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With Taiwan poised as a central player role in global renewable energy, the stage is set for the inaugural Energy Taiwan, Taiwan’s largest green energy technology exchange platform that aims to accelerate innovation of clean energy technologies. The three-day event at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1, opens September 19 to spotlight the entire renewable energy supply chain.

Organized by SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, and TAITRA, a non-profit government trade promotion organization in Taiwan, Energy Taiwan 2018 gathers the global renewable energy leaders for insights on the latest market trends and opportunities. The international exhibition and forum offers the latest renewable energy market information on topics ranging from solar energy, wind energy, smart energy and storage to hydrogen energy, fuel cells, and green finance and insurance.

Heralded as Taiwan’s International Smart Energy Week, Energy Taiwan 2018 focuses on four main themes – Energy Generation, Energy Storage, Energy Saving, and System Integration. The event’s four co-located exhibitions – PV Taiwan, Wind Energy Taiwan, HFC Taiwan, and Smart Storage Taiwan – showcase the latest clean energy technologies and solutions. Industry experts will share insights on the latest trends and technologies at forums including PV Market Deployment Forum, PV Executive Summit, Offshore Wind Energy Summit, HFC Technology Symposium, and Smart Storage and Energy Integration Forum.

With a complete solar energy supply chain, Taiwan brings together the technologies, research capabilities, operations, and cost competitiveness to drive renewable energy innovation and growth. The region also offers:

  • Taiwan’s geography offers unique opportunities for developing offshore wind energy.
  • Backed by the Taiwan government’s Nuclear-Free Homeland policy, Taiwan is starting to play a pivotal role in the global renewable energy market.
  • Taiwan made tremendous strides in solar and wind power generation in 2017, delivering record high volumes with 49 percent and 17 percent growth, respectively.

To highlight business opportunities and Taiwan’s competitive edge in green energy, Energy Taiwan 2018 features the Green Energy Industry Promotion Center Pavilion and Taiwan’s Premium Solar Power System Pavilion. The venues will highlight Taiwan’s current standing in green economics and its supply chain prowess. Energy Taiwan 2018 will also spotlight technology demonstrations at three national pavilions: German Trade Office Taipei, Flanders Investment and Trade (Belgium), and Netherlands Trade and Investment Office.

An estimated 17,000 domestic and overseas buyers are expected to attend Energy Taiwan Forum 2018.

The eBeam Initiative, a forum dedicated to the education and promotion of new semiconductor manufacturing approaches based on electron beam (eBeam) technologies, today announced the completion of its seventh annual eBeam Initiative perceptions survey. Industry luminaries representing nearly 40 companies from across the semiconductor ecosystem — including photomasks, electronic design automation (EDA), chip design, equipment, materials, manufacturing and research — participated in this year’s survey. The eBeam Initiative also completed its fourth annual mask makers’ survey with feedback from 10 captive and merchant photomask manufacturers. In addition, Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL), a leading global company that provides semiconductor and flat panel display (FPD) production equipment, has joined the eBeam Initiative.

Results from the mask makers’ survey indicate that mask output grew 27 percent compared to last year, while overall mask yields remained steady. At the same time, however, survey results indicate that no progress has been made in reducing mask turnaround time for leading-edge nodes, with several indicators such as mask data prep times and average mask write times on the rise compared to last year. Among the results of the perceptions survey, respondents were optimistic about the state of the photomask market, which grew 4.1 percent in 2017 according to SEMI. Survey respondents predicted the market will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 percent or more between 2018 and 2020. Confidence and optimism in EUV lithography continue to remain high, while the perceived need for multi-beam mask writing (MBMW) continues to grow. Perceptions on the use of inverse lithography technology (ILT) at the leading edge also increased.

Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S, the managing company sponsor of the eBeam Initiative, will present the results of the mask makers’ survey in an invited talk this morning at the SPIE Photomask Technology Symposium in Monterey, Calif. In addition, the complete results of both surveys will be discussed by an expert panel tomorrow during the eBeam Initiative’s annual members meeting held in conjunction with the SPIE Photomask Technology Symposium, and will be available for download following the meeting at www.ebeam.org.

Highlights from Mask Makers Survey (data from July 2017 to June 2018)

  • The same 10 participants reported delivering 27 percent more masks in 2018 versus 2017, while overall mask yields remained steady at nearly 94 percent
  • The number of delivered EUV masks also more than doubled compared to last year, with EUV mask yields improving to 72 percent
  • However, no progress appears to have been made in mask turnaround time for leading-edge nodes as indicated by several survey results
  • Mask data prep time remains significantly higher at advanced nodes for another year, at 19 hours this year for 11 to 15-nm ground rules
  • Mask process correction (MPC) is also being introduced at sub-16-nm ground rules, confirmed for the second year in a row
  • The average mask write time for eBeam VSB writers also increased by more than 20 percent compared to last year’s survey, from 6.8 hours to nearly 8.3 hours
  • The highest sensitivity (slowest) resists reported to be used for production masks also increased for both 193i and EUV, contributing to longer mask write times
  • Mask data volumes per layer increased on average compared to last year for both eBeam variable shaped beam (VSB) writers and laser writers, with the highest reported data volume per layer increasing from 2.2 to 3.2 Terabytes for eBeam VSB, and from 30 to 240 Gigabytes (an 8x increase) for laser writers

Highlights from eBeam Initiative Perceptions Survey:

  • 95 percent of respondents predict that the overall mask market will achieve 4.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) or greater between 2018 and 2020
  • 82 percent of respondents predict that EUV lithography will be used in high-volume manufacturing by 2021, while only 1 percent of respondents predict it will never happen
  • Expectations continue to grow around actinic mask inspection for EUV, with only 5 percent of participants in this year’s survey indicating it will never happen — a drop from 21 percent two years ago
  • Perceptions on the need for MBMW remain strong, with 83 percent of respondents indicating that EUV adoption requires MBMW, and 82 percent of respondents indicating that MBMW will be used in high-volume manufacturing by the end of 2020
  • 60 percent of respondents also indicate that ILT is currently being used for a few critical layers at leading-edge nodes, up from 46 percent in last year’s survey

“First and foremost, I would like to welcome our newest member TEL to the eBeam Initiative,” stated Fujimura. “As a leading process solutions provider to the semiconductor industry, TEL has been at the forefront in tackling many of the industry’s most critical mask and lithography challenges. We look forward to adding their voice to our community, and having their support in our ongoing efforts to educate and promote the importance of eBeam technology.”

Added Fujimura, “Over the years, the annual eBeam Initiative surveys have provided valuable insight into not only the perceptions and conditions of the mask industry today, but also the most pressing challenges facing the mask industry ahead. In this year’s surveys, the substantial increase in the total number of masks delivered, the beginning ramp-up of EUV masks, and continued increases in all factors that influence mask turnaround times for the leading-edge nodes stood out to me as important trends. The overwhelming confidence expressed in the perceptions survey for multi-beam mask writing is a positive sign for the industry, as multi-beam helps with the mask turnaround time issue, particularly for writing with slower resists and with complex mask shapes.”

The SEMI-THERM Educational Foundation (STEF) announced that the 35thAnnual Thermal Measurement, Modeling and Management Symposium will take place from Monday, March 18thto Friday, March 22nd, 2019.  SEMI-THERM is currently accepting submissions for extended abstracts, peer-reviewed papers and presentation only abstracts. The deadline for each of these submissions types is October 12, 2018.

The SEMI-THERM Conference focuses on a broad range of cooling topics, from component and system level thermal management solutions to advanced cooling techniques and technologies. Applications of interest include Internet of Things, data centers, aerospace systems, drones, digital imaging, wearable and consumer electronics.

Conference committee chairs and presenters are leaders and practitioners from companies including Aavid Thermacore, Advanced Thermal Solutions (ATS), Cisco, Facebook, Google, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and other organizations and academia dedicated to solving thermal challenges.

“Presenting at SEMI-THERM is the perfect opportunity to educate colleagues and customers of a new technology or application and to gain recognition for your company, organization or university research.,” said Bernie Siegal, co-founder of the conference and recipient of SEMI-THERM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “This program facilitates interactive communication between representatives of world-class research institutes and international corporations, as well as thermal consultants,” he added.

Symposium Highlights

SEMI-THERM is an international symposium dedicated to the thermal management and characterization of electronic components and systems. See topics below.

In addition to technical sessions and keynote presentations, the conference and exhibition includes technical short courses, embedded tutorials, vendor workshops, how-to courses and panel discussions on current thermal technologies.

For more information and to submit a paper, please visit:

http://semi-therm.org

MicroLEDs technologies are improving rapidly and new technology paths emerging at a rapid pace. According to Yole Développement’s analysts, technology solutions should start converging by the end of 2019.

The challenge is now focused on cost reduction. What is the feasibility of each solution? Can microLED TV or smartphone display manufacturing costs be compatible with these applications? Which cost reduction paths are the most realistic?

In its latest microLEDs report “MicroLED Displays 2018,” the market research and strategy consulting company Yole Développement (Yole) proposes a comprehensive technology and market overview including a detailed cost analysis with the contribution of die and assembly costs. Yole’s microLED report also highlights all critical technology blocks with a focus on the most recent advancements, emerging options and remaining challenges.

“Technology advancements pave the way for various cost reduction paths toward volume manufacturing,” commented Dr. Eric Virey, Senior Market & Technology Analyst at Yole. “But none are straightforward.”

In addition an overview of the key players, the supply chain and the competitive landscape analysis are available in Yole’s report (including front end and display assembly players). The consulting company did not see any major changes regarding market evolution. More and more companies are looking into the attractive microLEDs sector, and scrambling to figure out the best way to participate and which technology paths are the most suitable.

Yole’s analysts offer you today an up-to-date status of the microLEDs industry.

Dozens of technologies are being developed for microLED assembly and pixel structures. The cost and complexity range can be staggering. However, there are some fundamentals that anchor all those processes. Alignment dominates assembly cycle times, die size can’t get infinitely small, epitaxy cost has already been through a more than 20 years on the cost reduction curve. Cost analysis therefore allows companies to narrow the process parameters down to economically realistic windows and identify efficient cost reduction strategies.

“MicroLED companies must understand the cost targets for each application and work backward, making process choices and developing each step so it fits the cost envelope,” asserted Dr. Eric Virey from Yole. Processes that can’t deliver the right economics will disappear. If none can deliver the right economics, the opportunity will never materialize. MicroLED is entering the valley of death between technology development and industrialization and commercialization.

As the technology improves, there are credible cost reduction paths for microLED to compete in the high-end segment of various applications such as TV, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) and wearables. With the right approaches, assembly cost could become a minor contributor. For smartphones, however, approaching OLED cost implies pushing microLEDs toward what is likely to be the limits of the technology in term of die size. To succeed, microLEDs will have to count on some level of price elasticity. It must deliver performance and features that no other display technology can offer and that are perceived by the consumer as highly differentiating. Microdisplays for AR and head-up displays (HUD) will be the first commercial applications, followed by smartwatches. TVs and smartphones could follow 3-5 years from now.

Adesto® Technologies (NASDAQ: IOTS), a provider of innovative application-specific semiconductors and systems for the IoT era, announced the successful completion of its previously announced acquisition of Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON). Echelon® is a developer of open-standard networking platforms for connecting, monitoring and controlling devices in commercial and industrial applications.

The definitive agreement was initially announced on June 29, 2018, and Echelon shareholders approved the transaction at a Special Meeting of Shareholders held on September 13, 2018. The transaction closed and became effective today, with each share of Echelon being converted into the right to receive $8.50 in cash, without interest. The cash transaction represents a total equity value of approximately $45 million, and a total enterprise value of about $30 million. Echelon’s trailing 12-month revenue as of the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 was approximately $31.6 million. As a result of the transaction’s close, the common stock of Echelon will no longer be listed for trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange, effective immediately.

Adesto expects to realize cost synergies of approximately $6 million to $8 million in the first 12 months, with more than half to be realized in the fourth quarter of 2018. The Company also expects the acquisition to be accretive to EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS within the first 12 months.

“This acquisition marks a pivotal step for Adesto as we continue to expand our innovative solutions to help customers unlock the true potential of the IoT,” said Narbeh Derhacobian, CEO of Adesto. “We now provide not only semiconductors, but also open-standard networking platforms and tools for connecting, monitoring and controlling devices in commercial and industrial IoT deployments. We have significantly expanded our served available market, while also increasing our revenue and potential for margin expansion. Together with our differentiated non-volatile memory products and our mixed-signal and RF ASICs and IP, we’re able to deliver the essential building blocks that allow seamless access to data, and control of things, in an increasingly connected world.”

The Echelon group will now become Adesto’s Embedded Systems Division, led by Chris Jodoin, former SVP of operations and planning at Echelon.

According to Jodoin, “As part of Adesto, we will continue to support, promote and expand on Echelon’s 30-year heritage, which has become synonymous with intelligent Industrial IoT products and solutions. Our increased scale will enable us to embark on new product initiatives and provide enhanced customer support and access. We look forward to building on our base of an estimated 140 million installed LON-powered devices, and to enabling our customers to achieve success across their applications in smart buildings, smart manufacturing and other industrial segments.”

Over the last several years, Echelon has made significant progress with its Lighting Solutions business. Adesto is currently exploring several strategic alternatives for this product line in order to better align the core Echelon business with Adesto’s long-term focus.

Adesto will provide updates on the Echelon integration as part of its upcoming earnings conference call to be held in early November. Details regarding the date and time of the conference call will be provided at a later date.

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACLS), a supplier of enabling ion implantation solutions for the semiconductor industry, announced that it has appointed John Kulungian as vice president of quality. In this role, Mr. Kulungian will be responsible for developing and executing programs to enhance customer satisfaction, as well as increase operational efficiencies.

“I am very pleased that John has joined the Axcelis team and look forward to his leadership as we take our quality systems to a new level,” said Mary Puma, president and CEO of Axcelis Technologies. “Customer satisfaction underpins everything we do at Axcelis Technologies, and John’s insight and expertise in driving quality improvements will be a great asset to the Company as we design and deliver new, market-leading solutions for our customers.”

Mr. Kulungian joins Axcelis Technologies with 20 years of senior leadership experience in the manufacturing sector, and a proven track record within the aerospace, defense, energy, and capital equipment industries. Most recently, Mr. Kulungian held the position of vice president of quality and continuous improvement at Sonnax Industries, LLC.  Previously he was vice president global quality at Ogin Energy Inc., and earlier served as the director of quality at Raytheon.

Mr. Kulungian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology-Manufacturing from Central Connecticut State University and a Master of Science in General Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Additionally he has earned professional certifications in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and is a Certified Manager of Quality.

With the MEMS and sensors industry on the cusp of explosive growth, MITRE Corp. cyber security expert Cynthia Wright will urge industry executives to lay the groundwork for securing  hundreds of billions of autonomous mobility devices in her keynote at the 14th annual MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress (October 29-30, 2018 in Napa Valley, Calif.). Wright, a retired military officer with over 25 years of experience in national security and cyber strategy and policy, will highlight the critical importance of device security and privacy in ensuring reliability and end-user safety.

Hosted by MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community, the event also features DARPA’s Ron Polcawich, who will introduce his agency’s innovation and production program, a government-industry collaboration that aims to dramatically speed design-to-development of MEMS.

Spurred by surging growth in autonomous mobility devices such as smartphones, smart speakers, autonomous cars, and fitness and healthcare wearables, the global market for MEMS and sensors is expected to double in the next five years, reaching $100B by 2023.[1] Featured speakers at MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress will examine the enabling role of MEMS and sensors in these diverse intelligent applications.

  • Autonomous and Electric Cars: What’s in for Conventional MEMS & Sensors? – Jérémie Bouchaud, IHS Markit
  • Status, Challenges and Opportunities of the 2018 MEMS & Sensors Industry – Guillaume Girardin, Yole Développement
  • Smart Ear: Will Innovation Lead to Technology with Human-like Audio Capabilities? – Andreas Kopetz, Infineon Technologies AG
  • Sensors in Food and Agriculture – David Mount, ULVAC
  • Environmental Sensor Systems Enabling Autonomous Mobility – Marcellino Gemelli, Bosch Sensortec
  • It’s Time for Wearables to Revolutionize Healthcare – Craig Easson and Sudir Mulpuru, Maxim Integrated

Special Events

  • Technology Showcase – Finalists will compete for audience votes as they demo their MEMS/sensors-enabled mobility products.
  • Alquimista Cellars Wine Tasting and Dinner on Monday, October 29

MSEC will take place October 29-30, 2018, at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, Calif.

Amkor Technology announced on September 10th the opening of its new manufacturing and test plant at Longtan Science Park in Taiwan.

“Demand for Amkor’s advanced assembly and test services in Taiwan continues to increase. The opening of our fourth factory in Taiwan will allow us to keep pace with that demand,” said Steve Kelley, Amkor’s president and CEO. “Our new Longtan facility will focus on wafer probe and die processing, complementing the wafer-level and other advanced packaging capabilities of our other three factories.”

The new facility is Amkor’s first manufacturing plant in Longtan Science Park, which is well known for incubating Taiwanese high-tech businesses, including those in the semiconductor industry. The Science Park has strict environmental protection standards and only companies that are in full compliance are permitted. Amkor is also seeking ISO 15408 Common Site Criteria certification for the Longtan plant to ensure rigorous security protection during the manufacturing process.

“I am pleased to announce the opening of our new factory in Longtan, which enters its production phase this month,” said YongChul Park, Amkor’s executive vice president, Worldwide Manufacturing. “This expansion signifies Amkor’s ongoing commitment to invest globally and showcases our ability to leverage resources internationally.”

Below are photos taken during Monday’s opening ceremony at Amkor’s new Taiwan factory.

Japan is at the heart of the semiconductor industry as the era of artificial intelligence (AI) dawns. SEMICON Japan 2018 will highlight AI and SMART technologies in Japan’s industry-leading event. Registration is now open for SEMICON Japan, Japan’s largest global electronics supply chain event, December 12-14 at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo.

Themed “Dreams Start Here,” SEMICON Japan 2018 reflects the promise of AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and other SMART technologies that are shaping the future. Japan is positioned to help power a semiconductor industry expansion that is enabling this new path ahead, supplying one-third of the world’s semiconductor equipment and half of its chip IC materials.

According to VLSI Research, seven of the world’s top 15 semiconductor equipment manufacturers in 2017 are headquartered in Japan. In the semiconductor materials market, Japanese companies dominate silicon wafers, photoresists, sputtering targets, bonding wires, lead frames, mold compounds and more. For SEMICON Japan visitors, the event is the ideal platform for connecting with Japan’s leading suppliers.

The SMART Application Zone at SEMICON Japan will once again connect SMART industries with the semiconductor supply chain to foster collaboration across the electronics ecosystem.

SEMICON Japan Keynotes

SEMICON Japan opening keynotes will feature two young leaders of Japan’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry sharing their vision for the industry:

Motoi Ishibashi, CTO of Rhizomatiks, will discuss the latest virtual and mixed reality technologies. Rhizomatiks, a Japanese media art company that staged the Rio Olympic Games closing ceremony, will orchestrate the opening performance at SEMICON Japan 2018. The company is dedicated to creating large-scale commercial projects combining technology with the arts.

Toru Nishikawa, president and CEO at Preferred Networks, will explore computer requirements for enabling deep learning applications. Preferred Networks, a deep-learning research startup, is conducting collaborative research with technology giants including Toyota Motors, Fanuc, NVIDIA, Intel and Microsoft.

Registration

For more information and to register for SEMICON Japan, visit www.semiconjapan.org/en/. Registration for the opening keynotes and other programs will open October 1.

This premier international conference, sponsored by the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society (IEEE EPS), covers a wide spectrum of electronic packaging technology topics, including components, materials, assembly, interconnect design, device and system packaging, wafer level packaging, Si photonics, LED and IoT, optoelectronics, 2.5D and 3D integration technology, and reliability.

The ECTC Program Committee, with more than 200 experts from broad-ranging technical areas, is committed to creating an engaging technical program for all. ECTC typically attracts more than 1,400 attendees from over 25 countries. Last year’s 68th ECTC in San Diego, California, had 1,738 attendees, with 331 papers and interactive presentations featured in 41 sessions.

The 69th ECTC program will include six parallel technical sessions in the mornings and afternoons over three days, along with other special topic panel discussions to present high-level trends and best practices in the industry. Professional Development Courses (PDCs) will also be offered by world-class experts, enabling participants to broaden their technical knowledge base.

The technical program and PDCs will be supplemented by Technology Corner Exhibits, which provide an opportunity for leading companies in the electronic components, materials, and packaging fields to exhibit their latest technologies and products. Last year’s 68th ECTC matched our record number of 106 exhibitors.

Please submit an abstract between 250 and 750 words that describes the scope, content, and key points of your proposed technical paper at www.ectc.net. You are also welcome to submit proposals for PDCs. All abstracts and manuscripts must be original, free of commercial content, and non-confidential.

Deadlines to Remember:

  • 0.08.2018| Abstracts and PDC Proposals Due

12.10-2018| Authors Notified of Acceptance

01.02.2019| Advance Online Registration Opens

  • 02.23.2018| Manuscripts due for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings.