Tag Archives: letter-ap-business

ATTOPSEMI Technology, Ltd. today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator Partner Program, to provide a scalable, non-volatile one-time programmable (OTP) memory IP to be compatible with GF’s 22FDX technology. ATTOPSEMI’s I-fuse OTP IP offers increased reliability, smaller cell size, low programming voltage/current, and high data security enabling customers and designers the ability to utilize an advanced OTP for harsh applications such as automotive, 3D IC, and IoT applications.

The opportunity for advanced OTP memory technology is greater than ever. As the volumes and technical demands increase for Internet of Things (IoT), processing performance grows and memory intensive applications advance, ATTOPSEMI’s I-fuse fills the need. Consumer, communications, automotive and wireless markets require smaller sizing, ease of programmability and high levels of reliability. With its patent-proven structure, the I-fuse can guarantee zero-program defect giving customers the needed knowledge of reliability and execution.

“ATTOPSEMI’s new offering should benefit our 22FDX customers in all the key market segments we address, especially for IoT and processor intensive applications,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of product management at GF. “Their commitment continues to demonstrate strong industry interest in GF’s FDXcelerator program and the 22FDX value proposition.”

“We are excited to expand our engagements with GF and believe that our technology will help their customers deliver the functionality the market has been asking for,” said Chung Shine, Chairman, ATTOPSEMI. “We believe that our development has given us the ability to generate a smaller cell size and more reliability than our competitors along with a very scalable solution.”

ATTOPSEMI’s I-fuse is a fuse-based OTP technology that offers up to 100x reliability, 1/100 the cell size, and 1/10th the program current than traditional e-fuse technologies. Highlights of the I-fuse include:

  • Limited program current below a catastrophic breaking point
  • Use of junction diode, instead of MOS, as a program selector in an OTP cell
  • Smaller cell improving program efficiency enabling program current reduction

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), a developer of advanced semiconductor systems, today announced that on March 14 it successfully won the auction for Cando Corporation assets, which will be utilized in establishing a back-end site for Micron Taiwan. Micron has now completed the title acquisition process for the new site.

The acquisition includes the cleanroom and tools that are adjacent to Micron’s existing Taichung fab, bringing the company’s fabrication and back-end together in one location. The new site will be focused on establishing a centralized back-end operation.

“This marks a significant step in our plan to create a center of excellence for leading-edge DRAM in Taiwan,” said Wayne Allan, VP, Global Manufacturing. “Bringing fabrication and back end together, all in one location, builds an efficient support structure for end-to-end manufacturing with quicker cycle times that benefit our business and customers.”

The new back-end site is expected to begin production in August, and the new integrated center of excellence is expected to bring greater operational cost efficiency that will benefit Micron’s DRAM business on a global scale. These cost efficiencies are part of the overall US$500 million of ongoing operational enhancement opportunities cited at the company’s 2017 analyst conference.

The strategic acquisition, with a winning bid of US$89.2 million, also highlights Micron’s goal to grow its presence in Taiwan – where it is the largest foreign employer and investor – from its current wafer manufacturing function to a broader center of expertise in the global memory industry. The back-end site will further enhance the company’s strong presence on the island, which already includes 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in Taichung and Taoyuan, as well as sales and technical support offices in Taipei.

The back-end operation will be led by site director Mike Liang, who joined Micron in November 2016 with more than 35 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Having previously served in leadership roles at Ti-Acer, KYEC and Amkor Taiwan, Liang brings significant expertise in both front-end wafer fabrication and back-end assembly and test manufacturing.

Princeton researchers have discovered a new form of the simple compound GeSe that has surprisingly escaped detection until now. This so-called beta-GeSe compound has a ring type structure like graphene and its monolayer form could have similarly valuable properties for electronic applications, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Graphene has been hailed as a two-dimensional wonder material for electronics but its lack of a band gap has hindered its development for devices. As such, a closely related material, black phosphorus, has been receiving intense research attention because it has a small band gap and a high charge carrier mobility, and can easily be reduced to nanometer thicknesses. The researchers calculated that GeSe is highly analogous to black phosphorus and can be considered a pseudo-group-V element.

This is the building blocks of graphene, black phosphorus, α-GeSe, and β-GeSe. Credit: Cava lab

This is the building blocks of graphene, black phosphorus, α-GeSe, and β-GeSe. Credit: Cava lab

Under extreme pressure, black phosphorus is transformed into a simple cubic form, so the team wondered if the same could be done to GeSe and heated the abundant alpha-GeSe form of the compound to 1200 °C under 6 GPa of pressure or 60,000 times atmospheric pressure.

“What we found was not only a new kind of GeSe–which is already unconventional by itself in that you rarely find new binary compounds anymore–but that it has this uncommon ‘boat’ conformation that we were amazed by,” said first author of the study Fabian von Rohr, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Robert Cava, the Russell Wellman Moore Professor of Chemistry.

beta-GeSe’s rare “boat” form is likely stabilized by the slightly smaller distance between its layers, while black phosphorus and alpha-GeSe exist in standard “chair” conformations. The difference in structures gives rise to the compounds’ different electronic properties. The researchers found that beta-GeSe possesses a band gap size in between that of black phosphorus and alpha-GeSe, which could prove promising for future applications. GeSe is also an attractive material for electronics because it’s robust under ambient conditions while black phosphorus is reactive to both air and water.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.97 billion in billings worldwide in February 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the February Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in February 2017 was $1.97 billion. The billings figure is 6.1 percent higher than the final January 2017 level of $1.86 billion, and is 63.8 percent higher than the February 2016 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“Billings levels remain elevated as memory and foundry manufacturers continue to invest in advanced semiconductor technologies,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “These investments are paving the way for the ramp of 3D NAND and 1X-nm devices.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Year-Over-Year
September 2016

$1,493.3

-0.1%
October 2016

$1,630.4

20.0%
November 2016

$1,613.3

25.2%
December 2016

$1,869.8

38.5%
January 2017 (final)

$1,859.4

52.3%
February 2017 (prelim)

$1,973.1

63.8%
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), March 2017

 

SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017.  The decision to discontinue the Book-to-Bill report was based on changes in reporting by some participants where the reporting of orders/bookings into the data collection program is no longer considered a necessary component of their industry analysis.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SNPS) today announced its collaboration with TSMC to develop DesignWare Interface, Analog and Foundation IP for TSMC’s 12FFC process. By offering a wide range of IP on TSMC’s latest low-power process, Synopsys is enabling designers to take advantage of the low leakage and small area advantages of the new process. Synopsys and TSMC have partnered on the development of Synopsys IP for advanced process technologies for more than two decades, resulting in a robust portfolio of IP supporting process technologies down to 7nm. Synopsys DesignWare IP for the 12FFC process enables designers to accelerate development of mobile SoCs that incorporate logic libraries, embedded memories, embedded test and repair, USB 3.1/3.0/2.0, USB-C 3.1/DisplayPort 1.3, DDR4/3, LPDDR4X, PCI Express 4.0/3.1/2.1, SATA 6G, HDMI 2.0, MIPI M-PHY and D-PHY and data converter IP.

“TSMC and Synopsys share a long history of providing designers with a wide range of high-quality IP on TSMC’s advanced FinFET processes,” said Suk Lee, TSMC senior director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. “By developing IP on the latest TSMC 12FFC process, Synopsys is paving the way for designers to improve their SoCs’ leakage and lower overall costs.”

“As SoCs continue to incorporate more advanced functionality, designers are constantly challenged with meeting aggressive performance, power and area requirements,” said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP at Synopsys. “Our close collaboration with TSMC on the development of a broad range of IP for the 12FFC process will ensure that designers have timely access to the high-quality, proven IP solutions they need to achieve their design goals and quickly get their product to market.”

Synopsys is a provider of high-quality, silicon-proven IP solutions for SoC designs.

SEMI, the global association connecting and representing the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain, today reported that worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $41.24 billion in 2016, representing a year-over-year increase of 13 percent. 2016 total equipment bookings were 24 percent higher than in 2015. The data are available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report, now available from SEMI.

Compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the Worldwide SEMS Report is a summary of the monthly billings and bookings figures for the global semiconductor equipment industry. The report, which includes data for seven major semiconductor producing regions and 24 product categories, shows worldwide billings totaled $41.24 billion in 2016, compared to $36.53 billion in sales posted in 2015. Categories cover wafer processing, assembly and packaging, test, and other front-end equipment. Other front-end includes mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing, and fab facilities equipment.

Spending rates increased for Rest of World (primarily Southeast Asia), China, Taiwan, Europe and South Korea while the new equipment markets in North America and Japan contracted. Taiwan claimed the largest market for new semiconductor equipment for the fifth year in a row with $12.23 billion in equipment sales. South Korea remained the second largest market for the second year in a row. The market in China increased 32 percent, surpassing both Japan and North America to become the third largest market. The 2016 equipment markets in Japan and North America fell to fourth and fifth place, respectively. The global other front-end segment decreased 5 percent; the wafer processing equipment market segment increased 14 percent; total test equipment sales increased 11 percent; and the assembly and packaging segment increased 20 percent.

Semiconductor Capital Equipment Market by World Region (2015-2016)

2016
2015
% Change
Taiwan
12.23
9.64
27%
South Korea
7.69
7.47
3%
China
6.46
4.90
32%
Japan
4.63
5.49
-16%
North America
4.49
5.12
-12%
Rest of World
3.55
1.97
80%
Europe
2.18
1.94
12%
Total
41.24
36.53
13%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org) and SEAJ, March 2017; Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

The ConFab – an exclusive conference and networking event for semiconductor manufacturing and design executives from leading device makers, OEMs, OSATs, fabs, suppliers and fabless/design companies – announces Keynotes in the May 14-17 event being held at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

The ConFab 2017 is excited to welcome these distinguished Keynote speakers: Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor; Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory, as well as the Laboratory for Intelligent and Safe Automobiles at the University of California San Diego; Dr. Alissa Fitzgerald, Founder and Managing Member of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, and Bill McClean, President of IC Insights.

Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor

Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The five hottest areas for semiconductor growth in the coming years are the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, 5G, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and artificial intelligence (AI). The ConFab 2017 program will take a close look at the challenges of these applications in the semiconductor industry, not just on the microprocessor and memory side, but on the MEMS, sensor, display, power and analog side. Many new innovations in packaging will also addressed,” said Pete Singer, Conference Chair of The ConFab and Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Technology.

In addition to our great Keynotes, the 2017 Agenda brings together sessions on heterogeneous integration and advanced packaging, starting with a talk from Islam Salama, Director with Intel, followed by Bill Chen, ASE Fellow, and Jan Vardaman, President of TechSearch. Siemens will speak on Smart Manufacturing, which will encompass the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). A panel discussion on Advanced Packaging will be moderated by Vinayak Pandey, Vice President of STATS ChipPAC with additional sessions that will focus on MEMS and sensors. Speakers include Kevin Shaw, CTO and Founder of Algorithmic Intuition and J.C. Eloy, President and CEO of Yole Développement. Another panel will look into the coming opportunities and changes in a range of diverse markets, including MEMS and Sensors, power electronics, biomedical, LEDs, displays and more. Those panelists include Valerie Marty of Connected Micro, Laura Rothman Mauer of Veeco, David Butler of SPTS and Mike Rosa of Applied Materials. Jason Marsh of NextFlex will provide an update on flexible electronics on Wednesday.

The ConFab is a high-level conference for decision-makers and influencers to connect, innovate and collaborate in multiple sessions, one-on-one private business meetings, and other networking activities. For more information, visit www.theconfab.com.

About The ConFab

The ConFab is the premier semiconductor manufacturing conference and networking event bringing over 200 notable industry leaders together. The ConFab is owned and produced by Extension Media and hosted by Pete Singer, Solid State Technology’s Editor-in-Chief, and Conference Chair. To inquire about participating – if you represent an equipment, material or service supplier, contact Kerry Hoffman, Director of Sales, at [email protected]. To inquire about attending, contact Sally Bixby, Sr. Events Director at [email protected]

About Extension Media

Extension Media is a privately held company operating more than 50 B2B magazines, engineers’ guides, newsletters, websites and conferences that focus on high-tech industry platforms and emerging technologies such as: chip design, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, embedded systems, software, architectures and industry standards. Extension Media also produces industry leading events including The ConFab, the Internet of Things Developers Conference (IoT DevCon 2017) and the new Machine Learning Developers Conference (ML DevCon 2017), and publishes Embedded Systems Engineering, EECatalog.com, Embedded Intel® Solutions, EmbeddedIntel.com, Chip Design, ChipDesignMag.com, Solid State Technology and Solid-State.com.

Over 60,000 attendees are expected at SEMICON China opening tomorrow at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). SEMICON China (March 14-16) offers the latest in technology and innovation for the electronics manufacturing industry. FPD China is co-located with SEMICON China, providing opportunities in this related market. Featuring nearly 900 exhibitors occupying nearly 3,000 booths, SEMICON China is the largest gathering of its kind in the world.

Worldwide fab equipment spending is expected to reach an industry all-time record, to more than US$46 billion in 2017, according to the latest version of the SEMI (www.semi.org) World Fab Forecast. In 2018, the record may break again, with spending close to the $50 billion mark.  SEMI forecasts that China will be third ($6.7 billion) for regional fab equipment spending in 2017, but its spending in 2018 may reach $10 billion – which would be a 55 percent increase year-over-year, placing China in second place for worldwide fab equipment spending in 2018.

On March 14, keynotes at SEMICON China include SMIC chairman of the Board Zhou Zixue. ASE Group director and COO Tien Wu, ASML president and CEO Peter Wennink, Intel VP Jun He, Lam Research CEO Martin Anstice, TEL CTO Sekiguchi Akihisa and imec president and CEO Luc Van den hove.

SEMICON China programs expand attendees’ knowledge, networking reach, and business opportunities. Programs this year feature a broad and deep range:

  • CSTIC: On March 12-13, the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) precedes SEMICON China. CSTIC is organized by SEMI and imec and covers all aspects of semiconductor technology and manufacturing.
  • Technical and Business Programs: 
    • March 14: China Memory Strategic Forum.
    • March 15: Building China’s IC Ecosystem, Green High-Tech Facility Forum, and Smart Manufacturing Forum, in addition Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 1).
    • March 16: Smart Automotive Forum, MEMS & Sensors Conference Asia, plus Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 2)
  • Tech Investment Forum: On March 15, an international platform to explore investment, M&A, and China opportunities.
  • Theme Pavilions:  SEMICON China also features six exhibition floor theme pavilions: IC Manufacturing, LED and Sapphire, ICMTIA/Materials, MEMS, Touch Screen and OLED.
  • Networking Events: SEMI Industry Gala, China IC Night, and SEMI Golf Tournament

For additional information on sessions and events at SEMICON China 2017, please visit www.semiconchina.org/en/4.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.86 billion in billings worldwide in January 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the January Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in January 2017 was $1.86 billion. The billings figure is 0.5 percent lower than the final December 2016 level of $1.87 billion, and is 52.3 percent higher than the January 2016 billings level of $1.22 billion.

“Global billings reported by the North American equipment makers begin the New Year at high levels,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “We expect strong spending growth in 2017 based on investments in leading-edge memory and foundry fabs.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Year-Over-Year
August 2016

$1,709.0

8.4%
September 2016

$1,493.3

-0.1%
October 2016

$1,630.4

20.0%
November 2016

$1,613.3

25.2%
December 2016 (final)

$1,869.8

38.5%
January 2017 (prelim)

$1,860.3

52.3%
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), February 2017

 

SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017.  The decision to discontinue the Book-to-Bill report was based on changes in reporting by some participants where the reporting of orders/bookings into the data collection program is no longer considered a necessary component of their industry analysis.

SEMI will continue publish a monthly North American Billings report and issue the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The WWSEMS report currently reports billings by 24 equipment segments and by seven end market regions. Beginning with the January 2017 WWSEMS report, bookings information will only be available for the back-end equipment segments of the industry.

GlobalFoundries_Ajit_ManochSEMI, the global association connecting and representing the worldwide electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced the appointment of Ajit Manocha as its president and CEO. He will succeed Denny McGuirk, who announced his intention to retire last October. The SEMI International Board of Directors conducted a comprehensive search process, selecting Manocha, an industry leader with over 35 years of global experience in the semiconductor industry.  Manocha will begin his new role on March 1 at SEMI’s new Milpitas headquarter offices.

“Ajit has a deep understanding of our industry’s dynamics and the interdependence of the electronics manufacturing supply chain,” said Y.H. Lee, chairman of SEMI’s board of directors. “From his early days developing dry etch processes at AT&T Bell Labs, to running global manufacturing for Philips/NXP, Spansion, and, as CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Ajit has been formative to our industry’s growth. Ajit is the ideal choice to drive our SEMI 2020 plan and beyond, ensuring that SEMI provides industry stewardship and engages its members to advance the interests of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain.”

“Beyond his experience leading some of our industry’s top fabs, Ajit has long been active at SEMI and has served on boards of several global associations and consortia,” said Denny McGuirk, retiring president and CEO of SEMI. “Ajit’s experience in technology, manufacturing, and industry stewardship is a powerful combination. I’m very excited to be passing the baton to Ajit as he will continue to advance the growth and prosperity of SEMI’s members.”

“I have tremendous respect for the work SEMI does on behalf of the industry,” said Ajit Manocha, incoming president and CEO of SEMI. “I am excited to be joining SEMI at a time when our ecosystem is rapidly expanding due to extensive innovation on several fronts.  From applications based on the Internet and the growth of mobile devices to artificial intelligence/machine learning, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things, there is a much broader scope for SEMI to foster heterogeneous collaboration and fuel growth today than ever before.  I am looking forward to leading the global SEMI organization as we strive to maximize value for our members across this extended global ecosystem.”

Manocha was formerly CEO at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, during which he also served as vice chairman and chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).  Earlier, Manocha served as EVP of worldwide operations at Spansion. Prior to Spansion, he was EVP and chief manufacturing officer at Philips/NXP Semiconductors. Manocha also held senior management positions within AT&T Microelectronics. He began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a research scientist where he was granted several patents related to microelectronics manufacturing. Manocha holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in physical chemistry from Kansas State University.