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SEMI and Messe München today announced that SEMICON Europa will co-locate with productronica and electronica (alternating years) in Munich, Germany. For the first time, the co-located events (productronica and SEMICON Europa) will be held next year (14-17 November 2017), creating the strongest single event for electronics manufacturing in Europe, and broadening the range of attendees across the electronics supply chain.

productronica, the world’s leading trade fair for electronics development and production, and electronica, the world’s leading trade fair for electronic components, systems and applications, will now offer attendees an extended platform. With the inclusion of SEMICON Europa, which is focused on the electronics manufacturing supply chain and largely the semiconductor manufacturing, the co-located events will expand attendee opportunities to exchange ideas and promote technological progress.

Falk Senger, managing director of Messe München, says: “The co-location of these events strengthens the global orientation of electronica and productronica, in addition to reinforcing the importance of Munich as one of the epicenters of the international electronics industry.”

SEMICON Europa features the most advanced and innovative electronics manufacturing platform in Europe. Key segments include: semiconductor front-end and back-end manufacturing, MEMS/sensors, secondary equipment, advanced packaging, and applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT).

“The co-location of SEMICON Europa with productronica and electronica is an excellent fit with SEMI’s global trade association strategy to connect the breadth of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. SEMICON Europa brings a wide range of focused programs that address Europe’s electronics manufacturing issues and opportunities,” says Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.

Munich is a convenient central location in Europe with easy access for international visitors. The co-located events will brings tens of thousands of visitors together to connect for electronics business.

To learn more about SEMI (and SEMICON Europa) and Messe München  (and electronica and productronica), please visit the websites.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.60 billion in orders worldwide in September 2016 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.05, according to the September Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.  A book-to-bill of 1.05 means that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in September 2016 was $1.60 billion. The bookings figure is 8.5 percent lower than the final August 2016 level of $1.75 billion, and is 3.2 percent higher than the September 2015 order level of $1.55 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September 2016 was $1.53 billion. The billings figure is 10.2 percent lower than the final August 2016 level of $1.71 billion, and is 2.6 percent higher than the September 2015 billings level of $1.50 billion.

“Semiconductor equipment bookings continue to outpace equipment billings,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “Year-to-date bookings and billings data are on trend to surpass last year’s levels.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
April 2016

$1,460.2

$1,595.4

1.09
May 2016

$1,601.5

$1,750.5

1.09
June 2016

$1,715.2

$1,714.3

1.00
July 2016

$1,707.9

$1,795.4

1.05
August 2016 (final)

$1,709.0

$1,753.4

1.03
September 2016 (prelim)

$1,534.4

$1,604.1

1.05

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), October 2016

Avalanche Technology, Inc., has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation to begin production of it’s Spin Transfer Torque Magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM) on 300mm wafers at various advanced geometry nodes.  Volume production is expected in early 2017 at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation in Japan to address a wide range of applications for this disruptive non-volatile memory technology.

This partnership with Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation will help the adoption of perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junction (pMTJ)-based STT-MRAM and further validate the widely accepted industry belief that STT-MRAM is the memory technology of choice for a broad spectrum of applications.

“Avalanche is working on breakthrough memory products.  As a result, we are able to address a very large non-volatile memory market with a wide range of requirements.  STT-MRAM is an ideal solution for markets such as Storage, Automotive, IoT and embedded applications,” said Petro Estakhri, founder and CEO of Avalanche Technology.

“We are pleased to partner with Avalanche Technology on the production of pMTJ based STT-MRAM,” said Toshiyuki Yanase, Representative of Yamagata Technology Center of Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation.  “Working with Avalanche Technology, we look forward to manufacturing MRAM products that meet current and future demands in the memory market.”

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Office of the Secretary of Defense have awarded Raytheon Company [NYSE: RTN] a $14.9M contract to further enhance its process for producing gallium nitride-based semiconductors. The new agreement follows a previous GaN Title III contract, completed in 2013, and aims to increase the performance, yield and reliability of Raytheon GaN-based, wideband, monolithic, microwave-integrated circuits and circulator components.

GaN is a semiconductor material that can efficiently amplify high power radio frequency signals at microwave frequencies thereby enhancing a system’s range and raid handling, while reducing size, weight, power and cost. It is used in a broad spectrum of military radars and defense systems, including the U.S. Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar and Next Generation Jammer.

“We have only scratched the surface when it comes to harnessing the game-changing power that gallium nitride technology can bring to military applications,” said Colin Whelan, vice president of Advanced Technology in Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business unit. “This contract will build on the 17-year, two-hundred-plus million-dollar investment Raytheon has made in maturing GaN. Over the next two years, we will further refine our GaN process to push the limits of radio frequency performance while maintaining or increasing yield and reliability.”

The first demonstrator of this technology will be incorporated into Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems’ Next Generation Jammer program, which is scheduled for low-rate initial production in 2018.

POET Technologies Inc.(OTCQX:POETF) (TSX-V:PTK), a developer of opto-electronics fabrication processes for the semiconductor industry, today announced that on October 17, 2016, it entered into an Agreement with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to expand POET’s research and development (R&D) operations in Singapore.

POET, through its acquisition of DenseLight Semiconductors, reaffirmed its strategic intent to expand its R&D and manufacturing operations in Singapore. POET will establish an Integrated Photonics center within its current operations to further develop and commercialize differentiated photonics and opto-electronic products. This is expected to increase market penetration and enhance market acceptance of the POET portfolio as it is introduced. This center signifies the growing importance of integration in photonics applications as a means to drive increased adoption and improve POET’s competitive positioning. The Singapore operations will further the development and production of POET’s key technologies, including those developed with the joint program POET established with the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in Singapore earlier this year. The planned initiatives are expected to gradually add up to 30 engineers and scientists to POET, as the R&D center is established.

“EDB’s support will be instrumental in helping us drive the growth of intellectual property, talent and operations in Singapore, thus providing a foundation for compound semiconductor and photonics growth in the region”, said Chairman Mr. Ajit Manocha. “I have been engaged with Singapore for much of my career and value the nurturing and enduring partnerships with the EDB throughout. We chose Singapore because of EDB’s initiative to grow the compound semiconductor and photonics ecosystem in the region, and we are thankful to the EDB for supporting our Integrated Photonics Center of Excellence in Singapore. The country’s business-friendly climate and support from government agencies truly set it apart. We look forward to continuing to work with the EDB as we accelerate the commercialization of our highly differentiated technologies serving a variety of applications and markets.”

“This support from the EDB could potentially allow POET and its subsidiaries, DenseLight and BB Photonics, to accelerate product and revenue growth by leveraging Singapore’s R&D efficiencies, infrastructure, learning institutions and human capital and its strong high-technology manufacturing base”, said CEO Dr. Suresh Venkatesan. “Current projects in Singapore include the research and development of the POET Platform for Display applications, as well as the commercialization of POET, DenseLight and BB Photonics Intellectual Property in the fast growing Data Communications and Sensing markets.

“EDB is committed to developing the compound semiconductor industry through partnerships with companies to perform critical R&D and manufacturing in Singapore. Innovations in compound semiconductor technology can enable the next generation of optical communication solutions needed for increasing requirements in data centers. We are delighted to partner with POET Technologies to lead DenseLight, a company with a strong Singapore core of talent and activities, to greater heights”, said Mr. Pee Beng Kong, Director for Electronics, EDB.

The Company is eligible to receive support up to a maximum of S$10,699,000 over five years pursuant to the EDB letter of offer, subject to headcount and expenditure thresholds. Should the terms of the support agreement with the EDB not be satisfied by the Company, the EDB reserves the right to request repayment of any support advanced to the Company.

By Ji-Won Cho, SEMI Korea

SEMI Korea has hosted a SEMI member event every year for its members since 2008 to provide networking opportunities and insight on the ever-changing issues in the industry. This year, over 225 SEMI members in Korea from 132 companies ─ including the chipmakers, Samsung and Dongbu Hitek ─ participated in SEMI Members Day on October 6. Almost 70 percent of the attendees were executive level. Five speakers shared their thought-provoking perspectives: global semiconductor outlook, technology trends, flexible AMOLED technology, autonomous vehicle, and robot industry.

Soo Kyum Kim, director at IDC Korea, presented “Global Semiconductor Industry Outlook.”  Kim pointed out that global semiconductor market will decrease 2.9 percent in 2016 and recover slightly 0.6 percent in 2017 while the dedicated foundry market will face a short correction. He also forecasted that the CAGR of global semiconductor market will be 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2020. This growth will be led by non-traditional areas; automotive, industrial and smart home. He believes that IoT and Intelligent system penetration will drive both MPU and MCU in processor market.

Worldwide-MCU-Opportunity

Sei Cheol Lee, principal analyst at NH Securities, presented “Semiconductor Technology Trends.” Lee discussed how the solid state drives (SSD) and UFS markets are rapidly growing and 3D NAND stack will move from 48 to 64 layers. Lee added that increasing layers will lead to more dry etch than wet etch in processes and incease in KrF patterning, PECVD/ALD,  and test. Lee forecasted that the test market will grow to $3 billion in 2017 from only $2.2 billion in 2016 due to high-end SSD and DDR4’s bus speed enhancement.

Minsu Kang, analyst at IHS Technology, spoke about the Flexible AMOLED Industry Outlook. According to his presentation, flexible displays are mainly used for smartwatch and smartphone, but set manufacturers are also trying to apply them with foldable or rollable form-factors. Flexible AMOLED has clear advantages for flexible display technology, in terms of form-factor, size, PPI and picture quality. He pointed out that flexible AMOLED was expected to increase to over 13 percent of OLED panel shipment in 2016, and it will continue to grow rapidly because more set manufacturers are adopting the technology. Apple may try to apply it to their smartphone in 2017.

Ji-won-Korea article Photo 1

Kang highlighted that many panel manufacturers have been trying to increase flexible AMOLED capacity since 2015, but need to develop experience. He added that the curved forms of flexible display will be the mainstream until 2020, but foldable forms may be the mainstream after.  It depends on how the innovation resonates with the user experience

Seyong Kim, senior manager at Renesas Electronics Korea, presented “Technology Trends of the Autonomous Vehicle.” He said it may be fully realized between 2025 and 2030. Each country is now focusing on establishing the safety standards as like ISO 26262 to gain the initiatives.

Concerning the connected car, he mentioned the most important issue was security. Kim also added that a growing autonomous vehicle industry will need more semiconductors but the market share likely will remain under 10 percent of the entire semiconductor market.

Ji-won-Korea article Photo 2

Dongkyeong Kim, head of R&D center at Future Robot, wrapped up the day with a presentation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Robots in the semiconductor industry. Kim stated that development of semiconductor technology has driven the Big Data and AI eras and it will increasingly result in strong demand for semiconductors. According to Kim, globally the robot industry has invested 1.8 billion USD and 50 percent of the amount was invested by China in 2015.

The attendees were interested in the topics and an ongoing dialogue took place during the Q&A after each presentation. In the survey, more than 92 percent of attendees responded that they were satisfied. The attendees recommended additional topics for next year’s program, including equipment and materials outlook, advanced packaging market outlook, and technology roadmap.

Jin Soo Ko, VP of Teradyne said, “SEMI Members Day was the best in terms of agenda and contents since I attended from 2007. I am very satisfied with all programs and networking opportunities provided by SEMI.”

Hyun-Dae Cho, president of SEMI Korea, said, “The SEMI Korea Members Day connects our members to peers and industry executives and gives first-hand information on the trends and technology in the industry. I hope SEMI members enjoyed the opportunities through this annual event.”

For information on becoming a SEMI member, visit www.semi.org/en/Membership.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY), a developer of RFID-enabled solutions, and long-standing partner NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI), are proud to announce a new industry first innovation, providing 12-inch wafers for long range solutions in addition to the current industry standard 8-inch. This solution will deliver a significant increase in production capacity, improved assembly quality and efficiency, and most importantly, a reduction in manufacturing waste and electricity. Avery Dennison is the first to provide inlays with NXP’s new 12-inch offering.

A larger wafer diameter allows more semiconductor devices to be produced from a single wafer, doubling the amount of dies per wafer compared to existing 8-inch wafer formats. This increased utilization of existing materials simultaneously reduces both chemical and packaging waste and energy consumption.

The innovation is another positive step in making the manufacturing process more sustainable, while simultaneously increasing production to meet future industry demand. “We worked closely with NXP to create a solution that would truly offer a higher production output and at the same time be more sustainable,” said George Dyche, director, Global RFID Innovation and Product Line Management, Avery Dennison RFID.

The chips can also be incorporated into Avery Dennison’s SmartFace Technology, which removes the plastic material in RFID products and replaces it with a paper substrate to reduce environmental impact. SmartFace Technology has already been used in a number of Avery Dennison RFID Inlays and the introduction of the new wafer will reduce the environmental impact of RFID solutions further.  “Sustainability has long been part of our approach to do business together. We are proud to work closely with our partners across the entire value chain to address the environmental and social impacts of our solutions,”  added Helen Sahi, senior director, Sustainability, Avery Dennison.

“Bringing together both parties’ expertise, Avery Dennison and NXP introduce this innovation for more sustainability in semiconductor industry. Our collective responsibility drives us to work collaboratively to address the environmental and social impacts of our solution proactively, while the 12-inch wafers significantly increases NXP’s supply capacity,” said Ralf Kodritsch, segment manager RFID Solutions, NXP.

Businesses worldwide are recognizing the increasing value of RAIN RFID in this area. By building on innovation and providing technologies that directly address societal demands, exciting times and opportunities for the RAIN RFID industry lie ahead.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has commenced mass production of System-on-Chip (SoC) products with 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET technology for which would make it first in the industry.

Following the successful mass production of the industry’s first FinFET mobile application processor (AP) in January, 2015, Samsung extends its leadership in delivering leading-edge process technology to the mass market with the latest offering.

“The industry’s first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology,” said Jong Shik Yoon, Executive Vice President, Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue our efforts to innovate scaling technologies and provide differentiated total solutions to our customers.”

Samsung’s new 10nm FinFET process (10LPE) adopts an advanced 3D transistor structure with additional enhancements in both process technology and design enablement compared to its 14nm predecessor, allowing up to 30-percent increase in area efficiency with 27-percent higher performance or 40-percent lower power consumption. In order to overcome scaling limitations, cutting edge techniques such as triple-patterning to allow bi-directional routing are also used to retain design and routing flexibility from prior nodes.

Following the introduction of Samsung’s first-generation 10nm process (10LPE), its second generation process (10LPP) with performance boost is targeted for mass production in the second half of 2017. The company plans to continue its leadership with a variety of derivative processes to meet the needs of a wide range of applications.

Through close collaboration with customers and partners, Samsung also aims to cultivate a robust 10nm foundry ecosystem that includes reference flow verification, IPs and libraries.

Production level process design kits (PDK) and IP design kits are currently available for design starts.

SoCs with 10nm process technology will be used in digital devices launching early next year and are expected to become more widely available throughout 2017.

Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator), announces that the UltraCMOS PE42723 high linearity RF switch has won an ECN IMPACT Award in the market disruptor category. In addition, the PE42723 switch was named a finalist in the microwaves & RF category, and the PE29100 gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistor (FET) driver was recognized as a finalist in the power sources & conditioning devices category. Winners were announced today, Oct. 13, during the awards ceremony.

“For almost three decades, Peregrine has been on the cutting edge of delivering game-changing products to the electronics market,” says Kinana Hussain, Peregrine’s director of marketing. “It is truly an honor to be recognized with an ECN IMPACT Award, especially in the coveted market disruptor category. Products like the PE42723 enable the cable industry to deliver equipment that is fully compliant with today’s stringent communication standards.”

The ECN IMPACT Awards recognize the products and services that have the greatest impact on the electronic components industry. The market disruptor category highlights a product that forever changed the electronic engineering industry or a particular vertical within the industry.

The PE42723 is an RF switch that boasts the highest linearity specifications on the market today. An upgraded version of the successful PE42722, this new RF switch offers enhanced performance in a smaller package. Like its predecessor, the PE42723 exceeds the linearity requirements of the DOCSIS 3.1 cable industry standard and enables a dual upstream/downstream band architecture in the next generation cable customer premises equipment (CPE) devices.

The PE29100 is the world’s fastest GaN FET driver. Built on Peregrine’s UltraCMOS technology, this new GaN driver empowers design engineers to extract the full performance and speed advantages from GaN transistors. Designed to drive the gates of a high-side and a low-side GaN FET in a switching configuration, the PE29100 delivers the industry’s fastest switching speeds, shortest propagation delays and lowest rise and fall times to AC-DC converters, DC-DC converters, class D audio amplifiers and wireless-charging applications.

SEMICON Europa 2016, opening in less than two weeks in Grenoble, will explore the issues facing Europe’s semiconductor and electronics industries, including processes, materials, equipment and supply chain. SEMICON Europa (October 25-27) is a leading exhibition and conference dedicated to the future of electronics in Europe.

As semiconductor manufacturers target new high-growth European strength areas, SEMICON Europa connects the European ecosystem and the global manufacturing supply chain by offering new business opportunities like advanced packaging, MEMS, imaging, power electronics, flexible hybrid electronics, automotive, smart manufacturing, medtech and addressing the demands of the IoT.

Executive keynotes include:

  • GLOBALFOUNDRIES Dresden: “FDX and FinFET: Differentiated Technologies for Diverging Markets” presented by Dr. Rutger Wijburg, senior VP and GM
  • Intel Israel: “How Technology and Equipment March Forward Hand-in-Hand” presented by Maxine Fassberg, CEO
  • CEA-Leti: “European Chance in Industry and Technologies” presented by Marie-Noëlle Semeria, CEO

In addition, companies such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, ABB, ASML, Applied Materials, SOITEC, imec and Fraunhofer, and hundreds more, will present the latest trends, technologies, processes and techniques in electronic applications, design and manufacturing.

This year for the first time, Iot Planet will co-locate with SEMICON Europa. The combined shows are expected to attract 7,000 professionals and more than 600 visiting companies, giving attendees the opportunity to conduct business up and down the supply chain.  New programs, like the B2B Matchmaking Event 2016, offer visitors and exhibitors an opportunity to prearrange appointments.

SEMICON Europa is co-located with 2016FLEX Europe which covers the field of large-scale electronics, with emphasis on printed, flexible and organic electronics and its convergence with conventional semiconductor manufacturing.

Register now and take advantage of our early pricing for conferences, forums, and select sessions. To register for SEMICON Europa 2016, please visit: www.semiconeuropa.org