Category Archives: Semiconductors

GaN Systems Inc., a developer of gallium nitride power switching semiconductors, announced today the opening of a new office facility located in Reading, England. This expansion of the Company’s European operations will aid the Company in continuing to impact key industries, like manufacturing and automotive, where the need for clean technology power conversion applications continue to grow. GaN Systems’ head office is currently located in Ottawa, Canada.

"GaN Systems new office facility comes in response to a strong pull from our growing base of European customer partners," said Geoff Haynes, the Company’s UK based VP Business Development. "The Company has a strong focus on collaborating across the manufacturing value chains for global power electronics markets to accelerate the adoption, and drive the cost of manufacture of GaN components. That can only be achieved through a strong local technical presence."

In addition to sales offices, the new location will include technical support and seminar facilities.

GaN Systems expands
GaN Systems is a developer of gallium nitride power switching semiconductors

 

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and TSMC (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that Qualcomm’s wholly owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., will be the first company to produce working silicon on TSMC’s 28nm HPM (High Performance Mobile) process technology. TSMC’s 28HPM is the first production process that can support 2GHz + application processors with low power consumption. The process is ideally suited for tablet and high-end smartphone applications.

The first 28HPM production device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with quad core Krait 400 CPUs with speeds of up to 2.3 GHz per core, customized for low power consumption.  It also is the first SoC to integrate a 4G LTE Advanced modem with Carrier Aggregation and Category 4 data speeds up to 150 Mbps. Compared to previous generations, Qualcomm Technologies has significantly improved overall power efficiency via reduced leakage and active power while substantially increasing speed in its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors.

With its large speed and power range, TSMC’s 28HPM process is optimized for mobile computing applications. It also supports wide market applications from application processors, integrated application processors with multimode LTE-Advanced Qualcomm Gobi modems to cloud-computing networking applications. The process could support CPU speeds of 2-2.3GHz with less than 750mW of power consumption per core. Compared to TSMC’s 40LP, 28HPM devices are 2.5-2.7X faster, and cut active power in half.

"By utilizing TSMC’s 28HPM process, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors will deliver industry leading performance and outstanding battery life," said Jim Lederer, executive vice president and general manager, Qualcomm Technologies. "In working closely with TSMC, we maximize the impact this process will have on bringing Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors to tablet and high-end smartphone solutions, while continuing to find ways to align our business and strategic objectives that help to define the value of our partnership."

"Qualcomm Technologies uses its world-class architecture and deep familiarity with 28nm design to achieve breakthrough 2.3GHz performance and power characteristics high-end smartphone users want today," said Rick Cassidy, President, TSMC North America. "We are happy to see Qualcomm Technologies’ achievement in producing the first 28HPM device and congratulate them on their ongoing mobile device leadership."

The German trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf and ESNA (European Association for Specialist Printing Manufacturers of Screen, Digital and Flexo Technology) have formed a strategic cooperation in order to address the fast-growing printed electronics market and its huge potential in a wide range of sectors.  By organizing the new special show PEPSO – Printed Electronics Products and Solutions at six of Messe Düsseldorf’s relevant trade fairs, Messe Düsseldorf and ESNA will offer an information platform for the latest trends and developments relating to printed electronics in the glass and solar industry, the medical and retail technology sector as well as in the plastics and printing industry.

“Printed electronics is becoming attractive in many user sectors for which Messe Düsseldorf stages the respective flagship fairs,” said Hans Werner Reinhard, deputy managing director of Messe Düsseldorf, “By establishing PEPSO, we are giving this topic a platform of its own and are integrating it in the trade fairs for the retail, glass processing, packaging, printing and medical sector. We are in the ideal position to offer manufacturers of printed electronics a marketing showcase for specific target group.,”

“The printing industry is ready to vertically integrate functionality and electronic applications. This cooperation is an ideal opportunity for the printing sector to gain access to the many industries and markets covered by Messe Düsseldorf’s range of exhibitions,” added Peter Buttiens, CEO of ESMA.

The two partners will combine their public relations and online activities and promote each other’s events by presenting themselves at the appropriate partner events. Messe Düsseldorf will be represented with an information stand at the upcoming AFIP – Advanced Functional & Industrial Printing – in Düsseldorf on March 6 and 7, 2013 while ESMA will take part in the relevant Düsseldorf trade fairs.

advanced electronics packagingEngineered Material Systems, a global supplier of electronic materials for circuit assembly applications, debuts its DB-1568-1 low-temperature cure die attach adhesive for attaching semiconductor die in temperature-sensitive devices. Applications include smart cards, camera modules, flex circuits and more.

The DB-1568-1 is more than 90 percent cured after 30 minutes at 80°C, but has a dispensing work life greater than 48 hours (measured as a 25 percent increase in viscosity), while maintaining optimized rheology for stencil printing and excellent damp heat resistance and conductivity stability. DB-1568-1 features extreme flexibility that is ideal for flexible applications with high peel strength to withstand the stresses induced in flexible electronics and display applications. Also, this material can be fast cured at elevated temperatures (1 minute @ 180°C).

DB-1568-1 is the latest addition to Engineered Material Systems’ extensive line of electronic materials for semiconductor, circuit assembly, photovoltaic, printer head, camera module, disk drive and photonic applications.

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) announced its SpectraShape 9000 optical critical dimension (CD) metrology system and BDR300 backside defect inspection and review module at the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference this week. The SpectraShape 9000 is a new metrology system capable of monitoring the shapes of three-dimensional transistors, memory cells and other key structures that enable high-performance memory and microprocessor chips. The BDR300 inspects and reviews the back side of the wafer for defects that can cause patterning problems on the wafer’s front side. The two new systems are designed to enable volume production of integrated circuits at sub-20nm design rules.

“In this era of highly extended 193nm immersion lithography, our customers are innovating on several fronts to deal with process tolerances in lithography and etch that have become remarkably tight,” said Brian Trafas, Ph.D., chief marketing officer at KLA-Tencor. “The two products we have launched today tackle two key process control issues in this area: scanner focus-related defects and failure or underperformance of finFETs, vertically stacked NANDs, and other three-dimensional structures, caused by small deviations in shape. The BDR300 and SpectraShape 9000 are designed to help our customers navigate the monumental challenges they are facing today in lithography and etch.”

The new SpectraShape 9000 introduces a laser-driven plasma light source and several other significant advances that enable dimensional metrology capability for a broad range of materials and structures. The SpectraShape 9000 features higher sensitivity and throughput than its predecessor in order to accommodate the industry’s need for tighter process control at sub-20nm nodes—a need to measure more sites per wafer on an increasing number of layers. It also supports innovative metrology targets designed for multiple-patterning lithography.

The new BDR300 back-side inspection and review module for the CIRCL cluster tool features a dramatic improvement in defect sensitivity over that of its predecessor, allowing fabs to find and classify sub-micron back-side defects, which can agglomerate and affect yield at advanced nodes. The CIRCL cluster is now available as a stand-alone back-side inspection and review system, a configuration designed to support an increasing industry requirement to inspect the back sides of wafers before wafers enter the scanner. Clean wafer back sides reduce the probability of contaminating the scanner chuck and affecting subsequent product.

Multiple SpectraShape 9000 shape metrology systems have been installed at leading logic and memory chip manufacturers, where they are replacing existing CD/shape metrology tools for new technology development and ramp or fulfilling requirements for additional metrology capacity. The first CIRCL tools containing the BDR300 module have also been installed and are being used for proactive scanner monitoring as well as traditional after-develop defect inspection. To maintain the high performance and productivity demanded by leading-edge production, the SpectraShape and CIRCL tools are backed by KLA-Tencor’s global, comprehensive service network.

Molecular Imprints, Inc. (MII), a developer of advanced semiconductor lithography, has announced the delivery of an advanced lithography platform which uses Xaar 1001 inkjet printheads to pattern 450mm silicon wafer substrates.

The first patterned 450mm wafers produced using the Imprio 450 were showcased by Intel Corporation at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) in January. This represents a major step in semiconductor manufacturing and accelerates the industry’s transition to 450mm wafers by two years or more.

The advanced design of the Xaar 1001 with its patented TF Technology recirculates the resist fluid directly past the back of the nozzle, effectively managing temperature, keeping particles in suspension and evacuating any bubbles from inside the printhead. This is ideal for applying functional fluids where high performance, productivity and reliability are essential. This application demonstrates the increasing adoption of inkjet within advanced manufacturing processes and underscores Xaar’s efforts to extend its inkjet technology into new markets. 

“While the development period has been extensive, the results are impressive and show that Xaar technology has the potential to deliver ultra-precise results within a highly demanding manufacturing application,” says Mark Alexander, director of marketing at Xaar.

Xaar, an independent supplier of industrial inkjet printheads, has worked closely with MII on the application of their Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography (J-FIL) technology. The MII Imprio 450 tool uses a special version of the Xaar 1001 printhead to print tiny droplets of resist fluid to the precise patterning requirements of the J-FIL technology.

SEMATECH announced today that Dr. Bryan J. Rice, on assignment from Intel Corporation as SEMATECH’s director of Strategic Initiatives, was inducted as a 2013 Fellow by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, during its annual SPIE Advanced Lithography conferences in San Francisco, CA.

Each year, SPIE Fellows are elected based on their significant scientific and technical contributions in optics, photonics, and imaging. Rice received recognition for his achievements in technical and strategic leadership in the development of lithography. He was one of 69 Fellows elected to the Society this year.

“SPIE’s election of Bryan to Fellow demonstrates the significance of his achievements and is a testament to his leadership in the lithography community,” said Dan Armbrust, SEMATECH president and CEO.

Before being named SEMATECH’s director of Strategic Initiatives in 2011, Rice served as director of SEMATECH’s Lithography program for three years. Under his leadership, SEMATECH partnered with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) to launch the Resist and Materials Development Center, an EUV imaging resource, and the EUV Mask Infrastructure (EMI) Partnership which focuses on critical EUV tool development activities.

Rice also led SEMATECH’s high-index immersion research in the search for high-refractive index lens and immersion fluid materials, and helped form the group’s double-exposure program, which focused on the exploration of novel materials for the litho-litho etch patterning approach.

Prior to his assignment at SEMATECH, Rice worked with lithography tool manufacturers and EUV source suppliers in Intel’s Components Research Division, to remove roadblocks to the development of EUV lithography technology.

Rice holds a doctorate in nuclear physics from Duke University as well as a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds 16 U.S. patents and is the author of numerous publications on lithography and metrology. 

As an active member of SPIE, Rice has authored and co-authored more than 30 papers, presented numerous papers and posters on current lithography issues, and contributed to selected chapters of books published by SPIE Press.

SPIE is dedicated to advancing scientific research and engineering applications of optical, photonic, imaging and optoelectronic technologies through its meetings, education programs and publications.

LEDs are projected to grow more than six-fold to nearly $100 billion and power conversion electronics to $15 billion over the next decade as the desire for energy efficiency drives adoption, says Lux Research. While the market opportunity is clear, the winning positions are still very much up for grabs, so making wise partnership and investment choices is critical.  

“A slew of developers are working on innovative materials and system architectures, targeting the primary challenges of cost reduction and manufacturability,” said Pallavi Madakasira, Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, Winning the Jump Ball: Sorting Winners from Losers in LEDs and Power Electronics. “Many leading lights of the electronics industry are strong in these markets, but start-ups with novel technologies are looking to grab a share for themselves.  

Lux Research positioned the key developers of LEDs and power electronics materials, devices, and systems on the Lux Innovation Grid based on their technical Vvalue and business execution – companies that are strong on both axes reach the “dominant” quadrant. They also assessed each company’s maturity, and provided an overall Lux Take. Among their findings:

  • SiC players are dominant in power electronics. The “dominant” power electronics players wager mostly on SiC. Cree is a fully vertically integrated SiC device manufacturer, while other top leaders are experienced players from silicon power electronics like Infineon, Rohm Semiconductor and ST Microelectronics.
  • Cree, II-VI Wide Bandgap lead materials space. Cree is also “dominant” in materials, based on its development of SiC substrates. The only other company with a “dominant” rank is II-VI Wide Bandgap Group, an SiC wafer supplier with established relationships with power electronics and RF device manufacturers.
  • Six vie for dominance in LED. Cree is the leader in LEDs as well, the only firm that has successfully commercialized SiC-substrate-based LEDs at scale. Among other “dominant” firms, Nichia holds the most IP, while Samsung, Philips, and Osram Opto Semiconductors have all demonstrated GaN-on-silicon LEDs. GE Lighting does not have its own chip technology but its integration further down the value chain and its recent acquisition of fixture manufacturer Albeo make it a force to reckon with.

The report, titled Winning the Jump Ball: Sorting Winners from Losers in LEDs and Power Electronics, is part of the Lux Research Energy Electronics Intelligence service.

The competitive landscape of the cellphone core integrated circuit (IC) business has completely transformed over the past five years, with Qualcomm Inc. and Samsung capitalizing on the rise of smartphones and 4G.

In the market for application-specific mobile handset core ICs like baseband and radio-frequency semiconductors, Qualcomm in 2012 reigned supreme with 31 percent market revenue share, according to the IHS iSuppli Wireless Competitive Landscape Tool from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

The San Diego-based chip maker has held the top position since 2007 and even enlarged its lead by 8 percentage points during the period. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics was the No. 2 vendor after Qualcomm, with a 21 percent share, after not even ranking in in the Top 10 in 2007, as presented in the attached figure.

Together the two companies accounted for more than half of the total market, with the next eight vendors in the Top 10 accounting for another 34 percentage points of share. The other vendors among the leaders were, in descending order, MediaTek, Intel, Skyworks, Texas Instruments, ST-Ericsson, Renesas, Spreadtrum and Broadcom. The Top 10 enjoyed a collective 86 percent share of the market.

“As smartphones and the next-generation wireless standard known as 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) have gained popularity, the corresponding influences from both forces have created paradigm shifts that transformed competition in the mobile handset core IC market,” said Brad Shaffer, analyst for consumer & communications at IHS. “The arrival of Apple Inc.’s iPhone five years ago changed the game and paved the way for the current market rankings. This change is dramatically illustrated by looking at the major differences in the cellphone core IC rankings from 2007 to 2012. The companies that benefited from the shift in market orientation rose to domination while others that were caught between changing market environments were left in limbo.”

Getting to the core

The cellphone core IC space encompasses semiconductors that provide mobile handsets with wireless wide-area-networking (WWAN) communication and application-processing capabilities.

The market segments here include handset core ICs for analog baseband, digital baseband, power amplifiers, radio and intermediate frequencies, high-level operating systems and software processors, and other multimedia or graphics coprocessors.

Changes sweep the industry

Of the companies that did not even rank back in 2007, Samsung has climbed the quickest, landing in the runner-up spot, driven by its presence in the applications processor space. Also among those making the jump from outside the Top 10 is Intel, in fourth position at the end of last year after acquiring Infineon’s wireless division. It remains to be seen how successful Intel will be in utilizing the acquisition, finalized in 2011, in order to increase the breadth of its mobile product offering and increase the likelihood of winning design slots for those mobile products. Intel is also starting to see some signs of life with the Atom processor and its inclusion in handsets from Motorola along with other original equipment manufacturers.

Two other vendors also broke into the ranks of the Top 10 in 2012.

In ninth place, Spreadtrum expanded its digital baseband IC revenue by more than 370 percent within the five-year period. Broadcom likewise expanded revenue by a similar dizzying magnitude to land at No. 10—thanks to baseband IC revenue finally gaining traction by ramping design wins since 2011 at Samsung.

Everything’s smaller for Texas Instruments

While Qualcomm increased its lead at the top from 2007 to 2012, Texas Instruments fell from second to sixth place—down from a 20 percent share to 4 percent. TI’s proprietary OMAP product line of chips for portable and mobile multimedia applications has not taken off as quickly as expected, and the company as a result could not offset its planned exit from baseband products.

Another vendor near the top in 2007 that experienced a decrease in market share was ST-Ericsson, shrinking 2 percent to a 4 percent market share.

More changes ahead

The structure of the mobile handset core IC market will continue to shift, particularly as LTE becomes more widespread.

Baseband chips, already accounting for more than half the revenue of the total handset core IC space, will maintain their pre-eminence in determining the market-share gains and losses of industry vendors moving forward, IHS believes. Nonetheless, the future will also be driven by the ability of any given IC supplier to provide platform solutions that optimize the system-level design of all of the ICs, making up the handset’s core chip architecture.

Attribution: By gillyberlin (Flickr: Motorola Milestone Test) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons