Semiconductors

SEMICONDUCTORS ARTICLES



Stanford, SLAC researchers gate a topological insulator

10/05/2011 

Stanford researchers have combined two known topological insulators to create a new one, fabricated small plates with the new topological insulator, and gated them. The result is an insulator-based transistor.

ADI unveils digital isolator package to meet 8mm creepage reqs

10/05/2011 

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) introduced a packaging technology for digital isolators that achieves a minimum of 8mm creepage distance required by global industry standards to ensure safe operation in high-voltage medical and industrial applications.

August chip sales data: Good news, bad news, and another downgrade

10/04/2011 

Global sales of semiconductors inched back above the $25B level in August, and analysts pick through the numbers to find a mix of good and bad news -- and reason for yet another forecast downgrade.

memsstar expands in Silicon Glen

10/04/2011 

The maturing MEMS market and increased adoption of secondary equipment for semiconductor manufacturing have led deposition and etch tool supplier memsstar Limited to expand in Livingston, Scotland. memsstar added new positions in logistics, administration, and skilled and semi-skilled engineering to its jobs roster in conjunction with the expansion.

Fab-lite business model called "sustainable," attracts converts

10/04/2011 

The fab-lite (or asset-lite) trend in IC industry has spread quickly and caused a good deal of debate about the future of chip making, says IC Insights in its latest research bulletin from The McClean Report. Fab-lite integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) from the US and Europe are now joined by large Japanese IC makers -- Toshiba, Renesas, Sony, and Fujitsu -- increasing utilization of third-party foundries.

Tamar Technology debuts TSV metrology tool WaferScan

10/04/2011 

Tamar Technology shipped its first fully automated WaferScan system to a major semiconductor fab. The system performs TSV etch depth, deep trench depth, wafer thickness, photo-resist thickness, and hole diameter metrology.

SEMATECH's Bryan Rice: Why it's time for a "refresh"

10/04/2011 

Bryan Rice, SEMATECH's newly appointed director of strategic initiatives, tells SST what his new job entails: what he sees as his biggest challenges, which areas will keep SEMATECH's main attention (hint: the "once and future king" of resources), and what new areas are being explored.

How to qualify your outsource selection before you write the check

10/03/2011 

Mark Danna, Owens Design, continues his series on the right way to outsource a project. Take these 3 steps before deciding on an outsourcing partner: Check references, consult your professional network, and do some online research.

FSI ORION single-wafer clean tool ordered for Asian foundry

10/03/2011 

FSI International (Nasdaq:FSII) will ship an ORION single wafer cleaning system to a leading Asian semiconductor foundry for 28nm FEOL cleaning.

Rudolph wins TSV inspection systems order

10/03/2011 

Rudolph Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:RTEC) shipped its Wafer Scanner 3880 3D Inspection System, multiple NSX Macro Defect Inspection Systems and its Discover Yield Management Software Suite to a leading semiconductor manufacturer for use in developing through silicon via (TSV) structures.

Making EUV work, with a subsystem ear: Interview with SEMATECH's Stefan Wurm

09/30/2011 

Dr. Stefan Wurm, newly appointed director of SEMATECH's lithography program, tells SST what areas continue to be top-priority to SEMATECH, where progress is being made, and how SEMATECH's pursuits are changing along with its membership base.

Gartner: 2011 capex softer, 2012 messy

09/30/2011 

Semiconductor equipment spending in 2011 looks to be slightly weaker than anticipated, and is looking a lot softer in 2012 across the board, according to Gartner's new semiconductor capex forecasts.

Argon increases silicon etch rate 4x

09/30/2011 

Engineers at the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) NanoFab have developed a plasma etch/argon process that improves etch rate, mask selectivity, and the sidewall profile of silicon structures.

Applied Energy Systems building new semiconductor gas equipment plant

09/30/2011 

Applied Energy Systems Inc. is breaking ground on its Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing and Technology (SEMAT) Center next week. The SEMAT Center will manufacture leading edge gas source and distribution systems.

Toshiba selling Amkor its Malaysian SATS ops

09/30/2011 

Amkor will acquire Toshiba Electronics Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Toshiba

Graphene interacts with rare-earth metals, ignores lead

09/29/2011 

Ames Laboratory researchers have discovered very different reactions between various materials and graphene. Rare-earth metals, such as dysprosium (Dy) and gadolinium (Gd), react strongly with graphene, while lead (Pb) does not.

Samsung claims industry-first LPDDR3 30nm DRAM

09/29/2011 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. developed a monolithic 4Gb low-power double-data-rate 3 (LPDDR3) memory device on 30nm-class wafer processing technology.

Samsung embedded memory fits 8 die in 1.4mm stack

09/29/2011 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. developed a high-performance 64GB embedded memory with 64Gb NAND. The package contains an 8 die stack in a low profile for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

JEDEC releases serial NOR Flash standard

09/28/2011 

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association released JESD216: Serial Flash Discoverable Parameters (SFDP) for Serial NOR Flash. The SFDP allows serial Flash manufacturers to embed a description of device characteristics inside the Flash chip.

SEMATECH names lithography director

09/28/2011 

SEMATECH appointed Dr. Stefan Wurm as the consortium's director of lithography, responsible for the strategic direction of SEMATECH's Lithography program, particularly worldwide EUV infrastructure development.




WEBCASTS



Environment, Safety & Health

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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

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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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