Category Archives: Power Electronics

SEMI today announced the launch of the association’s first-ever event in Latin America. The inaugural SEMI South America Semiconductor Strategy Summit will be held November 18-20, 2014, at the Hilton Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina-based Unitec Blue and the Brazil Development Bank BNDES are supporting the event.

The growing strength of Latin American markets is driving interest and investment in electronics manufacturing in South America. Device manufacturers, including Unitec Blue in Argentina, and SIX Semicondutores and CEITEC in Brazil, are established and planning new investments in front- and back-end manufacturing capabilities. With the continued globalization of the microelectronics industry, and localization of manufacturing capabilities within growing electronic markets, the South American market presents new opportunities for supply chain companies.

“We are pleased to announce this new project and excited by the opportunities in Latin America for our members,” said Bettina Weiss, vice president of business development for SEMI. “We are especially grateful to Unitec Blue and BNDES for their support of this inaugural event, as it shows the clear intent of the device maker community in South America to attract new investment and drive industry expansion in the region.”

The three-day event includes a delegation tour of the Unitec Blue facilities in Buenos Aires, and a full two-day conference featuring presentations and panel discussions from industry leaders, analysts, and government representatives. The conference will provide overviews of the current industry environment in South America, address the challenges and opportunities for supply chain companies in the region, and explore the next steps in building the region’s microelectronics industry infrastructure.

The SEMI South America Semiconductor Strategy Summit follows the successful launch of a similar event in Vietnam last year, which was the first SEMI venture in that emerging market. “By taking small, but significant steps in new and emerging markets, SEMI is strategically working to open doors for our members to help them explore new opportunities when markets emerge,” said Weiss. “Events like the SEMI South America Semiconductor Strategy Summit bring together global and regional industry leaders and helps foster the connections and relationships that hopefully lead to business and market growth.”

Registration for the SEMI South America Semiconductor Strategy Summit costs US$ 350. Registration, agenda, and sponsorship information is available online at www.semi.org/southamerica.

Allegro MicroSystems, LLC announces the release of the next generation series of silicon carbide Schottky barrier diodes. The FMCA series achieves low leakage current and high speed switching at high temperatures and is offered by Allegro and manufactured and developed by Sanken Electric Co., Ltd. in Japan. This new series is targeted at the industrial and computer markets with end applications to include servers and those that require high frequency rectification circuits.

The FMCA series uses the next generation of power semiconductor SiC (silicon carbide) and a 650 V breakdown voltage in a Schottky barrier configuration, making it suitable for continuous current mode PFC circuits. These devices are capable of reducing the power loss that results from the recovery current. The diode’s high-speed switching capability and energy-saving functionality allows for the potential downsizing of equipment.

Several key features of this new series are improved efficiency of the power supply with low recovery loss characteristics of the SiC-SBD, low-resistance with a high-speed switching SiC-MOSFET that realizes a compact and highly efficient power supply and an increased current within high temperature environments to maintain stable switching due to the elimination of thermal runway. The FMCA series is available in a TO-220F package.

The FMCA series is available in a TO-220F package.

The global market outlook for AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies is set for healthy expansion starting this year until at least 2018, with revenue during these four years projected to grow by $3.5 billion, according to a new report from IHS Technology.

Market revenue will expand to $25.1 billion in 2018, up from $21.6 billion in 2014, as presented in the attached figure.

The hefty four-year increase is an improvement compared to the previous three years from 2010 to 2013, when revenue grew by less than $1.0 billion. Growth this year is anticipated at 4.6 percent, with expansion to be as robust or even strengthen in 2015 and 2016.

“The markets for most applications that use a power supply are now growing again after a couple of gloomy years, with emerging applications such as power supplies for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and media tablets leading the way,” said Jonathon Eykyn, power supply and storage component analyst for IHS. “Demand for power supplies for these two applications alone is projected to grow by more than $2.5 billion from 2014 to 2018, but other power supply markets—such as telecommunications, data communications and industrial—are also projected to provide growth opportunities to power supply vendors in the coming years.”

Aside from emerging applications driving growth, many projects that had been cancelled or postponed because of economic concerns in the past are now being restarted to coincide with new projects and technology rollouts, further stimulating the market. Also fueling significant expansion in the demand for power supplies is the continued growth of data centers to cope with the rise of cloud computing and the Internet of Things. Thanks to such drivers, revenue for power supplies to the server, storage and networking markets is projected to climb 24 percent from 2014 to 2018.

Growth is also solid in the markets for cellphone power supplies, with revenue forecast to ascend more than 8 percent in 2014. However, growth will slow after this year as more phones begin to ship without a bundled charger.

Meanwhile, the power supplies market for desktop PCs and notebooks is calculated to decline by around 2 percent every year from 2014 to 2018. This is because the traditional computing markets of desktop PCs and notebooks are set to deteriorate as consumers continue to favor more mobile solutions, such as media tablets and even cellphones.

All of these changes are influencing the state of the power supply market. In particular, market share rankings for 2013 were turbulent with six of the top 10 manufacturers changing positions and two new companies entering the elite tier. Overall, Delta Electronics retained its position as the world’s largest supplier of merchant power supplies, followed by Emerson and Lite-On.

The two suppliers that grew the most in market share in 2013 were Salcomp and Mean Well, whose combined revenue rose more than 30 percent and added 1.3 percent to their share of market compared to 2012.

“These suppliers are well-entrenched within the fast-growing cellphone and LED lighting markets,” Eykyn said. “It’s clear from these results that other manufacturers will have to continue to diversify their portfolios in order to remain competitive.”

These findings can be found in the forthcoming report, The World Market for AC-DC & DC-DC Merchant Power Supplies from the Power & Energy service of IHS. The full report from IHS includes analysis of the opportunities for commodity AC-DC, as well as non-commodity AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies across 22 applications, with forecasts through 2018. It also presents market-share estimates with 13 separate splits.

IBM announced it is investing $3 billion over the next 5 years in two broad research and early stage development programs to push the limits of chip technology needed to meet the emerging demands of cloud computing and Big Data systems. These investments will push IBM’s semiconductor innovations from today’s breakthroughs into the advanced technology leadership required for the future.

The first research program is aimed at so-called “7 nanometer and beyond” silicon technology that will address serious physical challenges that are threatening current semiconductor scaling techniques and will impede the ability to manufacture such chips. The second is focused on developing alternative technologies for post-silicon era chips using entirely different approaches, which IBM scientists and other experts say are required because of the physical limitations of silicon based semiconductors.

Cloud and big data applications are placing new challenges on systems, just as the underlying chip technology is facing numerous significant physical scaling limits.  Bandwidth to memory, high speed communication and device power consumption are becoming increasingly challenging and critical.

The teams will comprise IBM Research scientists and engineers from Albany and Yorktown, New York; Almaden, California; and Europe. In particular, IBM will be investing significantly in emerging areas of research that are already underway at IBM such as carbon nanoelectronics, silicon photonics, new memory technologies, and architectures that support quantum and cognitive computing.

These teams will focus on providing orders of magnitude improvement in system level performance and energy efficient computing. In addition, IBM will continue to invest in the nanosciences and quantum computing–two areas of fundamental science where IBM has remained a pioneer for over three decades.

7 nanometer technology and beyond
IBM Researchers and other semiconductor experts predict that while challenging, semiconductors show promise to scale from today’s 22 nanometers down to 14 and then 10 nanometers in the next several years.  However, scaling to 7 nanometers and perhaps below, by the end of the decade will require significant investment and innovation in semiconductor architectures as well as invention of new tools and techniques for manufacturing.

“The question is not if we will introduce 7 nanometer technology into manufacturing, but rather how, when, and at what cost?” said John Kelly, senior vice president, IBM Research. “IBM engineers and scientists, along with our partners, are well suited for this challenge and are already working on the materials science and device engineering required to meet the demands of the emerging system requirements for cloud, big data, and cognitive systems. This new investment will ensure that we produce the necessary innovations to meet these challenges.”

“Scaling to 7nm and below is a terrific challenge, calling for deep physics competencies in processing nano materials affinities and characteristics. IBM is one of a very few companies who has repeatedly demonstrated this level of science and engineering expertise,” said Richard Doherty, technology research director, The Envisioneering Group.

Bridge to a “Post-Silicon” Era
Silicon transistors, tiny switches that carry information on a chip, have been made smaller year after year, but they are approaching a point of physical limitation. Their increasingly small dimensions, now reaching the nanoscale, will prohibit any gains in performance due to the nature of silicon and the laws of physics. Within a few more generations, classical scaling and shrinkage will no longer yield the sizable benefits of lower power, lower cost and higher speed processors that the industry has become accustomed to.

With virtually all electronic equipment today built on complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology, there is an urgent need for new materials and circuit architecture designs compatible with this engineering process as the technology industry nears physical scalability limits of the silicon transistor.

Beyond 7 nanometers, the challenges dramatically increase, requiring a new kind of material to power systems of the future, and new computing platforms to solve problems that are unsolvable or difficult to solve today. Potential alternatives include new materials such as carbon nanotubes, and non-traditional computational approaches such as neuromorphic computing, cognitive computing, machine learning techniques, and the science behind quantum computing.

As the leader in advanced schemes that point beyond traditional silicon-based computing, IBM holds over 500 patents for technologies that will drive advancements at 7nm and beyond silicon — more than twice the nearest competitor. These continued investments will accelerate the invention and introduction into product development for IBM’s highly differentiated computing systems for cloud, and big data analytics.

Several exploratory research breakthroughs that could lead to major advancements in delivering dramatically smaller, faster and more powerful computer chips, include quantum computing, neurosynaptic computing, silicon photonics, carbon nanotubes, III-V technologies, low power transistors and graphene:

Quantum Computing
The most basic piece of information that a typical computer understands is a bit. Much like a light that can be switched on or off, a bit can have only one of two values: “1” or “0.” Described as superposition, this special property of qubits enables quantum computers to weed through millions of solutions all at once, while desktop PCs would have to consider them one at a time.

IBM is a world leader in superconducting qubit-based quantum computing science and is a pioneer in the field of experimental and theoretical quantum information, fields that are still in the category of fundamental science – but one that, in the long term, may allow the solution of problems that are today either impossible or impractical to solve using conventional machines. The team recently demonstrated the first experimental realization of parity check with three superconducting qubits, an essential building block for one type of quantum computer.

Neurosynaptic Computing
Bringing together nanoscience, neuroscience, and supercomputing, IBM and university partners have developed an end-to-end ecosystem including a novel non-von Neumann architecture, a new programming language, as well as applications. This novel technology allows for computing systems that emulate the brain’s computing efficiency, size and power usage. IBM’s long-term goal is to build a neurosynaptic system with ten billion neurons and a hundred trillion synapses, all while consuming only one kilowatt of power and occupying less than two liters of volume.

Silicon Photonics
IBM has been a pioneer in the area of CMOS integrated silicon photonics for over 12 years, a technology that integrates functions for optical communications on a silicon chip, and the IBM team has recently designed and fabricated the world’s first monolithic silicon photonics based transceiver with wavelength division multiplexing.  Such transceivers will use light to transmit data between different components in a computing system at high data rates, low cost, and in an energetically efficient manner.

Silicon nanophotonics takes advantage of pulses of light for communication rather than traditional copper wiring and provides a super highway for large volumes of data to move at rapid speeds between computer chips in servers, large datacenters, and supercomputers, thus alleviating the limitations of congested data traffic and high-cost traditional interconnects.

Businesses are entering a new era of computing that requires systems to process and analyze, in real-time, huge volumes of information known as Big Data. Silicon nanophotonics technology provides answers to Big Data challenges by seamlessly connecting various parts of large systems, whether few centimeters or few kilometers apart from each other, and move terabytes of data via pulses of light through optical fibers.

III-V technologies
IBM researchers have demonstrated the world’s highest transconductance on a self-aligned III-V channel metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistors (FETs) device structure that is compatible with CMOS scaling. These materials and structural innovation are expected to pave path for technology scaling at 7nm and beyond.  With more than an order of magnitude higher electron mobility than silicon, integrating III-V materials into CMOS enables higher performance at lower power density, allowing for an extension to power/performance scaling to meet the demands of cloud computing and big data systems.

Carbon Nanotubes
IBM Researchers are working in the area of carbon nanotube (CNT) electronics and exploring whether CNTs can replace silicon beyond the 7 nm node.  As part of its activities for developing carbon nanotube based CMOS VLSI circuits, IBM recently demonstrated — for the first time in the world — 2-way CMOS NAND gates using 50 nm gate length carbon nanotube transistors.

IBM also has demonstrated the capability for purifying carbon nanotubes to 99.99 percent, the highest (verified) purities demonstrated to date, and transistors at 10 nm channel length that show no degradation due to scaling–this is unmatched by any other material system to date.

Carbon nanotubes are single atomic sheets of carbon rolled up into a tube. The carbon nanotubes form the core of a transistor device that will work in a fashion similar to the current silicon transistor, but will be better performing. They could be used to replace the transistors in chips that power data-crunching servers, high performing computers and ultra fast smart phones.

Carbon nanotube transistors can operate as excellent switches at molecular dimensions of less than ten nanometers – the equivalent to 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair and less than half the size of the leading silicon technology. Comprehensive modeling of the electronic circuits suggests that about a five to ten times improvement in performance compared to silicon circuits is possible.

Graphene
Graphene is pure carbon in the form of a one atomic layer thick sheet.  It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and it is also remarkably strong and flexible.  Electrons can move in graphene about ten times faster than in commonly used semiconductor materials such as silicon and silicon germanium. Its characteristics offer the possibility to build faster switching transistors than are possible with conventional semiconductors, particularly for applications in the handheld wireless communications business where it will be a more efficient switch than those currently used.

Recently in 2013, IBM demonstrated the world’s first graphene based integrated circuit receiver front end for wireless communications. The circuit consisted of a 2-stage amplifier and a down converter operating at 4.3 GHz.

Next Generation Low Power Transistors
In addition to new materials like CNTs, new architectures and innovative device concepts are required to boost future system performance. Power dissipation is a fundamental challenge for nanoelectronic circuits. To explain the challenge, consider a leaky water faucet — even after closing the valve as far as possible water continues to drip — this is similar to today’s transistor, in that energy is constantly “leaking” or being lost or wasted in the off-state.

A potential alternative to today’s power hungry silicon field effect transistors are so-called steep slope devices. They could operate at much lower voltage and thus dissipate significantly less power. IBM scientists are researching tunnel field effect transistors (TFETs). In this special type of transistors the quantum-mechanical effect of band-to-band tunneling is used to drive the current flow through the transistor. TFETs could achieve a 100-fold power reduction over complementary CMOS transistors, so integrating TFETs with CMOS technology could improve low-power integrated circuits.

Recently, IBM has developed a novel method to integrate III-V nanowires and heterostructures directly on standard silicon substrates and built the first ever InAs/Si tunnel diodes and TFETs using InAs as source and Si as channel with wrap-around gate as steep slope device for low power consumption applications.

“In the next ten years computing hardware systems will be fundamentally different as our scientists and engineers push the limits of semiconductor innovations to explore the post-silicon future,” said Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group. “IBM Research and Development teams are creating breakthrough innovations that will fuel the next era of computing systems.”

IBM’s contributions to silicon and semiconductor innovation include the invention and/or first implementation of: the single cell DRAM, the “Dennard scaling laws” underpinning “Moore’s Law”, chemically amplified photoresists, copper interconnect wiring, Silicon on Insulator, strained engineering, multi core microprocessors, immersion lithography, high speed silicon germanium (SiGe), High-k gate dielectrics, embedded DRAM, 3D chip stacking, and Air gap insulators.

IBM researchers also are credited with initiating the era of nano devices following the Nobel prize winning invention of the scanning tunneling microscope which enabled nano and atomic scale invention and innovation.

IBM will also continue to fund and collaborate with university researchers to explore and develop the future technologies for the semiconductor industry. In particular, IBM will continue to support and fund university research through private-public partnerships such as the NanoElectornics Research Initiative (NRI), and the Semiconductor Advanced Research Network (STARnet), and the Global Research Consortium (GRC) of the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

By Jeff Dorsch

The worldwide semiconductor capital equipment market is forecast to increase 20.8 percent this year to $38.44 billion, compared with 2013’s $31.82 billion, and another 10.8 percent in 2015 to $42.6 billion, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.

Also on Monday, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that global sales of semiconductors were $26.86 billion in May, an 8.8 percent increase from a year earlier and a 2 percent improvement from April of this year.

Jonathan Davis, SEMI’s global vice president of advocacy, said Monday that the semiconductor industry is seen growing 5 percent to 10 percent in 2014, and noted that all world regions posted growth in sales during May, a statistical factor not recorded since August 2010.

Discussing expenditures on capital equipment, Davis said, “The nature of the spending is changing.” The number of new wafer fabs has dwindled in recent years, and more spending is directed these days to upgrading existing fabs.

2015 promises to be the biggest year for semiconductor equipment spending since 2000, Davis said. While the equipment market is growing more than 20 percent this year, the semiconductor materials market will see more modest growth in 2014, at 6 percent, he added.

Karen Savala, the president of SEMI Americas, reviewed economic and technology trends in the equipment and materials business during Monday’s SEMI press conference. The industry has gone through “one of the largest consolidation periods in our history,” including the pending blockbuster merger between Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), she noted.

The longstanding economics of Moore’s Law is being challenged, she added. The Internet of Things is a tremendous opportunity for the chip-making business, yet it doesn’t involve leading-edge technology, Savala said. “Traditional node scaling seems to be slowing,” she observed. Scaling is apparently decelerating below the 32-nanometer process node, according to Savala, but it may be advanced with the introduction of new materials, new substrates, and 2.5D/3D packaging.

“The ecosystem is changing,” Savala said.

SEMI now forecasts that wafer processing equipment will grow 22.7 percent in 2014 to $31.12 billion, from $25.36 billion in 2013, and advance 11.9 percent more in 2015 to $34.81 billion. Test equipment is expected to see a 12.5 percent increase this year to $3.06 billion and pick up by 1.6 percent next year to $3.11 billion. Assembly and packaging equipment is forecast to reach $2.52 billion in 2014, an 8.6 percent improvement from last year, and growing 1.2% in 2015 to $2.55 billion. Other equipment categories will be up 22.5 percent this year to $1.74 billion and up 21.8 percent next year to $2.12 billion.

All global regions except one, the rest of the world, are forecast to post increased sales in 2014, according to SEMI. Taiwan will remain the largest region with $11.57 billion in equipment sales this year, up 11.57 percent from 2013, while higher growth rates will be seen in China, North America, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. All regions are expected to show growth in 2015, ranging from 1.6 percent in China up to 47.8 percent in Europe.

SEMI 2014 mid-year equipment forecast.

SEMI 2014 mid-year equipment forecast.

Each year at SEMICON West, the largest and most influential microelectronics exposition in North America, the “Best of West” awards are presented by Solid State Technology and SEMI. The award was established to recognize contributors moving the industry forward with their technological developments in the microelectronics supply chain.

The 2014 Best of West Finalists are:

  • Microtronic: EAGLEview IV — EAGLEview IV is an automated macro defect wafer inspection system that provides industry leading throughput (3,000+ Wafers Per Day), defect detection accuracy, and wafer classification. EAGLEview IV resolves many of the problems of manual/micro wafer inspection by automating and standardizing wafer inspection. South Hall, Booth 729 (Category: Metrology and Test)
  • Nikon Corporation: NSR-S630D Immersion Scanner — The NSR-S630D ArF immersion scanner leverages the well-known Streamlign platform, incorporating further developments in stage, optics, and autofocus technology to deliver unprecedented mix-and-match overlay and focus control with sustained stability to enable the 10/7 nm node.  South Hall, Booth 1705 (Category: Wafer Processing Equipment)   
  • SPTS Technologies:  Rapier XE — Rapier XE is a new, 300mm, plasma etch module which can lower costs and increase yields for device manufacturers utilizing TSVs for 3D packaging.  Designed for via reveal applications, the new module offers blanket silicon etch rates typically 3-4x faster than competing systems. South Hall, Booth 1317 (Category: Wafer Processing Equipment)   

The Best of West Award winner will be announced during SEMICON West (www.semiconwest.org) on Wednesday, July 9, 2014.

Berger Pierre-DamienBy Pierre-Damien Berger, VP Business Development & Communication; CEA-Leti

Whatever forecast one uses for the future of the Internet of Things in terms of connected objects or business opportunities, the IoT will be big. Citing industry sources during of “The Internet of Things: from sensors to zero power,” the recent LetiDays conference in Grenoble, France, speakers offered projections venturing up to 50 billion connected objects by 2020.

Jacques Husser, COO of SIGFOX, said the IoT is the next major technological revolution, and that connecting billions or trillions of devices and enabling them to communicate with each other and will require more than high bandwidth. While increasing bandwidth is a key focus for multi-media and voice data network operators, for IoT companies reducing energy consumption and costs are key to handling the continuous volume of small messages from all those things.

SIGFOX, whose network is dedicated to the IoT, provides power-efficient, two-way wireless connectivity for IoT and machine-to-machine communications. Husser said the company’s technology is compatible with existing chipsets from vendors such as Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Silicon Labs, Atmel, NXP and Semtech. Husser said that while SIGFOX’s technology complements 2G, 3G and 4G systems, it does not require a SIM card. Devices’ IP addresses are established during manufacturing.

The company, which has networks operating or in rollout with partners in several countries and major cities, is enabling applications for building and vehicle security, indoor climate monitoring, pet tracking, smart-city apps for parking and lighting management, asset management including billboard monitoring, water utility metering, and health-care apps like fall detection, distress signaling and medicine dispensing. Many more are expected.

Leti’s RF design and antenna expertise were used to help connect SIGFOX’s cellular networks. In addition, Leti is working with other startups and SMEs to develop and connect smart functions in a variety of products that will use the IoT to communicate. Primo1D was spun out of Leti in 2013 to produce E-Thread®, an innovative microelectronic packaging technology that embeds LEDs, RFIDs or sensors in fabric and materials for integration in textiles and plastics using standard production tools.

Leti startup BeSpoon recently launched SpoonPhone, a smartphone equipped with the capability to locate tagged items within a few centimeters’ accuracy. The capability is enabled by an impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) integrated circuit developed by Leti and BeSpoon. Leti and Cityzen Sciences, the award-winning designer and developer of smart-sensing products, have begun a project to take the company’s technology to the next level by integrating micro-sensors in textiles during the weaving stage.

Leti and CORIMA, a leading supplier of carbon-composite wheels and frames for track and road-racing cyclists, are developing an integrated sensor system to measure the power output of riders as they pedal.

Citing research by Morgan Stanley Research, Leti’s telecommunications department head Dominique Noguet noted that worldwide shipments of smartphones and tablets exceeded shipments of desktop and notebook PCs for the first time in 2011. This signaled that the web has gone mobile, a fact underscored by a Cisco forecast that M2M mobile data traffic will increase 24x from 24 petabytes per month in 2012 to 563 petabytes in 2017.

Noguet said the IoT growth will present scaling challenges and require new communication protocols for sporadic, asynchronous, decentralized, low-power traffic. In addition to harvesting, or scavenging, energy to assure continuous connectivity, there will be demand for technologies that enable spectrum scavenging in unlicensed spectra, for example, and that use new bands, such as millimeter wave, white spaces and even light.

Leti has numerous ways to support development of the IoT, ranging from embedding antennas in specific materials through characterization and design, to implementing full-blown custom radio technologies. The inclusion of UHF RFID tags for the tire industry was cited as a first example where read/write range performances were a challenge. Leti’s ultra-wideband localization technology is another example where competence in signal processing, real-time design, antenna technology and mixed RF/digital ASIC design was combined to provide a complete solution where no off-the-shelf approach was available.

Noguet also noted potential threats to IoT security, and cited Leti’s involvement in the Santander, Spain, smart city project, which includes experimental advanced research on IoT technologies. Leti and CEA-List were in charge of securing access to the SmartSantander infrastructure and communications over a wireless sensor network. This included ensuring the security of the transactions and protecting users’ privacy.

By Shannon Davis, Web Editor

The core element of the semiconductor industry’s roadmap has been scaling – but Gopal Rao believes that isn’t enough anymore.

“The roadmap has never taken into consideration what the consumers were asking for,” said Mr. Rao, on Wednesday’s closing session at The ConFab 2014.

The industry has enjoyed a stable, predictable industry for many years, as we made PCs and a lot of PCs. However, these are no longer the driving devices in the consumer market, and with different cost structures and more pressure to innovate than ever before, Mr. Rao stressed that the industry’s tendency to solely focus on scaling was no longer going to be enough to keep up with shifting consumer demands. Mr. Rao’s main charge: the industry needs to intercept consumer thought and demand and determine how it is going to impact the semiconductor industry and supply chain.

“We need to cater the roadmap to the technologies that are coming and the products that consumers want,” Mr. Rao said.

In order to adapt, Mr. Rao explained that it was imperative to integrate the entire supply chain into the roadmap if we really want to make significant strides in the manufacturability of these new products.

“We need to look at the roadmap as an ecosystem – not just materials, not just equipment, but the entire picture. We need to understand how to bring the supply chain into the picture,” Mr. Rao said.

To do this, Mr. Rao outlined the elements of effective problem solving and encouraged his audience to become masters of it. To be effective in the evolving technology landscape, Mr. Rao stressed the importance of understanding and analyzing every aspect of the supply chain, down to the smallest component, all of which contribute to defects and can no longer be ignored if quality is to be maintained.

“You need to understand to the smallest degree of your supply chain,” Mr. Rao charged ConFab’s attendees. “You need to analyze and trace the data. If you don’t do that, then the time to market and time to money are sacrificed.”

“We can’t follow Moore’s Law conveniently and forget about what’s two years down the road,” he concluded.

Gopal Rao presents at The ConFab 2014 on June 25, 2014.

Gopal Rao presents at The ConFab 2014 on June 25, 2014.

By Shannon Davis, Web Editor

Overheard @The ConFab: “I feel the best I’ve felt about semi since 2009.” –Mike Noonen, Silicon Catalyst

Monday’s research and development panel discussion at The ConFab 2014 started on that optimistic note as Moderator Scott Jones of AlixPartners led a discussion on Optimizing R&D Collaboration. Panelists Chris Danely of JP Morgan, Lode Lauwers of imec, Rory McInerney of Intel and Mike Noonen of Silicon Catalyst discussed where the next big growth drivers will come from and the ability of the industry to continue scaling and remain on Moore’s Law through the introduction of new technologies such as EUV, Advanced Packaging and 450mm. The panel also touched on the role startups will play and how increased collaboration can benefit the industry.

Here are highlights from Monday’s discussion.

How do you feel about the semiconductor cycle – is that at a positive point for innovation and small, start-up companies?

Mike Noonen: I feel the best about I’ve felt about semi since 2009. Without a doubt. When you combine that situation that we’re in with a couple driving forces, all of that has fundamental benefits to the semiconductor business at large. You take those mega trends that are not leading edge applications with the challenge of Moore’s Law – those are developing a whole host of innovation. We think this is a great time to think about how to reinvigorate startups – this is the best time to think about innovation.

From left to right: Panelists Chris Danely of JP Morgan, Mike Noonen of Silicon Catalyst, Lode Lauwers of imec, and Rory McInerney of Intel

From left to right: Panelists Chris Danely of JP Morgan, Mike Noonen of Silicon Catalyst, Lode Lauwers of imec, and Rory McInerney of Intel

Consolidation is a big theme right now. Is this something that’s holding us back the industry?

Rory McInerney: I don’t think the industry is consolidating for us as much as we think. The big players are still HP, Lenovo, etc. The new players are Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. – many didn’t exist 10 years ago. Within our world, there’s the traditional space, but there’s a ton of new stuff in the cloud and server segment.

Tell us some of the most exciting areas Intel is participating in.

Rory McInerney: On the data center side, we do want our 10 and 7nm, but one of the drivers of our business is the massive amount of data being generated around the world. There are tens of billions of devices that will be connected to the Internet in the few years. The only commonality in the [IoT] numbers is that they go up. All of them will have some element of connectivity and with that comes data. And that drives a virtual cycle. In our business, we love this – my point is, there’s a huge room for innovation. The innovation isn’t just the device but the software and application side.

How do investors view the emerging markets and trends? Do they see the opportunities or are they still focusing on traditional markets?

Chris Danely: From a broad perspective, the thing that an analyst looks at – are they playing to their strengths? You might have a company that starts out very successful, but they don’t play to their strengths and start to waste money. For example, Texas Instruments has taken their R&D down, but still outgrow the industry, because they play to their strengths. Another example is Intel – in the last 3 years, they were in the foundry business – we see a lot of potential to upset the apple cart in the foundry business. Nobody else could do this, but this is an area where we see them exploiting their strengths. Is the company playing to its strengths? We also look at ARM on servers – we don’t know if this is going to work or not, but I don’t think this changing the landscape of the industry. There’s still a bright future with semiconductor stocks.

How can executives communicate their R&D strategy better?

Chris Danely: I’ll use my personal experience – you want to keep that message very simple. Identify the growth trends. Make sure the message goes out continuously. Don’t be afraid to use a few buzz words/charts.

Lode Lauwers: If I may, Wall Street is looking in the short term. Time scale [for R&D] is close to 15 years. I don’t know if Wall Street has that visibility. I think a company should consider R&D as a long term investment. We go for long term engagements.

Rory McInerney: It’s a portfolio question in terms of R&D – you’re going to have your short term and your long term investments. I don’t think Wall Street is looking at all the details of investments. I think that our investments on the product side go out 10 years, but they’re small compared to our other investments.

Chris Danely: Wall Street has to consider about things on a six month basis.

Mike Noonen: Biotech, which has a very long time to market, is the second largest venture capital in the US. Biotech has remained lucrative and interesting in the US. In this area, companies go after a single application or problem, and it’s a vibrant and healthy investment. The take away is – it’s all about the economics. It might enable small start ups to innovate and then be acquired.

How should the industry leverage a company like imec?

Lode Lauwers: More than ever, you need to build partnerships. In this industry, we used to say, “Our company can work on its own.” Now, your ecosystem needs to become wider. Ten years ago, people were still sponsoring R&D. Now we are assessed in every individual area, deliverable by deliverable, on does it benefit, is there ROI. You need to be able to deliver relevant work. A company on its own doesn’t always have these abilities in house. Using imec, it’s like building on competences.

Do you see differences in how you approach partnerships?

Chris Danely: The CEOs and CFOs of semi companies are under pressure to not increase expenses, and that’s stifled risk-taking. Some are now approaching R&D through acquisition of startups with personnel – rather than partnerships.

Do you think these companies are larger – semi is a part of a much larger landscape – do you think this might drive the industry/change the landscape?

Rory McInerney: About 70-80 percent of cloud computing today is driven by the social media. That didn’t exist 5 years ago. There is a direct link between that and the changing semi landscape.

What is the biggest risk in the industry right now?

Chris Danely: Saturation. Semi companies are profitable, but we’re starting to see a lot of them, especially as fablite and fabless models are catching on.

Moderator Scott Jones of AlixPartners

Moderator Scott Jones of AlixPartners

Storing gas on a sorbent provides an innovative, yet simple and lasting solution.

BY KARL OLANDER, Ph.D. and ANTHONY AVILA, ATMI, Inc., an Entegris company, Billerica, MA

The period following the introduction of subatmospheric pressure gas storage and delivery was punctuated by continuous technical innovation.

Even as the methodology became the standard for supplying ion implant dopants, it continued to rapidly evolve and improve. This article reflects on the milestones of the last 20 years and considers where this technology goes from here.

From the beginning, the semiconductor industry’s concern over using highly toxic process gases was evident by the large investment being made in dedicated gas rooms, robust ventilation systems, scrubbers, gas containment protocols and toxic gas monitoring. While major advances have been made in the form of automated gas cabinets and valve manifold boxes, gas line components, improved cylinder valves and safety training, the underlying threat of a catastrophic gas release remained.

Risk factors targeted

The underlying risk with compressed gases is twofold: high pressure, which provides the motive force to discharge the contents of a cylinder, and secondly, a relatively large hazardous production material inventory, which can be released during a containment breach. Pressure also is a factor in component failure and gas reactivity, e.g., corrosion. Mitigating these issues would considerably increase safety.

FIGURE 1. The stages of developing a new chemical precursor for use in commercial IC production.

FIGURE 1. The stages of developing a new chemical precursor for use in commercial IC production.

Analysis of the risks suggested an on-demand, point-of-use gas generator would improve safety by both reducing operating pressure and gas inventory[1]. The challenges associated with this approach include complexity of operation and gas purity, especially in a fab or process tool setting. Chemical generation of arsine, while possible, per equation [A], also substituted a highly reactive toxic solid for arsine[2]. Considerable safety and environmental issues accompanied the operation of such a generator. An on-demand, point-of-use electrochemical approach for supplying arsine, per equation [B], would also eliminate the need for high pressure storage if the associated operational issues could be overcome. Numerous attempts at developing a commercial electrochemical generator just never proved successful[3].

[A] KAsH2 + H2O —> AsH3/H2O + KOH
[B] As(s) + 3H2O + 3e(-) —> AsH3(g) + 3OH(-)

Innovation from a simple(r) solution

Pressure swing adsorption processes utilize the selective affinity between gases and solid adsorbents, and are widely used to recover and purify a range of gases. Under optimal conditions, the gas adsorption process releases energy and produces a material that behaves mores like a solid than a gas.

Early work at reversibly adsorbing toxic materials on a highly porous substrate showed promise. In 1988, the Olin Corporation described an arsine storage and delivery system where the gas was [reversibly] adsorbed onto a zeolite, or microporous alumino- silicate, material[4]. A portion of the stored gas could be recovered by heating the storage vessel to develop sufficient arsine pressure to supply a process tool. In 1992, ATMI supplied a prototype system based on the Olin technology to the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.

The breakthrough that lead to the first commercial subatmospheric pressure gas storage and delivery system occurred when ATMI reported the majority of the adsorbed gas could be supplied to the process by subjecting the storage vessel to a strong vacuum. Using vacuum rather than thermal energy simplified the process, providing the means for an on-demand system[5]. Using a sorbent had the effect of turning the gas into something more akin to a “solid.” That characteristic, coupled with the absence of a pressure driver, delivered an inherently safe condition. The vacuum delivery condition also helped define where the technology would find its first application: ion implantation[6].

Safe and efficient gas storage and delivery

In 1993, prototype arsine storage and delivery cylinders based on vacuum delivery were beta tested at AT&T in Allentown, PA[g] [f]. The system was trademarked Safe Delivery Source®, or SDS®. Papers were presented on safe storage and delivery of ion implant dopant gases the following year in Catania, Sicily at the International Ion Implant Technology Conference[7].

The goal to find a safer method to offset the use of compressed gases was realized: (1) gas is stored at low pressure (ca. 650 Torr at 21°C) and (2) the potential for large and rapid gas loss is averted. Leaks, if they occur, whether by accidental valve opening or a containment breach, would be first inward into the cylinder. Once the pressure equalizes, gas loss to the environment would be governed mainly by diffusion as the gas molecules remain associated with the sorbent. The SDS package, while not a gas generator per se, effectively functions like one.

FIGURE 2. Cutaway view of SDS3 carbon pucks within a finished cylinder.

FIGURE 2. Cutaway view of SDS3 carbon pucks within a finished cylinder.

While subatmospheric pressure operation is an artifact of having to “pull the gas” away from the sorbent, it has become synonymous with safe gas delivery. The optimization work which followed focused on reducing pressure drop in the gas delivery system by improving conductance in valves, mass flow controllers and delivery lines. A restrictive flow orifice was no longer required. The new gas sources proved to work best when in close proximity to the tool.

The years after this technology introduction also saw considerable efforts to improve the sorbent; ultra-pure carbon replaced the zeolite-based material used in the first generation SDS (SDS1), roughly doubling the deliverable quantities of gas per cylinder. These granular carbon sorbents in the SDS2 were later replaced by solid, round monolithic carbon “pucks” in SDS3 (FIGURE 2), which necessitated the cylinder be built around the sorbent[8]. This improvement again roughly doubled gas cylinder capacity.

Recognized in international standards

In 2012, the United Nations (U.N.) recognized the uniqueness of adsorbed gases and amended the Model Regulation for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by creating a new “condition of transport” for gases adsorbed on a solid and assigning a total of 17 new identification numbers and shipping names to the Dangerous Good List. Adoption is expected to occur by 2015. A few of the additions are noted here.

Arsine   – UN 2188 – compressed
Arsine, adsorbed – UN 3522 – SDS
Phosphine – UN 2199 – compressed
Phosphine, adsorbed – UN 3525 – SDS

FIGURE 3. The evolution of a SAGS Type 1 gas package.

FIGURE 3. The evolution of a SAGS Type 1 gas package.

In recent years, fire codes have been updated through the definition and classification of subatmospheric Gas Systems, or SAGS, based on the internal [storage] pressure of the gas.9 Systems based on both sub-atmospheric pressure storage and delivery are designated as Type 1 SAGS. It is important to note that the UN definition for adsorbed gases, and the resulting new classifications mentioned above, only applies to Type 1 SAGS, defined as follows:

3.3.28.5.1 Subatmospheric Gas Storage and Delivery System (Type 1 SAGS). A gas source package that stores and delivers gas at sub-atmospheric pressure and includes a container (e.g., gas cylinder and outlet valve) that stores and delivers gas at a pressure of less than 14.7 psia at NTP.

It is also worth mentioning that sub-atmospheric pressure gas delivery can also be achieved using high pressure cylinders by embedding a pressure reduction and control system. The Type 2 SAGS typically employs a normally closed, internal regulator[s] that a vacuum condition to open. This is not a definition of sub-atmospheric storage and delivery, but of sub-atmospheric delivery only.

3.3.28.5.2 Subatmospheric Gas Delivery System (Type 2 SAGS). A gas source package that stores compressed gas and delivers gas subatmospherically and includes a container (e.g., gas cylinder and outlet valve) that stores gas at a pressure greater than 14.7 psia at NTP and delivers gas at a pressure of less than 14.7 psia at NTP.

In general, Environmental Safety and Health managers, risk underwriters and authorities having jurisdiction recognize the importance of SAGS and requires recommend their use whenever process conditions allow[10].

Expanding SAGS into new applications

Taking the lessons learned from SDS2/SDS3 in ion implant operations, along with key findings from
other applications like HDP-CVD (the SAGE package) and combined with sorbent purification and carbon nanopore size tuning, SAGS Type 1 packages are poised to offer their safety advantages in new and emerging areas, as well as add even more safety and efficiency benefits. Currently, a new package called Plasma Delivery SourceTM (PDSTM) is available for high flow rate applications, while maintaining all the safety attributes of the SAGS Type 1 package.

Also, in addition to the inherent safety, PDS employs a pneumatic operator (valve) to the cylinder which further minimizes the opportunity for human error. In an emergency, such as a toxic gas alarm, pressure excursion, loss of exhaust, etc., gas flow at the source can be quickly stopped and the cylinder isolated. Cycle/purge operations are made safer as human involvement is minimized. Human-initiated events, like over-torqueing the valve, failing to close the valve or even back-filling a cylinder with purge gas, are prevented.

SDS1 SDS2 SDS3
Arsine 200 559 835
Phosphine 85 198 385

Expanding the use of SAGS beyond the domain of ion implant involves successfully navigating key process factors such as operating pressure, flow rates, proximity to the tool and purity. One approach includes coupling the PDS cylinder and gas cabinet together to yield a plug and play “smart” delivery system. Unlike high pressure systems, which are more concerned with excess flow situations, knowing and controlling pressure allows a SAGS cabinet to operate at a reduced risk. This enables linking cabinet ventilation rates with the system operating pressure. During normal operating conditions, the exhaust rate could be reduced by up to 80 percent because the system is operating sub-atmospherically. Should the operating pressure exceed a preset threshold, the exhaust flow would automatically revert to a higher range or the cylinder valve would close.

The future, therefore, could see these PDS packages extended to another level by incorporating them into smart delivery systems, which will further reduce risk, maximize efficiency, improve cost of ownership and expand the footprint for SAGS into new applications like plasma doping, solar, epitaxy and etch.

Summary

During the last 20 years, the semiconductor industry undertook a large effort to develop safer gas delivery technologies to reduce risks associated with dopants used in ion implant. Many technologies were considered, including chemical and electrochemical gas generators, complexing gases with ionic liquids or mechanically controlling cylinder discharge pressure using embedded regulator devices.

In the end, storing gas on a sorbent provided an innovative, yet simple and lasting solution. Gas-sorbent interactions are well understood, reproducible and can be achieved with a minimum of moving parts. Gas release risks, driven by pressure, are all but removed from consideration. And any potential for human error continues to be a target for improvement wherever toxic gases are used.

References

1. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89 pp 821-826, 1992.
2. Appl. Phys. Lett., 60 1483
3. Electron Transfer Technology, US Patent 59225232
4. Olin Corporation, US Patent US4744221A
5. Advanced Technology Materials, US Patent US5518528 6. Many thanks to Dan McKee and Lee Van Horn for being the first of many early adopters.
7. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Ion Implantation Technology, 1994, pp 523-526.
8. DOT-SP 13220.
9. NFPA 318, Standard for the Protection of Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities 2012 Edition. 10. SAGS in the FAB, SST reference

ATMI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Entegris, Inc. ATMI, Safe Delivery Source, SDS, Plasma Delivery Source and PDS are trademarks of Entegris, Inc. in the U.S., other countries, or both. All other names are trademarks of their respective companies.