Category Archives: Semiconductors

Despite stronger-than-expected growth during the fourth quarter, 2012 was still a miserable year for the semiconductor market and suppliers, with only eight out of the Top 25 chipmakers managing to eke out revenue growth—but nine suffering double-digit declines.

Global semiconductor revenue in 2012 declined by 2.2 percent from 2011, according to final results from the IHS iSuppli Competitive Landscaping Tool (CLT) from information and analytics provider IHS. The preliminary forecast issued by IHS in December projected a drop of 2.3 percent.

The modest improvement in the final results came from year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter that came in slightly better than estimated, topping out at a 2.8 percent increase. The preliminary estimate had predicted a 1.9 percent expansion. 

Read more: When is the semiconductor industry expected to recover?

“The last three months were the only quarter in 2012 that generated a year-over-year increase in semiconductor market revenue, but that growth was too little and too late to salvage a terrible year for chipmakers,” said Dale Ford, senior director at IHS. “Even so, the stronger performance in the fourth quarter represents a positive signal for the semiconductor market, marking the beginning of a new growth cycle in the industry that will be sustained though 2013. IHS predicts global semiconductor revenue will rise by 5.6 percent in 2013, bringing an end to the slump of 2012.”

Semiconductor body count

Semiconductor industry growth in 2012 slipped from stagnation in the first half to a slump in the second half, widely affecting various players in the market.

Among the Top 25 suppliers, the only companies to expand revenue in 2012 were No. 2 Samsung, No. 3 Qualcomm, No. 9 Broadcom, No. 11 Sony, No. 14 NXP, No.15 nVidia, No.18 MediaTek and No. 24 LSI, as presented in the attached table.

The remaining 17 suppliers suffered revenue declines. Companies whose revenue fell by double-digit percentages were No. 4 Texas Instruments, No. 5 Toshiba, No. 6 Renesas, No. 8 STMicroelectronics, No. 12 Advanced Micro Devices, No. 16 Freescale, No. 17 Elpida, No. 21 Panasonic and No. 22 On Semiconductor.

“The semiconductor downturn had an extremely broad impact, as global economic uncertainty and weakness affected companies across all regions as well as the vast majority of products and application markets,” Ford observed. “Almost every major semiconductor product market suffered a decline in 2012, with double-digit drops in the major memory and discrete categories.” 

Merger dirge

With semiconductor suppliers’ financial condition so weak, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity among the top companies was nearly non-existent in 2012—a stark contrast to the high level of activity seen in 2011.

The only major purchase was Samsung’s acquisition of a 100 percent share of the Samsung LED business from Samsung Electro-Mechanics. The results of all other top companies were not meaningfully impacted by M&A activity.

Silver linings playbook

While there was plenty of bad news in the 2012 semiconductor market, the most dramatic change for any single semiconductor supplier was actually a positive development: Qualcomm’s nearly 30 percent surge in revenue.

Qualcomm’s revenue growth of 29.2 percent launched it to the No. 3 rank in the global semiconductor market in 2012, up from No. 6 in 2011.  Its share of the semiconductor market grew by a full percentage point to 4.3 percent, up from 3.3 percent.

“In two years, Qualcomm has risen from No. 9 to No. 3 in the semiconductor rankings,” Ford noted. “This is the strongest ascension through the top ranks by any semiconductor company in recent history. Qualcomm continues to capitalize on the robust growth of semiconductor sales to the strong market for wireless devices including smartphones and media tablets.”

Only two other companies among the Top 25 achieved double-digit growth: LSI, with 22.6 percent; and Sony, with 21.8 percent. These expansions were notable achievements in such a tough market environment.

Semiconductor surprises

The bright spots in an otherwise dismal year for semiconductor growth were found in CMOS image sensors, logic ASICs, LEDs, display drivers and sensors. Growth in CMOS image sensors hit 38.8 percent, followed by logic ASICs at 19.0 percent. LEDs also expanded in the double digits at 11.9 percent. Meanwhile, growth came in at 6.9 percent for display drivers and at 6.1 percent for sensors and actuators.

The only other categories to sustain increases were logic ASSPs and standard logic components.

“Robust growth in smartphones and media tablets was key to driving growth opportunities for logic ASICs, CMOS image sensors and sensors essential to enabling new and attractive features in the exciting wireless market. LEDs also have been boosted by their continued adoption in LCD TV backlight and general purpose lighting applications.”

Veredus Laboratories today announced that the current version of VereFlu detects the current subtype of H7N9 (Avian Flu) that is responsible for the flu outbreak in China. H7N9 is the latest mutation to cause concern and increased surveillance in the region. Launched in 2008 and built on the STMicroelectronics lab-on-chip platform, VereFlu run on Veredus’ VerePLEXTM biosystem is the market’s first test to integrate two powerful molecular biological applications, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and a microarray, onto a Lab-on-Chip platform.

Detect avian flu
Veredus uses STMicroelectronics’ lab-on-chip platform to detect avian flu.

VereFlu is a portable lab-on-chip application for rapid detection of all major influenza types at the point of need. Unlike existing diagnostic methods, VereFlu is a breakthrough molecular diagnostic test that can detect infection with high accuracy and sensitivity, within two hours, providing genetic information on the infection that traditionally could take days to weeks to learn. With its high level of automation, users outside the traditional lab environment can easily perform the tests at the point of need. In addition to the current H7N9 Avian Flu, VereFlu is proven to identify and differentiate human subtypes of Influenza A (H1, H3, H5, H7, H9) and B viruses, including the Avian Flu subtype H5N1, and the 2009 pandemic H1N1/2009, all in a single test.

“After learning of the outbreak in China, we have confirmed that our current VereFlu influenza panel is able to detect the subtype of H7N9 responsible for this outbreak in addition to other human flu A and B infections,” said Rosemary Tan, chief executive officer of Veredus. “This confirms our vision when we designed the panel for the need to have a multiplexed molecular test to detect not only the typical seasonal influenza subtypes but also novel emerging subtypes, including the current H7N9 subtype, capable of making the jump from animals to humans.”

Veredus specializes in the development, manufacture, and marketing of innovative multiplexed molecular solutions in the clinical, specialty, and custom testing markets based on STMicroelectronics’ proprietary Lab-on-Chip platform. The Lab-on-Chip platform, marketed as the VerePLEXTM biosystem, combines Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) with micro-fluidics to integrate multiplexed DNA amplification with microarray detection for rapid, cost-effective, and accurate analysis of biological materials.

memsstar Limited, a provider of etch and deposition equipment and technology solutions to manufacturers of semiconductors and MEMS, today announced the appointment of Tony McKie as its new chief executive officer (CEO). McKie is tasked with capitalising on the company’s experience and reputation in the semiconductor and MEMS markets to drive its growth.

"memsstar is poised to take advantage of the significant growth potential of the MEMS and remanufactured semiconductor equipment markets," said Peter Connock, chairman of the board of memsstar. "Both MEMS and remanufactured equipment are forecast to see continuing growth over the next few years. Tony, with his industry experience and in-depth knowledge of technology, is ideally suited to ensure we maximize our opportunities in these markets. We look to Tony to advance our MEMS technology beyond our present capabilities and drive our efforts to expand our remanufactured equipment and services business."

Europe remains a center for semiconductor technology development in emerging applications along with the cost-effective manufacture of legacy products, both of which benefit from production-ready remanufactured legacy semiconductor processing equipment — a market poorly supported by conventional suppliers. Under McKie’s guidance, memsstar will expand its portfolio of process capabilities and services to better supply the needs of its customers.

At the same time, single wafer dry release etch is seeing global adoption by the leading advanced MEMS manufacturers to overcome the process challenges associated with traditional wet etch and batch etch processes. memsstar’s proprietary sacrificial vapour release etch technology is market-proven and positioned to take advantage of emerging requirements for MEMS manufacturing.

"Tony has been a key resource as the company has developed," said Andrew Elder, non-executive director representing Albion Ventures. "His extensive knowledge of the industry, together with his vision for ongoing development and expansion, makes him the obvious choice to lead the company through its next stage of growth."

As one of memsstar’s founders, McKie was responsible for developing the memsstar range of technology products and managing business development activities for the single wafer release etch platforms. He brings an extensive background in semiconductor equipment manufacturing through prior management roles at Electrotech, Lam Research and Applied Materials.

The global semiconductor materials market decreased 2 percent in 2012 compared to 2011 while worldwide semiconductor revenues declined 3 percent. Revenues of $47.11 mark the first decline in the semiconductor materials market in three years.

Total wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials were $23.38 billion and $23.74 billion, respectively. Comparable revenues for these segments in 2011 were $24.22 billion for wafer fabrication materials and $23.62 billion for packaging materials. 2012 is the first time packaging materials revenues exceeded wafer fabrication materials revenues. A substantial decline in silicon revenue contributed to the year-over-year decrease to the total semiconductor materials market.

For the third year in a row, Taiwan is the largest consumer of semiconductor materials with record spending of $10.32 billion due to its large foundry and advanced packaging base. Materials markets in China and South Korea also experienced increases in 2012, benefiting from strength in packaging materials. The materials market in Japan contracted 7 percent, with markets also contracting in Europe, North America, and Rest of World. (The ROW region is defined as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, other areas of Southeast Asia and smaller global markets).

2011-2012 Semiconductor Materials Market by World Region
(Dollar in U.S. billions; Percentage Year-over-Year) 

Region 2011 2012 %Change
Taiwan 10.11 10.32 2%
Japan 9.21 8.53 -7%
Rest of World 8.21 8.09 -1%
South Korea 7.27 7.33 1%
China 4.87 5.07 4%
North America 4.86 4.74 -2%
Europe 3.31 3.03 -8%
Total 47.84 47.11 -2%

Source: SEMI April 2013

Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

The Material Market Data Subscription (MMDS) from SEMI provides current revenue data along with seven years of historical data and a two-year forecast. A year subscription includes four quarterly updates for the material segments reports revenue for seven market regions (North America, Europe, ROW, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China). The report also features detailed historical data for silicon shipments and revenues for photoresist, photoresist ancillaries, process gases and leadframes.

 

In an effort that will accelerate commercialization of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology and the development of next-generation transistors, SEMATECH announced today that Intermolecular, Inc. has joined SEMATECH’s Lithography and Front End Processes (FEP) programs. The companies have agreed to co-develop new methods to reduce overall cost of ownership (CoO) for Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) lithography, and to co-explore new materials, processes, and integration schemes for advanced logic integrated circuit technologies. 

“There are technology gaps the industry needs to address to enable cost-effective insertion of EUV lithography at the 22nm half-pitch,” said Stefan Wurm, SEMATECH’s director of lithography. “SEMATECH is pleased to welcome Intermolecular as a partner. We will work together to accelerate the investigation and qualification of chemical formulations needed to establish a production-worthy EUV lithography technology.”

Intermolecular’s High Productivity Combinatorial platform provides disruptive research and development (R&D) capability that allows for prototyping and characterization of atomic-scale devices at rates 10-100 times faster than can be achieved with conventional approaches. Such methodologies and technologies will be used in both of the program collaborations.

“As semiconductor dimensions are scaled down further, contact resistance remains a critical issue,” said Tony Chiang, Chief Technology Officer, Intermolecular. “Our unique capabilities to accelerate R&D across leading-edge semiconductor processes and devices complement SEMATECH’s expertise in advanced CMOS test structures and process flows. We are pleased to join in this pre-competitive collaboration intended to accelerate the transfer of new technologies into industry.”

Intermolecular’s mission is to improve R&D efficiency in the semiconductor and clean energy industries through collaborations that use its HPC platform.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. today announced an ongoing multi-year agreement with TSMC to develop the design infrastructure for 16-nanometer FinFET technology, targeting advanced node designs for mobile, networking, servers and FPGA applications. The deep collaboration, beginning earlier in the design process than usual, will effectively address the design challenges specific to FinFETs — from design analysis through signoff — and will deliver the infrastructure necessary to enable ultra low-power, high-performance chips.

FinFETs help deliver the power, performance, and area (PPA) advantages that are needed to develop highly differentiated SoC designs at 16 nanometers and smaller process technologies. Unlike a planar FET, the FinFET employs a vertical fin-like structure protruding from the substrate with the gate wrapping around the sides and top of the fin, thereby producing transistors with low leakage currents and fast switching performance. This extended Cadence-TSMC collaboration will produce the design infrastructure that chip designers need for accurate electrical characteristics and parasitic models required for advanced FinFET designs for mobile and enterprise applications.

"The FinFET device requires greater accuracy, from analysis through signoff, and that is why TSMC is teaming with Cadence on this project," said Suk Lee, TSMC senior director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. "This collaboration will enable designers to use the new process technology with confidence earlier than ever before, allowing our mutual customers to meet their power, performance and time-to-market goals."

"Producing the design infrastructure necessary for these types of complex, groundbreaking processes requires close collaboration between foundries and EDA technology innovators," said Chi-Ping Hsu, senior vice president, Silicon Realization Group at Cadence. "In joining with TSMC, a leader in FinFET technology, Cadence brings unique technology innovations and expertise that will provide designers with the FinFET design capabilities they need to bring high-performance, power-efficient products to market."

Solid State Technology is excited to announce that Mark Thirsk, managing partner at Linx Consulting, will be discussing the cost and technology needed to implement next-generation device technology at The ConFab 2013. Thirsk has over 20 years of experience in the chemical industry, working with a variety of materials and processes utilized in wafer fabrication.

“Planar CMOS logic and DRAM and NAND Flash memories are all facing major challenges for future scaling,” writes Thirsk, in his abstract. “This presentation will discuss the new fully depleted transistors, such as FDSOI and FinFETs that are now entering production for logic devices. New memory technologies such as MRAM, PCRAM and FeRAM are beginning to enter production for memory as well.”

Thirsk plans to review forecasts of implementation timing for the new technologies, scaling, equipment and materials requirements, and wafer costs. Additionally, he will review the cost and process complexity implications due to the delayed migration to EUV, the introduction of 450mm wafers, the migration of deposition to vapor phase processes, and novel cleaning and CMP processes.

Having been on both sides of the fence as a user and seller of materials and equipment, as well as being intimately involved with major materials manufacturers, Thirsk is well placed to bring clarity and insight into understanding markets from both a technical and commercial perspective. Previous to Linx, Mark was Senior Marketing Manager at Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials where he was responsible for strategic planning and new business development. Additionally, Mark has served in the SEMI Chemicals and Gases Manufacturers Group (CGMG) since 1999, acting as Chairman from 2001 to 2003.

For more information or to register for The ConFab 2013, visit The ConFab section of our website.

Gigaphoton, Inc., a lithography light source manufacturer, announced today that as of April 2013, it has started business operations at the Gigaphoton Singapore Branch, its newly established branch in that country.

Through this Singapore Branch, Gigaphoton will aggressively promote new business opportunities to find potential customers in Singapore by teaming up with lithography system manufacturers as well as further reinforce its local technical support system for existing Singaporean customers of Gigaphoton excimer lasers for semiconductor lithography systems.

Until now, Gigaphoton has developed its excimer laser business in Singapore with Komatsu Asia and Pacific Pte Ltd., an overseas subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., as its sales representative. Gigaphoton officials said that the Gigaphoton Singapore branch has been established in order to directly engage in its Singapore-based business operations in the future.

The Gigaphoton branch is located at 1 Gul Avenue, Off Benoi Road, Singapore 62948. Gigaphoton has hired Hiroto Kai as branch manager, and operations officially began on April 1, 2013.

Gigaphoton is known for its patented LPP EUV technology solutions.

Gallium nitride has been described as “the most important semiconductor since silicon” and is used in energy-saving LED lighting. A new £1million (or US$1,530,700) growth facility will allow University of Cambridge researchers to further reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of LEDs, with potentially huge cost-saving implications.

A new facility for growing Gallium Nitride – the key material needed to make energy-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs) – has opened in Cambridge, enabling researchers to expand and accelerate their pioneering work in the field.

Gallium Nitride LEDs are already used in traffic lights, bicycle lights, televisions, computer screens, car headlamps and other devices, but they are too expensive to be used widely in homes and offices. The main reason for this is that they are normally grown on expensive substrates, which pushes up the price of LED lightbulbs. The new Gallium Nitride growth reactor at Cambridge will allow researchers to further improve a method of growing low-cost LEDs on silicon substrates, reducing their cost by more than 50 percent and opening them up for more general use.

In addition, researchers are developing color-tunable LED lighting, which would have the quality of natural sunlight, bringing considerable health benefits to users.

University scientists are also starting to investigate the potential of Gallium Nitride in electronics, which it is thought could have similarly significant energy-saving consequences – perhaps cutting nationwide electricity consumption by a further 9 percent.

The reactor, which is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), was opened March 28, 2013 by David Willetts MP, the Minister for Universities and Science. It marks the latest chapter in a decade-long research project to make LEDs the go-to technology for lighting, led by Professor Sir Colin Humphreys in the University’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

In 2003, Humphreys and his team began experimenting with the possibility of growing Gallium Nitride (GaN) on silicon instead of costly sapphire and silicon carbide. After years of painstaking research, they finally developed a successful process, and in 2012 this was picked up by the British manufacturer, Plessey, which has already started to manufacture LEDs at its factory in Plymouth, based on the Cambridge technology. Plessey also hired three of Humphreys’ post-doctoral scientists to help transfer the process. It is the first time that LEDs have been manufactured in the UK.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: "LEDs are highly energy efficient but expensive to produce, meaning their domestic use is limited. This excellent new facility will enable researchers to look at more cost-efficient ways to produce LEDs, saving money and benefitting the environment. It will also help keep the UK research base at the very forefront of advanced materials, which is one of the eight great technologies."

Making Gallium Nitride LEDs more cost-effective could unlock benefits far beyond energy saving alone. Humphreys is investigating the possibility of “smart lighting” – a system in which LED lights coupled to a sensor would be able to switch themselves on and off, or alter their brightness, relative to a user’s presence or levels of natural daylight in a room.

As their use increases, the beams from LEDs could be used to transmit information, for example from traffic lights to cars.

“It’s conceivable that the two could be developed to talk to one another,” Humphreys said. “Traffic reports, such as information about a road accident, could be sent to traffic light systems. They could then relay the details to drivers by transmitting it through the headlamps.”

Researchers also believe that LEDs could be used to purify water supplies in the developing world. Deep ultraviolet (UV) radiation kills bacteria and viruses. By putting a ring of ultraviolet LEDs around a water pipe at the point where it enters a home, it might be possible to kill off bacteria in the water as well as other undesirable organisms, such as mosquito larvae.

Further energy-saving with LEDs may also be possible. Humphreys and his team are currently investigating the so-called “green gap” problem which could improve the way in which they make white light. The LEDs currently used to make white light are in fact blue – the color is changed using a phosphor coating. This phosphor is, however, not completely energy efficient, and a better way of making white light could be by mixing blue, red and green LEDs together instead.

This, however, depends on resolving lower efficiency in green light compared with the other two colors. If this can be addressed, and LEDs made the standard for lighting nationwide, then it is estimated that there would be an additional electricity saving of 5 percent – on top of the 10 percent likely to be engendered by switching to LED technology in the first place.

 “If we can replicate devices with Gallium Nitride electronics, we believe that we could make them 40 percent more efficient,” he said. “That in itself would translate into a 9 percent electricity saving in the UK, if applied across the board.”

GaN LEDs

Gallium Nitride (GaN), grown on a silicon substrate, to manufacture light-emitting diodes. The material is critical to making LED lighting, which researchers and the Government agree could cut UK electricity consumption by 10-15 percent.

 Credit: University of Cambridge Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy

Fulfilling the promise of performance and power scaling at 16nm, ARM and Cadence today announced details behind their collaboration to implement the first ARM Cortex-A57 processor on TSMC’s 16nm FinFET manufacturing process. The test chip was implemented using the complete Cadence RTL-to-signoff flow, Cadence Virtuoso custom design platform, ARM Artisan standard cell libraries and TSMC’s memory macros.

The Cortex-A57 processor is ARM’s highest-performing processor to date, and is based on the new ARMv8 architecture, designed for computing, networking and mobile applications that require high performance at a low-power budget. TSMC’s 16nm FinFET technology is a significant breakthrough that enables continued scaling of process technology to feature sizes below 20nm. This test chip, developed with Cadence’s custom, digital and signoff solutions for FinFET process technology, was a collaboration that resulted in several innovations and co-optimizations between manufacturing process, design IP, and design tools.

"More than ever, success at the leading edge of innovation requires deep collaboration. When designing SoCs incorporating advanced processors, like the Cortex-A57, and optimizing the implementation using physical IP created for FinFET processes, the expertise of our partners is needed," said Tom Cronk, executive vice president and general manager, Processor Division at ARM. "Our joint innovations will enable our customers to accelerate their product development cycles and take advantage of leading-edge processes and IP."

The 16nm process using FinFET technology presented new challenges that required significant new development in the design tools. New design rules, RC extraction for 3D transistors, increased complexity of resistance models for interconnect and vias, quantized cell libraries, library characterization that supports new transistor models and double patterning across more layers are some of the challenges that have been addressed in Cadence’s custom, digital and signoff products.

"This major milestone was challenging on all fronts, requiring engineers from ARM, Cadence and TSMC to work as a unified team," said Dr. Chi-Ping Hsu, senior vice president of R&D for the Silicon Realization Group at Cadence.