by Steve Buehler
What’s driving the semiconductor manufacturing industry today? To a large extent, it’s the rise in mobile computing- smartphones, tablets, and ultra-portable notebook PCs. If you’re addicted to your Apple iPad, or you can’t put down your Samsung smartphone, then you’ll love the new SEMICON West mobile app for attendees, which brings virtually all of the show content to iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. The SEMICON West mobile app, sponsored by Applied Materials, acts as a portable guide to the event, with access to complete exhibitor listings, floor plans, program schedules, speakers, and local information. The new app is available now from the iTunes Store and Google Play. More information about the app is available at: www.semiconwest.org/Participate/MobileApp.
And what’s the biggest wafer issue at West this year? Of course, it’s the industry transition to 450mm wafers. Will anyone spend the billions of dollars necessary to bring these super-sized silicon discs into high-volume manufacturing, or will there be a lot of talk and very little productive development for the few tools that will be sold into a very small number of fabs? The SEMICON West 450mm Supply Chain Forum and the 450mm Standards events will be where everyone hopes to discern reality from rhetoric.
On the other hand, the smallest issue is the ongoing shrink of half-pitch dimensions. SEMICON West has Sub-22nm and EUVL forums where you can find out just how everyone – or maybe only a few – will get down to 20nm and 14nm nodes. If going vertical is your thing, there are 3D seminars that will focus on FinFETs, 3D-capable SOI wafers, and the advanced techniques to make this all work.
The SEMICON West 2012 “Extreme Electronics” Exhibits and Presentations will focus on Manufacturing Technologies for the Growing Microelectronics Technology Markets.
Speakers from Cree, Seoul Semiconductor, Micralyne, InvenSense, Hanking, Panasonic and more will discuss the latest manufacturing and technology trends at SEMICON West 2012, in the Extreme Electronics “show-within-the-show” exhibit area. The co-location of LED, MEMS, and plastic electronics-focused exhibitors within the SEMICON West exhibition shows the synergies between semiconductors and related adjacent markets.
And Moore! And More! And Moore! And More!
Also at the SEMICON West 2012 exhibition:
MEMS: Taking MEMS to the Next Level: Transitioning to a Profitable High-Volume Business on Tuesday, July 10, 10:30am–3:30pm, with speakers from InvenSense, Yole Développement, Hillcrest Labs, Coventor, Hanking Electronics, Micralyne, Applied Materials, Nikon, ScanNano, NIST and more.
LEDs/Solid State Lighting: Enabling the Next-Generation of HB-LEDs on Wednesday, July 11, 10:30am–3:30pm, with speakers from Cree, Soraa, Everlight Electronics, EV Group, Canaccord Genuity, LayTec AG, Seoul Semiconductor, Lattice Power, Yole Développement, GT Advanced Technologies and more.
Plastic/Printed Electronics: Practical Plastic Electronics: Bringing Disruptive Flexible and Organic Materials into Volume Electronics Manufacturing, on Thursday, July 12, 10:30am–1:00pm, with speakers from IMEC, Panasonic, DisplaySearch, Imprint Energy, Applied Materials, and MC 10.
Focus on TechXPOTs
And finally – the SEMICON West TechXPOTs are the place to hear about the latest technology developments and breakthroughs in semiconductor manufacturing. From presentations on cutting-edge materials, to the latest news on next-generation lithography, 450mm, and other major industry initiatives, the TechXPOTs are the place to find out what’s new and what’s next in microelectronics.
South Hall
Tuesday, July 10
10:30am-12:30pm Enabling Sub-22nm with New Materials and Processes
1:30pm-3:30pm A Look to the Next Generation of Electronic Materials
Hosted by the Chemical & Gases Manufacturer Group (CGMG) of SEMI
Wednesday, July 11
10:30am-12:50pm Lithography: Extending Double-patterning, Industrializing EUV and Complementary Technologies
1:30pm-3:30pm Secondary Market Challenges and the Future
Hosted by the Secondary Equipment and Applications Americas Chapter
Thursday, July 12
10:30am-12:00pm SEMICON West 450mm Supply Chain Forum
1:00pm-3:30pm ITRS Front End of Line Technologies
North Hall
Tuesday, July 10
10:30am-12:30pm Contemporary Packaging: Achieving Cost Advantage Through Innovation
Hosted by the Advanced Packaging Committee, SEMI Americas
1:30pm-4:00pm Semiconductor Test: Adding Value through Yield and Better Data Management
Wednesday, July 11
10:30am-12:30pm Highlights of International Test Conference
1:00pm-3:30pm The 2.5 & 3D Packaging Landscape for 2015 & Beyond
Hosted by the Advanced Packaging Committee, SEMI Americas
Thursday, July 12
10:30am-12:30pm MEMS and Sensor Packaging
Hosted by the Advanced Packaging Committee, SEMI Americas
1:00pm-3:30pm ITRS Back End of Line Technologies