Device Architecture

DEVICE ARCHITECTURE ARTICLES



Semiconductor growth cut: Echoes of 2008 recession

09/23/2011 

Macroeconomic factors will tug down global electronics demand in 2011, said IHS, which lowered its semiconductor revenue growth forecast for 2011. While the slowdown comes at a bad time -- pre-holiday sales season -- lessons learned in 2008 could shorten the down period significantly.

Transistor uses protons analogously to electrons for bio-compatibility

09/22/2011 

University of Washington materials scientists are working on a field-effect transistor (FET) that uses protons to communicate, rather than electrons.

Samsung Line-16 memory fab opens

09/22/2011 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. started up its Line-16 memory semiconductor fabrication facility, calling it the

Nano electronics garner 12 grants totaling $20M from NSF, SRC

09/19/2011 

Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund $20 million for 12 four-year grants on nanoelectronics research, aiming for the "new transistor" from American innovation.

Elpida shifting output to Taiwan, blames yen and ASPs

09/19/2011 

Another sign of the times in Japan's semiconductor industry: a soaring yen and plunging DRAM prices are forcing Elpida Memory to offload much of its DRAM production to Taiwanese JV Rexchip.

Chip sales, capex growth slowing, says IC Insights

09/16/2011 

Techcet's Michael A. Fury shares some bullet-point analyses from IC Insights' Fall Forecast Seminar in Sunnyvale, CA, where the firm offered its latest take on semiconductor sales, capex, and application growth for 2011 and 2012.

Magnetic nanocontacts propagate spin waves, prove magnonics researchers

09/12/2011 

University of Gothenburg and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) researchers demonstrated that spin waves propagated from magnetic nanocontacts, observing the dynamic properties via an advanced spin wave microscope. Magnonics potentially replaces microwave technology in many applications.

EUV lithography flare distortion correction

08/31/2011 

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography introduces new patterning distortions -- flare along with proximity effects -- that must be accurately modeled and corrected on the reticle. James Word and Christian Zuniga of Mentor Graphics discuss an all model-based approach to flare compensation.

Is PC softness dragging down Intel's 22nm plans?

08/31/2011 

With PC demand waning, reports indicate Intel is rethinking part of its 22nm investment plans, which would dent industrywide capex forecasts for 2012.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES: Ready for 20nm semiconductor designs

08/30/2011 

GLOBALFOUNDRIES successfully taped out a 20nm test chip using flows from Cadence Design Systems, Magma Design Automation, Mentor Graphics Corporation, and Synopsys Inc. GLOBALFOUNDRIES customers can now begin evaluating their 20nm semiconductor designs.

Touchscreens in 97% of smartphones by 2016

08/29/2011 

Touchscreens went from showing up in 7% of smartphones in 2006 to being integrated into 75% of the devices in 2010. The next 5-year period will increase touchscreen infiltration to 97% of all smartphones by 2016.

AOS goes fab-lite with 200mm wafer fab purchase

08/29/2011 

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor will exercise an option to acquire 200mm wafer fabrication facility assets from Integrated Device Technology, taking it from fabless to fab-lite for faster time-to-market for high-value products, along with expansion into new markets.

Sluggish recovery, equipment reuse: Takeaways from AMAT's 3Q11

08/26/2011 

Slowing foundry demand, lower utilizations and "an awful lot" of equipment reuse at 28nm, DRAM going nowhere, and debate about how long into 2011 it'll all last -- all these were top of mind among AMAT executives and industry watchers after the company released its fiscal 3Q11 (July quarter) results and commentary.

Imec performs selective CVD of GeSN

08/26/2011 

Imec highlights recent research on using CVD, and commercially available precursors, to grow GeSn in a manner that could be replicated on 200mm and 300mm wafer production environments.

Micronas buys X-FAB foundry business stake

08/25/2011 

Micronas (SIX Swiss Exchange: MASN) is acquiring a EUR10 million stake in the X-FAB Silicon Foundries Group, which is also supporting Micronas with 0.18um high-voltage CMOS process with embedded flash manufacturing.

NAND overtakes DRAM spending: 2011 capex predictions

08/24/2011 

Semiconductor capital spending will expand almost 12% this year, approaching $63 billion. Some major industry changes taking place in 2011 will have long-term effects on the semiconductor industry.

IC market to top $300 billion in 2013

08/24/2011 

The IC industry, which had a phenomenal growth year in 2010, is in a cautious mode under greater macro-economic uncertainty and hesitancy. Some positive milestones are on the horizon, however, shows data within IC Insight's Mid-Year Update, such as the 200 billion IC shipment milestone in 2011, and the $300 billion mark expected in 2013.

NAND flash growing on smartphone, tablet integration

08/23/2011 

The global NAND flash device market will reach $31.05 billion in 2014, TechNavio analysts forecast. Increased NAND usage in smartphones and tablets is a major driver, but beware of the potential for device oversupply in the market.

JEDEC DDR4 standard preview

08/22/2011 

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association shared selected elements of its Double Data Rate 4 (DDR4) standard, to be published in full in 2012. Reduced power usage, better performance, and faster operation are the main aims of DDR4 for servers, laptops, desktop PCs, and consumer products.

Analyst: $10B more semi capex thanks to tablets, smartphones

08/19/2011 

How will heavy demand for tablets and smartphones translate into chipmaking capacity investments over the next few years? Citi's Tim Arcuri runs some numbers to come up with the answer: $10B annually.




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Environment, Safety & Health

Date and time TBD

The semiconductor industry is an acknowledged global leader in promoting environmental sustainability in the design, manufacture, and use of its products, as well as the health and safety of its operations and impacts on workers in semiconductor facilities (fabs). We will examine trends and concerns related to emissions, chemical use, energy consumption and worker safety and health.

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Wafer Processing

Date and time TBD

As the industry moves to 10nm and 7nm nodes, advances in wafer processing – etch, deposition, planarization, implant, cleaning, annealing, epitaxy among others – will be required. Manufacturers are looking for new solutions for sustained strain engineering, FinFETs, FDSOI and multi-gate technologies, 3D NAND, and high mobility transistors.

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