Tag Archives: Top Story Left

by Dan Tracy, senior director, SEMI Industry Research and Statistics

October 3, 2012 – Semiconductor manufacturers in Japan are either consolidating or closing fabs, and, in several cases, transitioning to a "fab-lite" strategy, all in a restructuring effort to meet the market challenges ahead. While device manufacturers are consolidating manufacturing operations and plan to outsource more wafer fabrication and package assembly to foundries and packaging subcontractors, a large installed fab capacity remains in Japan. Recent data for the year shows overall wafer area shipments into Japan’s fabs being the same as shipments into Taiwan.

By 2014, the total installed fab capacity Japan should increase slightly from about 4.5 million to 4.6 million 200mm equivalent wafers per month. Installed 300mm fab capacity is expected to increase from about 760,000 to 840,000 300mm wafers per month — representing, by region, the third largest 300mm fab manufacturing capacity base globally. Over the next several years, fab spending in the Japan market will be directed towards the production of NAND flash memory, power semiconductors, high-brightness LEDs, and CMOS image sensors.


Regional share forecasted for 2013 fab materials market. Total market size: $25.7 billion.

Overall equipment spending in Japan will likely range on the order of $4 billion per year. Expected NAND flash investments in 2013 could approach up to $2.5 billion. LED fab equipment spending is estimated to be $340 million next year. Finally, Sony is expected to invest about US$ 1 billion or more in its CMOS image sensor production.

Japanese equipment and material suppliers are leading players on the global semiconductor industry stage. It is estimated that Japan-headquartered equipment companies collectively capture about 35% share of the global semiconductor industry spending per annum. Like their North American and European counterparts, customers in the rest of the Asia Pacific region are the largest base for new equipment sales.

Chemical and other material suppliers in Japan are market leaders in the manufacturing of silicon wafers, III-V wafers, advanced chemicals, packaging resins, and packaging substrates. It is estimated that the Japanese material suppliers sales represent about 70% of the global semiconductor materials market, both fab and packaging.

Japanese suppliers showcase the latest products at SEMICON Japan 2012

Leading Japanese equipment and materials suppliers will exhibit at SEMICON Japan 2012 on December 5- 7, along with global key players, at the Makuhari Messe, Japan. Find the latest products and innovations this companies offer to customers globally that enable key technologies for the future including 450mm, EUV, TSV, power devices, and HB-LEDs to name a few. Also, the show will co-locate with a major photovoltaic show, PVJapan 2012 so you can connect to two major microelectronics industries in a single visit.

For more information, including registration and exhibition, visit www.semiconjapan.org/en.

October 2, 2012 – Driven by market demand, the semiconductor industry is progressing toward consensus on building-block standards for automating LED production on 6-in wafers, explains Paula Doe in an article for SST sister magazine LEDs Magazine.

With the fast-growing demand for HB-LEDs, the industry has added roughly 100 new fabs in the last five years, for a total of 169 LED fabs worldwide. Total industry epitaxy capacity has subsequently ballooned 5× to some 2 million (4-in equivalent) wafers a month.

But there’s still considerable headroom to improve yields and reduce costs — and drive the growth of the solid-state lighting (SSL) market — by moving to larger-diameter wafers and automated production with tighter process controls. Lower front-end processing costs for 6-in wafers mean translate to a 25% cost savings vs. 4-in wafers, per unit surface area, assuming equivalent yields and around $150/wafer for the bigger wafers.

In the latest issue of LEDS Magazine, Paula Doe examines the major players’ progress in enabling this transition, forging consensus on the basics of common wafer parameters, common interfaces for production equipment, and common communication software to communicate data from analysis tools. Bottom line: efforts could enable a $7/$8 60W-equivalent LED bulb by 2014, which would propel the general lighting industry to surpass displays as the main driver of the LED market.

Click through to read the full article.


(Image via LEDs Magazine)

Visit the LED Manufacturing Channel on Solid State Technology and subscribe to the LED Manufacturing News monthly e-newsletter!

October 1, 2012 – Tezzaron Semiconductor is taking over SVTC Technologies’ wafer fab in Austin, TX, amid reports that the semiconductor/MEMS development organization is cutting back activities in Austin and in California — and perhaps shutting its doors entirely.

In a statement, the Naperville, IL-based 3D IC technology firm acknowledges that days ago SVTC "announced to customers and employees that the [Austin] plant would be closed and liquidated by month’s end." This confirms local reports that SVTC had filed notice with the State of Texas about imminent and permanent layoffs of more than a hundred workers at the former SEMATECH ATDF facility. One report further suggested that SVTC might consolidate its operations in Austin.

More bad news for SVTC may be afoot. Last week local reports surfaced that the group has filed similar notification to authorities in California. That report includes a copy of the actual filing with the Economic Development Department, which lists another 106 layoffs — among them the positions of CEO and CFO, and dozens of directors and managers.

Tezzaron processes some of its wafers at the SVTC Austin fab, and intends to expand the fab’s capabilities to support some of its specialized 3D steps that are currently done elsewhere, a Tezzaron official told SST. While the firm says it will continue to support all other processes and services currently offered at the site, its "main strategy is not changing; our focus is still 3D," the official explained. "This acquisition allows us to consolidate much of our processing in one US location while continuing the fab’s current business model."

SVTC Technologies — née Cypress Semiconductor’s Silicon Valley Technology Center — was spun off in early 2007 with VC/private equity backing, and later that year combined with SEMATECH’s ATDF in Austin, TX.

"This is the only facility of its kind on the continent. It supports product innovations for semiconductors, life sciences, clean energy, aerospace, and defense," stated J.T. Ayers, Tezzaron’s CEO. "When we became aware it might be shut down, we knew we had to work quickly to retain this highly valuable group of people and capabilities."

No terms of the Austin deal were offered, though Tezzaron says it should close within two weeks, during which time the fab will continue normal operations. The Austin fab will become a subsidiary of Tezzaron and be led by David Anderson, SVTC VP and former SEMATECH/ATDF director.

Check out our Semiconductors Channel of Solid State Technology and WaferNEWS e-newsletter!. And visit the Advanced Packaging Channel of Solid State Technology, and sign up for our Advanced Packaging News e-newsletter!

September 27, 2012 – A device that measures very thin quantities of liquid, such as the synovial fluid in knee joints, and a device that measures change in mass when a microdevice adsorbs small amounts of material earned top honors in Sandia National Labs’ annual student design contest for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices.

Texas Tech took top "novel design" honors with a micro-rheometer device that can measure the behavior of very thin quantities of liquid, such as the synovial fluid in knee joints. The method requires much smaller samples compared to macro-scale rheometers. "It is much easier, and usually less painful, to obtain small quantities of bodily fluids from patients," according to the students’ submission.


Texas Tech proposes to create a micro-rheometer to measure very thin quantities
of liquid, like that found in knee joints. (Image courtesy of Texas Tech U.)

Carnegie Mellon students won in the education category, for a device that measures the (relatively large) change in mass with a microdevice material adsorbtion, which alters the vibrational frequencies of the system. This could identify surface changes in the structure — e.g., water vapor on MEMS devices may reduce the fatigue strength of polysilicon MEMS, while hydrocarbons adsorb onto microrelay contacts and increase their electrical resistance.

Both schools were repeat winners from Sandia’s 2011 MEMS competition. Last year Texas Tech showed off an ingenious, dust-sized dragonfly with surveillance possibilities, while Carnegie Mellon won acclaim for an ultrasensitive microvalve to control very small fluid flows.

Carnegie Mellon students made use of the relatively large change in mass that occurs when a microdevice adsorbs even a small amount of material. (Image courtesy of Carnegie Mellon U.)

The nine-month-long University Alliance Design Competition is a program geared around MEMS design, fabrication and test, with one category emphasizing novel design concepts, and another category emphasizing unique structure design and its use as an educational tool for MEMS or science education. Students developed ideas for a device, created and analyzed a design model, and submitted the design to be judged by Sandia’s MEMS experts and university professors. The designs were fabbed at Sandia’s Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) facility using its "Summit V" (Ultra-planar, Multi-level MEMS Technology 5) — a five-layer polycrystalline silicon surface micromachining process (one ground plane/electrical interconnect layer and four mechanical layers). Designs were then shipped back to the university students to test whether the final product matches the purpose of the original computer simulation.

This year’s event attracted nine universities, up from five in 2011, partly due to added participation from Mexican universities: the Air Force Institute of Technology, Arizona State U., Central New Mexico Community College, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico City, Carnegie Mellon U., Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Texas Tech U., Universidad de Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Universidad de Guadalajara, Universidad de Guanajuato, U. of Oklahoma, U. of Utah, and Universidad Veracruzana. (The two winners, plus Arizona, Oklahoma, and the AFIT, were the 2011 participants.)

For more information regarding the University Alliance and the design competition, contact Stephanie Johnson at [email protected].

Visit the MEMS Channel of Solid State Technology, and subscribe to our MEMS Direct e-newsletter!

by Karen Lo, director, SEMI Taiwan

September 26, 2012 – At the SEMICON Taiwan 2012 450mm Supply Chain Forum on September 7, leading foundries and equipment manufacturers such as TSMC, TEL, Lam Research, Applied Materials, and KLA-Tencor convened to discuss the latest trends in 450nm technology as well as the opportunities and challenges involved. The experts at the forum agreed that many technical obstacles remain on the path to achieve mass production for 450mm wafers by 2018. The industry supply chain must collaborate on innovation to make this vision a reality.

In a presentation entitled "450mm challenges and opportunities," Dr. C.S. Yoo, senior director of the 450mm program at TSMC, said that increasing node complexity means diminishing returns from process miniaturization. For this reason, the industry began studying 450mm wafers with the goal of improving production efficiency, accelerating technology ramp-up, and shortening production cycles. Yoo stated that these advantages, together with higher land and personnel utilization rates, hopefully will offer the semiconductor industry more opportunities for long-term development.

Dr. C.S. Yoo, sr. director of 450mm program, TSMC

According to Yoo, the biggest question in the bid to realize mass production by 2018 is whether the industry can successfully develop the lithography required for 10nm node processes by 2015. At the same time, the industry must solve problems such as rationalizing equipment costs to make return on investments predictable, realizing significant improvements in productivity, and development of automated unmanned foundry operations, smart equipment, and green foundries.

The industry made many technological breakthroughs during the conversion over to 300mm wafers — and Yoo expects that the transition to 450 will produce even more innovative technologies in the future. TSMC will leverage its partnership with the Global 450 Consortium (G450C) as well as work with IC and equipment manufacturers to support the successful transition of the industry to 450mm.

Dr. John Lin, general manager of G450C, introduced the latest developments at G450C, noting that significant advances in 450mm technology have occurred in the past year and industry interest is continuing to build. He stated that the goal of G450C is to begin demonstrating 14nm technology this year and put 10nm into pilot production between 2015 and 2016. Major improvements in the quality of supply for 450mm wafers have been made, and most of the production machinery should complete the prototype phase by 2014. As for lithography — the most crucial part of the project — the preliminary prototype will probably be completed in 2016 and be ready for mass production by 2018.

The CNSE cleanroom is expected to be ready by December 2012; it will be the first 450mm foundry in the world. Lin said that G450C will continue to collaborate with suppliers and SEMI to promote the standardization of 450mm hardware infrastructure components as well as back-end processing and packaging and testing operations. By sharing in the costs of development, the industry will enjoy the benefits offered by 450mm.

Among equipment manufacturers, Dr. Akihisa Sekiguchi (VP and GM of corporate marketing, TEL), Mark Fissel (VP of 450mm program, Lam Research), Kirk Hasserjian (corporate VP of silicon systems group, Applied Materials) and Hubert Altendorfer (senior director of 450mm program, KLA-Tencor) all talked about the challenges involved with developing 450mm equipment.

Seikiguchi believes that 450mm will revolutionize the semiconductor industry and that only companies with strong financial fundamentals will survive due to the high cost of investment. With several years to go until the target of achieving mass production by 2018, Seikiguchi believes that the risks and uncertainty during this period makes proper communication and collaboration between customers, equipment suppliers, foundries and industry associations all the more important. The semiconductor industry should learn from past experience with 300mm transition to avoid making the same mistakes.

Mark Fissel of Lam Research also invoked the transition to 300mm as an example. The first prototype was completed in 1995 but the "dot-com" bubble and other economic factors slowed progress, so it took nine years for 300mm wafer shipments to finally exceed 200mm wafers in 2004. The development of 450mm equipment must also contend with design issues and challenges in terms of technology, capacity, cost and size. Fissel believed that the industry must balance the risk for 450mm development with its long-term ROI.

Kirk Hasserjian of Applied Materials proposed six important factors for a smooth transition to 450mm: Synchronization of the industry’s transition timetable, maturity of lithography, cost sharing, collaboration, innovation, and supply chain readiness.

The eventual wafer size transition will have widespread implications, both for those who make the transition as well as for those that wait. Much of the semiconductor ecosystem is now paying attention to — and planning for — the transition. SEMI is facilitating the development of industry standards and the flow of information throughout the supply chain. SEMI recently launched 450 Central, a web-based information service to help the industry efficiently transition to 450mm-ready solutions and keep the industry informed of important news and perspectives on 450mm wafer processing.

The most knowledgeable and authoritative voices in the industry discuss these tough issues at SEMI events around the world. Our objective is advance the dialog — to convey useful information to our attendees — and to serve as a platform for productive collaboration on these and other industry issues. The upcoming SEMICON Europa (October 9-11) features a 1.5 day session on "Progress in 450mm." For more information on SEMI, visit www.semi.org.

September 25, 2012 – GlobalFoundries announced it has developed a 14nm process technology "with elements of" its 20nm planar (LPM) process, which it says will offer improved battery life and higher performance vs. other 20nm 2D planar transistors.

The new process, dubbed 14-XM ("eXtreme Mobility"), is a nonplanar architecture optimized for mobile system-on-chip designs, the company claims. The new approach is promoted as a cost-effective and power-optimized FinFET technology ideally suited for the mobile SoC market, with an "ideal" balance between performance and power consumption, while minimizing both die size and cost. Designers also will be able to reuse much of their previous-generation IP.

Specifically, the 14nm-XM technology incorporates GlobalFoundries’ 20nm-LPM "middle-of-line" processes with tight design rules to enable 8T standard cells, and the 20nm-LPM "backend-of-line" (BEOL) to realize cost and density advantages, plus some "fin-friendly” layout rules for faster porting of existing design IP. Overall results are said to be 40%-60% improved battery life and 20%-55% higher performance (depending on operating voltage) vs. other 20nm 2D planar transistors; more details will be made available in coming months after silicon validation. (Here’s the official presentation [PDF download] describing the technology and its specific benefits; here’s an abridged version as an online slideshow.)

The new 14nm-XM process’ timing is noteworthy — GlobalFoundries’ 20nm process is slated to deliver silicon sometime in 2H12 and ramp in 2013, so this new 14nm process would follow barely a year later. (Intel unwrapped its own FinFET process in May 2011 and debuted first products this past spring.) The synergy between the two processes, 20nm planar and 14nm with FinFETs, "means we will be able to offer our customers the fastest path to FinFET with the least amount of risk," the company explains.

Further helping the speedy ramp-up is the ability to leverage the 10 years of FinFET R&D know-how of the Common Platform Alliance (mostly IBM). "Through our partnership in the Common Platform Alliance, we own more than 3/4 of the industry patents on FinFET technology. We are confident that this heritage of deep R&D will allow us to lead the foundry volume ramp of FinFETs as we did with HKMG," the company explains.

GlobalFoundries also has a new multiyear agreement with ARM to optimized the SoC technology for ARM processor designs on FinFET process technologies, extending an existing collaboration for the ARM Cortex-A processors that will now focus on production IP platforms "that will promote rapid migration to three-dimensional FinFET transistor technology."

Test silicon with the technology is already running through the company’s Fab 8 in New York, and early process design kits are already available. Customer tape-outs are planned for 2013 and a ramp to volume production is planned for 2014. (The foundry’s 20nm process itself is expected to ramp in 2013.)

FinFETs operate at lower Vdd and with low off-state leakage. (Image via GlobalFoundries)

September 24, 2012 – Sharp Corp. is in discussions with Intel to use the Japanese firm’s LCD panels in new ultrabook laptops, and could be seeking a more substantial partnership that would make the chipmaking giant its top stakeholder, according to local media.

The Mainichi reported that the two firms "are in talks" for Intel to invest more than ¥30B (roughly US $380M) in the "financial troubled" Japanese company, with a deal possible as soon as early October. In a terse announcement, Sharp denied any capital tie-up negotiations.

Sharp’s IGZO display technology (indium gallium zinc oxide) for small- and medium-sized LCDs is seen as a good fit with Intel-powered ultrabooks. It offers mobility performance somewhere between amorphous and low-temperature polysilicon. Its benefits include lower power consumption, thinness (less backlighting needed), highly touch-sensitive, and high definition.

Intel, meanwhile, is viewed as something of a white knight for the Japanese firm, which earlier this year tried a similar tie-up with Taiwanese conglomerate Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.. That deal apparently remains in limbo due to a plunge in Sharp’s valuation. Reuters notes that "cash-strapped" Sharp has nearly ¥360B in short-term loans to repay, and is approaching existing lenders for another ¥200B in more loans.

Sharp has separately announced other efforts to improve its financial standing, including the sale of its US subsidiary Recurrent Energy, two years after it bought the solar firm. It also is selling TV assembly plants in Mexico and China to Hon Hai, and instituting early retirement plans in Japan to reduce costs.

Visit our new Displays Manufacturing Channel on Solid State Technology and subscribe to our Displays Digest e-newsletter!

September 21, 2012 – Demand for chip tools fell again in August and is off by -30% from its peak in early summer, fulfilling fears that the second half of 2012 will be sluggish for chipmaking investments, according to the latest data from SEMI.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment reported $1.12B in orders worldwide in August (a three-month moving average), down -9.2% from July’s slightly downwardly revised level of $1.23B and down -3.6% from a year ago. Worldwide billings slipped to $1.34B, off by -7.4% from a similarly lowered mark in July and off by -8.4% from the same month in 2011.

For the year through August, chip tool bookings are running about -8% off the same pace in 2011 ($10.97B), with billings off by about -15% at $11.16B, according to SEMI’s historical data. Demand clearly peaked in the spring, flattened in the summer, and has now waned significantly. Global demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment actually started slipping in 2Q12 with softness in just about every region except Taiwan. (As bad as the current pullback is, it’s a far cry from the -40+% dropoff seen toward the end of 2011.)

"The second half of the year continues to show reduced order and billing levels for the 2012 spending cycle," said Dan Tracy, senior director of SEMI Industry Research and Statistics. Industry watchers already were expecting a pullback in demand especially in 3Q12 (and so are the chipmakers themselves), with mixed feelings about a possible bump in 4Q12.

SEMI’s still sticking with its official forecast issued at SEMICON West which predicts a -2.6% decline for the year. "We expect 2012 equipment revenues to decline slightly with total spending for front-end and back-end semiconductor equipment globally remaining at the $40 billion or greater level for the third consecutive year," reiterated Tracy.

SEMI is growing increasingly bullish, however, for 2013, with initial projections of 17% growth in equipment spending.

  Billings Bookings Book-to-bill
March 1,287.6 1,445.7 1.12
April 1,458.7 1,602.8 1.10
May 1,539.3 1,613.7 1.05
June (f) 1,535.7 1,424.3 0.93
July (r) 1,442.8 1,234.6 0.86
August (p) 1,335.5
 1,120.6
 0.84

Semiconductor bookings and billings, 3-month averages. (Source: SEMI)

September 17, 2012 – Shipments of tablets are booming, and that means demand for tablet displays is set to spike as well — and some new panel makers are getting in on the action, according to IHS iSuppli.

Shipments of tablet displays, including iPad’s 9-in. model and smaller 7.x-in. models from various brands, will soar 56% to 126.6 million units in 2012, according to the analysis firm. Of those, more than half (74.3, 35% Y/Y growth) will be for the 9.x-in. segment where the iPad rules supreme.

The second-largest tablet display segment, the 7.x-in. category, is taking up some share now (41.1M units, 98% Y/Y), accounting for nearly a third of total shipments vs. 26% a year ago, notes iSuppli. That’s because these smaller tablets will be launching with lower prices than the bigger ones: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablet, and others that use the Google Android operating system, explains Vinita Jakhanwal, director for small & medium displays at IHS. (And Apple is expected to come out with its own smaller display later this year.)

Tablet demand strongly follows seasonal trends, and thus shipments of tablet displays fell off in 1Q12 (-20% vs. 1Q12) as suppliers cleared out inventory. Shipments ramped back up in 2Q12 (27M units, 29% Q/Q) once those inventories cleared out, though, and panel orders started coming in for new launches planned in 2H12, iSuppli explains.

LG Display and Samsung Display were by far the top two suppliers of tablet displays in 1Q12 (42% and 38% marketshare, respectively). Both are top iPad suppliers; LG also makes displays for Amazon and B&N, while Samsung sources displays for its own internal tablet business. Both companies are making major investments to upgrade both technology and capacity for high-performance tablet panels, e.g. wide-viewing-angle capabilities such as in-plane switching and fringe-field switching — and both are looking to convert amorphous-silicon (a-Si) fabs to oxide silicon panels to help improve the technology’s resolution, power consumption, and performance.

Another angle in the surge of tablet displays is the arrival of other major LCD panel suppliers, particularly Japanese ones (Sharp, Japan Display, Panasonic) who are dedicating capacity at their Gen-6 and Gen-8 fabs to make room, iSuppli notes. Together they’ll be increasing capacity allocation for small/medium displays by 164% this year to 5.5 mw. Sharp in particular has its eye on oxide silicon capacity, as it’s been supplying panels for the new iPad from its G8 fab. Panasonic is likely to produce 7.x-in. and 8.x-in. tablet panels during 2H12, the firm adds.

Meanwhile, major Taiwanese display suppliers also are adjusting their business models, to go after business in the education sector and China’s white-box market, iSuppli notes. While AU Optronics is believed to be qualified as a supplier for the smaller (7.85-in) iPad, generally speaking Taiwanese panel suppliers primarily target the Chinese market that emphasizes lower-priced tablets — which means they must dial back the display specs, e.g. with more basic twisted nematic (LCD) and not the wide-viewing capabilities.

Size 2011 2012
5.x-in. 0.9 0.3
7.x-in. 20.8 41.1
8.x-in. 5.2 10.9
9.x-in. 55.2 74.3
TOTAL    82.1 126.6

Forecasted shipments of worldwide tablet panel displays
by size, in millions of units. (Source: IHS iSuppli)

Visit our new Displays Manufacturing Channel on Solid State Technology and subscribe to our Displays Digest e-newsletter!