ARM Acquires Advanced Display Technology from Cadence

Posted on September 3, 2013 by

ARM, the leading semiconductor IP supplier, and Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS), a leader in global electronic design innovation, today announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement for the sale and transfer of Cadence PANTA display controller cores to ARM. The agreement enhances the companies’ long-standing ecosystem collaboration and strengthens their technical alignment.

Cadence’s PANTA family of high-resolution display processor and scaling coprocessor IP cores was co-developed in conjunction with ARM and is targeted at advanced multimedia applications for high-end mobile devices with ultra-low power consumption. Read More

Haptix Sensor Makes Any Surface Multitouch

Posted on August 29, 2013 by

We’ve seen several interesting concepts for new input devices recently, from split keyboards to midair typing apps.

Haptix is a compact 3D motion sensor that turns any flat area into a multitouch surface. It could help do away with the traditional keyboard as well as the mouse.

The concept has already raised more than $130,000 on Kickstarter with the promise of 3D multitouch for $70 or less.

When Haptix is placed over a surface (such as a messy kitchen counter while cooking), or even a laptop, users can tap, swipe, or pinch it to control a cursor, page scroll, or image zoom on a screen. It can also be used for things like capturing real-world brushstrokes for a drawing program. Read More

Are Solar Manufacturers Getting Their Environmental House in Order?

Posted on August 27, 2013 by

Photo Credit: Greenbiz.comFor the past four years, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has been rating the solar energy industry — the manufacturers of solar panels — on their environmental performance and transparency. The latest results, just out, don’t reveal a particularly pretty picture. But they don’t tell the whole story.

The SVTC Solar Scorecard ranks manufacturers of solar photovoltaic modules according to a range of environmental, sustainability and social justice factors. In its fourth year of requesting environmental information from solar companies, only 10 out of 40 companies — about 35 percent of the PV module market share — bothered to respond to its survey. More than a fourth of the top 40 solar companies fail to make “almost any” environmental information publically available on their websites, says SVTC. Read More

Toshiba Starts Second Phase Construction of No. 5 Semiconductor Fabrication Facility

Posted on August 23, 2013 by

Toshiba Corporation today held a groundbreaking ceremony in readiness for the start of construction of Phase 2 of Fab 5, the company’s state-of-the-art fabrication facility (fab) at its Yokkaichi Operations memory production facility in Mie Prefecture.

Toshiba will expand Fab 5 to secure manufacturing space for NAND flash memories fabricated with next generation process technology and for 3D memories. Construction will be completed in summer next year, and decisions on equipment investments and production levels will reflect market trends. Read More

Digital Etch Recess Achieves Highest Current for e-mode GaN MISHFET on Silicon

Posted on August 21, 2013 by

Photo Credit; SemiconductorToday.comGermany-based researchers claim a record on-current for an enhancement-mode (e-mode) gallium nitride (GaN) metal insulator semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistor (MISHFET) on silicon (Si) substrate [Herwig Hahn et al, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., vol52, p090204, 2013].

Nitride semiconductor transistors are being developed for high-power and high-frequency applications. Producing such devices on silicon would reduce material costs and introduce economies of scale from the larger substrates available (up to 300mm). Read More

Abu Dhabi Takes a Big Move at the Smallest of Scales

Posted on August 15, 2013 by

Photo Credit: The NationalInside even the smallest of gadgets, there are many tiny parts and components that must come together as a single, integrated system to execute the functions of the device.

Electronic components have to be made compatible with optical or mechanical ones, various kinds of materials must bind together properly, operating frequencies have to match and component timers have all to work in synchrony as if playing an orchestral symphony.

It is for that reason that international and local leaders in academia, industry, and government have come together to launch the Abu Dhabi Centre of Excellence for Energy Efficient Electronic Systems (ACE4S), a joint project by Advanced Technology Investment Company (Atic) and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Read More

Helium Shortage Threatens Semiconductor Industry

Posted on August 14, 2013 by

Amid the din of headline-grabbing debates in Washington, DC, one looming threat has floated largely out of the public eye: the impending shortage of helium, a critical gas that is used for far more than just party balloons.

Without prompt congressional action, this helium shortage will harm many industrial and scientific users and undermine critical manufacturing, healthcare, and research operations across the country. Instead of the Fiscal Cliff, call it the Helium Cliff.

Helium is an essential component in the advanced manufacturing process for a number of products, including semiconductors — the chips that control all modern electronics. It also has critical applications for scientific research and numerous other products and technologies, including medical devices like MRI machines, chemicals, aerospace, and fiber optics. Read More

Will it be Possible Someday to Build a ‘Fab-on-a-Chip’?

Posted on August 9, 2013 by

Photo Credit: Nano WerkSemiconductor fabs are large, complex industrial sites with costs for a single facility approaching $10B. In this article we discuss the possibility of putting the entire functionality of such a fab onto a single silicon chip. We demonstrate a path forward where, for certain applications, especially at the nanometer scale, one might consider using a single chip approach for building devices, both integrated circuits and nano-electromechanical systems. Such methods could mean shorter device development and fabrication times with a significant potential for cost savings. In our approach, we build micro versions of the macro machines one typically finds in a fab, allowing for the functionality to be placed on a single silicon substrate. We argue that the technology will soon exist to allow one to build a “Fab on a Chip”. Read More

Apple’s Shift in Chip Manufacturing Strategy Boosts Semiconductor Foundry Business

Posted on August 8, 2013 by

Photo Credit: CDRinfIn an illustration of the massive power it wields in the electronics supply chain, Apple’s migration of the production of key semiconductors from Samsung to pure-play foundries will single-handedly boost the growth of the chip contract manufacturing market this year.

By the end of the year, pure-play semiconductor foundry market revenue is forecast to rise 21 percent compared to 2012, according to an IHS report. In contrast, takings for the overall semiconductor industry will expand by a more staid 5 percent.

The pure-play foundry industry is already on track to achieve such growth this year, with revenue amounting to $8.2 billion in the first quarter, up 4 percent from $7.9 billion in the fourth quarter last year. In comparison, the overall semiconductor market was down by 5 percent during the same period.

The foundry segment is also believed to have outperformed the rest of the industry in the second quarter when final figures are released, and then go on to perform strongly for the second half. Read More

Researchers Discover Universal Law for Light Absorption in 2D Semiconductors

Posted on August 1, 2013 by

From solar cells to optoelectronic sensors to lasers and imaging devices, many of today’s semiconductor technologies hinge upon the absorption of light. Absorption is especially critical for nano-sized structures at the interface between two energy barriers called quantum wells, in which the movement of charge carriers is confined to two-dimensions. Now, for the first time, a simple law of light absorption for 2D semiconductors has been demonstrated. Working with ultrathin membranes of the semiconductor indium arsenide, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has discovered a quantum unit of photon absorption, which they have dubbed “AQ,” that should be general to all 2D semiconductors, including compound semiconductors of the III-V family that are favored for solar films and optoelectronic devices. This discovery not only provides new insight into the optical properties of 2D semiconductors and quantum wells, it should also open doors to exotic new optoelectronic and photonic technologies. Read More