01/04/2012 

Chip inventories held by semiconductor suppliers declined in the third quarter of 2011, putting a halt to the steady expansion of the previous seven quarters, as the industry cut production in order to reduce oversupply, shows IHS iSuppli research.

01/03/2012 

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reports worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.1 billion for the month of November 2011. The semiconductor industry closed 2011 with growth and looks towards 2012 for further improvement.

01/03/2012 

Solid State Technology asked top analysts and technologists to provide insights on the transition to 22nm semiconductor devices. Read through the whole 10-forecast series, or check out the individual articles as you have time to see perspectives on lithography, device architecture, and more.

01/03/2012 

Chalmers University of Technology researchers created a graphene FET (G-FET) that is compatible with silicon devices and offers space and high-frequency benefits over traditional mixer transistors.

01/02/2012 

Art Zafiropoulo of Ultratech shares predictions for 22nm: that everyone will be using gate-last fabrication, that there may be a mid-node at 20nm, and that TSVs and 450mm wafers will play an important role at the new node.

12/30/2011 

Fulfilling a long-anticipated consolidation in China's foundry sector, Hua Hong NEC and Grace Semiconductor say they have officially merged, a move that creates a business that just might be knocking outside the Big Four's foundry doors.

12/30/2011 

Mohith Verghese, ASM America, covers the gate stack changes expected when 22nm semiconductors ramp in volume production. Topics include high-k gate dielectrics, strained silicon including nMOS strain, and the importance of conformal deposition wafer processing technology.

12/30/2011 

At the 22nm node, die fragility and challenging interconnect materials will necessitate foundry collaborations with packaging houses, co-designing silicon and package, asserts E. Jan Vardaman, TechSearch International.

12/29/2011 

Regardless of transistor architecture, the impact of process variability on device and circuit performance has emerged as a significant concern at 22nm. Effects that until recently were negligible or could be mitigated with improved wafer manufacturing control are now first-order effects, says Howard Ko, Synopsys, who outlines the main culprits.

12/28/2011 

The transition to 22nm silicon will have a major impact on the design community, most notably in process variation: timing and power. Because of this, we are seeing a dramatic increase in the 22nm process design rules, says Gary Smith. More and more design teams will decide to leave the IC layout portion of the design to the experts.

12/28/2011 

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) released its Global Semiconductor Funding, IPO and M&A Update, showing that initial public offerings surged in November, with 3 companies entering the stock market.

12/28/2011 

2012 promises much for the semiconductor industry, and the world. Gartner's Dean Freeman analyzes the roles of semiconductor fab tool makers for 22nm NAND and logic device manufacturing, and the role of chip makers adopting the new node.

12/27/2011 

The fabless JV will develop feature-rich, small-size, low-power-consumption semiconductor products equipped with modem functionality. It will be focused on LTE and LTE-Advanced mobile communication standards products, sold globally.

12/27/2011 

Intel's Atom chips saw plunging sales as the netbook market was swallowed by smartphones, media tablets, and like devices, but the company expanded its microprocessor leadership in Q3 2011, shows IHS iSuppli.

12/23/2011 

SEMATECH and Screen will focus on monolayer doping and activation methods compatible with ultra-shallow junctions for planar and non-planar device technologies in silicon and non-silicon high-mobility materials.

12/22/2011 

A group from the U. of Illinois has devised a way to identify and patch flaws in semiconductors within seconds, saving much analysis and manual fixing and sparing otherwise functioning chips from the trash heap.

12/22/2011 

Rapid adoption of smart meters to save energy and improve grid efficiency means an opportunity for a broad range of semiconductor suppliers.

12/22/2011 

Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, SanDisk, Sony, and Toshiba are in the early stages of a plan to collaborate on new content protection technology for flash memory cards.

12/21/2011 

The global power semiconductor market will grow 5.0% in 2012 to $32 billion, says IMS Research. The modest increase is due to global economic uncertainties and inventory being flushed from the supply chain. 2013 will see a return to double-digit growth.

12/16/2011 

We scan the industry-watcher landscape to gauge reactions to the proposed Lam Research-Novellus combination: technology and customer synergies, valuation questions, and possible M&A aftershocks.