA markets,” noted president and CEO Ronnie Vasishta, in a statement.

eASIC launched in mid-2004 with technology consisting of an array of logic cells with SRAM-based look-up tables (LUTs) and flip-flops. The logic cells are interconnected by a segmented wiring grid that has upper metal layers customized with a single via-mask. A combination of bit-stream to program the LUTs and a single custom via-mask are used to implement the customer’s design on the structured eASIC fabric.

eASIC received a $7.5M equity boost in April 2005 from KPCB and its partner Vinod Khosla, as a follow-on to a $5.0 million investment in May 2004.