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Toshiba Memory Corporation today announced that it has developed a prototype sample of 96-layer BiCS FLASH, its proprietary 3D flash memory, with 4-bit-per-cell (quad level cell, QLC) technology that boosts single-chip memory capacity to the highest level yet achieved.

Toshiba Memory will start to deliver samples to SSD and SSD controller manufacturers for evaluation from the beginning of September, and expects to start mass production in 2019.

The advantage of QLC technology is pushing the bit count for data per memory cell from three to four and significantly expanding capacity. The new product achieves the industry’s maximum capacity [1] of 1.33 terabits for a single chip which was jointly developed with Western Digital Corporation.

This also realizes an unparalleled capacity of 2.66 terabytes with a 16-chip stacked architecture in one package. The huge volumes of data generated by mobile terminals and the like continue to increase with the spread of SNS and progress in IoT, and the need to analyze and utilize that data in real time is expected to increase dramatically. That will require even faster than HDD, larger capacity storage and QLC products using the 96-layer process will contribute a solution.

A packaged prototype of the new device will be exhibited at the 2018 Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California, USA from August 6th to 9th.

Looking to the future, Toshiba Memory will continue to improve memory capacity and performance and to develop 3D flash memories that meet diverse market needs, including the fast expanding data center storage market.

By Cherry Sun

Storage and memory chipmaker and SEMI China member Tsinghua Unigroup is gearing up to meet burgeoning product demand with huge investments in its manufacturing plants. But the high-tech enterprise under Tsinghua University is eyeing a much bigger prize – growth of the region’s semiconductor industry and the realization of its ambition to become a more prominent force on the global stage.

Inspired by the national strategy, the Tsinghua Unigroup’s big spends include USD 24 billion in Wuhan (Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd.,) USD 30 billion in Chengdu, USD 30 billion in Nanjing and USD 100 billion in Chongqing, said Liu Hongyu, senior vice president of Tsinghua Unigroup, speaking at the SEMI China Equipment and Materials Committee meeting last month.

Advanced packaging is another rich vein of opportunity the region is tapping for expansion, said Liu Hongjun, vice president of China Wafer Level CSP Co., Ltd., another SEMI China member attending the event, hosted by NAURA in Beijing. Hongjun sees strong growth for Fan-in, Fan-out, FCBGA, 2.5D and 3DIC, with Fan-out out front.

Liang Sheng, administrative commission director at BDA, a business advisory firm supporting high-technology manufacturing in the E-Town economic development zone, pointed to 5G chips and smart, networked electric automobiles as drivers of the next growth phase of Beijing’s integrated circuit (IC) industry.

Global tailwinds are lifting China’s semiconductor industry and the region’s hopes, with SEMI and major industry analysts raising their semiconductor industry growth projects for 2018 to between 9 percent and 16 percent. According to SEMI’s latest market report, global semiconductor industry manufacturing equipment revenue reached USD 17 billion in the first quarter of 2018, logging all-time highs after jumping 12 percent from the previous quarter and 30 percent year-over-year. Korea was the top-performing region at USD 6.26 billion, followed by China at USD 2.64 billion.

Tighter integration with the rest of the global semiconductor industry is critical to the growth of China’s chip sector, and SEMI China is squarely focused on this assimilation, said SEMI China president Lung Chu. The spearhead of this effort is the SEMI Innovation Investment Platform (SIIP) China, established by SEMI China last year to help grow China’s pool of skilled workers, promote advanced technology, generate industry capital, and expand China’s semiconductor industry while developing stronger connections with chip sectors in other regions.

To strengthen ties with other regions, SIIP China will stage a number of innovation and investment forums this year including Chinese Night at SEMICON West (July 10-12) and a SIIP China Forum in Silicon Valley (July 15). In August, representatives from the Korea chip industry will visit counterparts in China (August), and a China delegation will travel to Japan for meetings (October). SIIP China is also strengthening the region’s links with Germany and Israel as SEMI serves as a crucial bridge between China’s semiconductor sector and the global industry.

At the invitation of Shanghai authorities and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, SEMI China in November will join the China International Export & Import Exposition in Shanghai, an event that will underscore China’s commitment to the openness and cooperation of its semiconductor industry with the international chip community. As part of the exposition, SEMI will work with the Ministry of Commerce and domestic chip manufacturers to begin development of a special integrated circuit (IC) zone. SEMI China members are welcome to participate.

With workforce development no less vital to the future of China’s semiconductor industry, the Equipment & Materials Committee offered potential solutions to the industry’s talent gap. Measures included targeting university students and engineers with industry lectures and courses in key cities, campus recruiting, talent training that members said they are willing to help SEMI coordinate and stage and, much like the push to better integrate China with the global semiconductor industry, mobilizing member resources around a campaign to polish the image of the industry to make it more attractive to students and young workers.

Storage and memory chipmaker and SEMI China member Tsinghua Unigroup is gearing up to meet burgeoning product demand with huge investments in its manufacturing plants.

Cherry Sun is a marketing manager at SEMI China. 

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

In its upcoming Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report 2018 (to be released at the end of July), IC Insights forecasts that the 2018 global electronic systems market will grow 5% to $1,622 billion while the worldwide semiconductor market is expected to surge by 14% this year to $509.1 billion, exceeding the $500.0 billion level for the first time.  If the 2018 forecasts come to fruition, the average semiconductor content in an electronic system will reach 31.4%, breaking the all-time record of 28.8% that was set in 2017 (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Historically, the driving force behind the higher average annual growth rate of the semiconductor industry as compared to the electronic systems market is the increasing value or content of semiconductors used in electronic systems.  With global unit shipments of cellphones (-1%), automobiles (3%), and PCs (-1%) forecast to be weak in 2018, the disparity between the moderate growth in the electronic systems market and high growth of the semiconductor market is directly due to the increasing content of semiconductors in electronic systems.

While the trend of increasing semiconductor content has been evident for the past 30 years, the big jump in the average semiconductor content in electronic systems in 2018 is expected to be primarily due to the huge surge in DRAM and NAND flash ASPs and average electronic system sales growth this year. After slipping to 30.2% in 2020, the semiconductor content percentage is expected to climb to a new high of 31.5% in 2022.  IC Insights does not anticipate the percentage will fall below 30% any year through the forecast period.

The trend of increasingly higher semiconductor value in electronic systems has a limit.  Extrapolating an annual increase in the percent semiconductor figure indefinitely would, at some point in the future, result in the semiconductor content of an electronic system reaching 100%.  Whatever the ultimate ceiling is, once it is reached, the average annual growth for the semiconductor industry will closely track that of the electronic systems market (i.e., about 4%-5% per year).

Micron (Nasdaq:MU) and Intel today announced an update to their 3D XPoint™ joint development partnership, which has resulted in the development of an entirely new class of non-volatile memory with dramatically lower latency and exponentially greater endurance than NAND memory.

The companies have agreed to complete joint development for the second generation of 3D XPoint technology, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2019. Technology development beyond the second generation of 3D XPoint technology will be pursued independently by the two companies in order to optimize the technology for their respective product and business needs.

The two companies will continue to manufacture memory based on 3D XPoint technology at the Intel-Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT) facility in Lehi, Utah.

“Micron has a strong track record of innovation with 40 years of world-leading expertise in memory technology development, and we will continue driving the next generations of 3D XPoint technology,” said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president of Technology Development at Micron. “We are excited about the products that we are developing based on this advanced technology which will allow our customers to take advantage of unique memory and storage capabilities. By developing 3D XPoint technology independently, Micron can better optimize the technology for our product roadmap while maximizing the benefits for our customers and shareholders.”

“Intel has developed a leadership position delivering a broad portfolio of Optane products across client and data center markets with strong support from our customers,” said Rob Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel Optane’s direct connection to the world’s most advanced computing platforms is achieving breakthrough results in IT and consumer applications. We intend to build on this momentum and extend our leadership with Optane, which combined with our high-density 3D NAND technology, offer the best solutions for today’s computing and storage needs.”

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), a semiconductor device supplier to the wired, wireless, enterprise storage, and industrial end markets, and CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA), one of the world’s leading providers of information technology (IT) management software and solutions, today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Broadcom has agreed to acquire CA to build one of the world’s leading infrastructure technology companies.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, CA’s shareholders will receive $44.50 per share in cash. This represents a premium of approximately 20% to the closing price of CA common stock on July 11, 2018, the last trading day prior to the transaction announcement, and a premium of approximately 23% to CA’s volume-weighted average price (“VWAP”) for the last 30 trading days. The all-cash transaction represents an equity value of approximately $18.9 billion, and an enterprise value of approximately $18.4 billion.

Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadcom, said, “This transaction represents an important building block as we create one of the world’s leading infrastructure technology companies. With its sizeable installed base of customers, CA is uniquely positioned across the growing and fragmented infrastructure software market, and its mainframe and enterprise software franchises will add to our portfolio of mission critical technology businesses. We intend to continue to strengthen these franchises to meet the growing demand for infrastructure software solutions.”

“We are excited to have reached this definitive agreement with Broadcom,” said Mike Gregoire, CA Technologies Chief Executive Officer. “This combination aligns our expertise in software with Broadcom’s leadership in the semiconductor industry. The benefits of this agreement extend to our shareholders who will receive a significant and immediate premium for their shares, as well as our employees who will join an organization that shares our values of innovation, collaboration and engineering excellence. We look forward to completing the transaction and ensuring a smooth transition.”

The transaction is expected to drive Broadcom’s long-term Adjusted EBITDA margins above 55% and be immediately accretive to Broadcom’s non-GAAP EPS. On a combined basis, Broadcom expects to have last twelve months non-GAAP revenues of approximately $23.9 billion and last twelve months non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $11.6 billion.

As a global leader in mainframe and enterprise software, CA’s solutions help organizations of all sizes develop, manage, and secure complex IT environments that increase productivity and enhance competitiveness. CA leverages its learnings and development expertise across its Mainframe and Enterprise Solutions businesses, resulting in cross enterprise, multi-platform support for customers. The majority of CA’s largest customers transact with CA across both its Mainframe and Enterprise Solutions portfolios. CA benefits from predictable and recurring revenues with the average duration of bookings exceeding three years. CA operates across 40 countries and currently holds more than 1,500 patents worldwide, with more than 950 patents pending.

Despite concerns about TV demand and falling profit margins, major South Korean and Chinese TV makers are expected to stock up on display panels in the third quarter to prepare for the seasonal year-end shopping spree by consumers. Already carrying inventories from prior stocking, these TV makers will have factored in the risk of a correction in panel demand in the fourth quarter, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.

According to the latest TV Display & OEM Intelligence Service by IHS Markit, South Korean TV brands’ panel purchasing volume is forecast to increase to 20.4 million units in the third quarter of 2018, up 18 percent from the previous quarter or up 3 percent from a year ago. This is indicative of a recovery in panel purchasing from a decline of 3 percent in the second quarter on a quarter-to-quarter basis and down 1 percent year-over-year.

China’s top five TV brands, which bought more panels than expected in the first quarter, again increased their panel purchasing in the second quarter to meet their sales target by 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter or 18 percent year-on-year to 19.8 million units. In the third quarter, these Chinese brands are likely to keep their purchasing volumes at a similar growth level of 1 percent quarter-on-quarter or 17 percent year-on-year.

“Although the panel demand outlook from South Korean and Chinese TV makers for the third quarter looks positive, the TV brands are still anxious about uncertainty in market demand in the second half of the year while carrying high inventories,” said Deborah Yang, director of display supply chain at IHS Markit. “The TV demand in Europe has particularly been weaker than expected, and the depreciation of local currencies in the emerging markets against the US Dollar has led to a higher price tag in local currencies.”

Another concern is the eroding profit margins caused by fast-falling average selling prices of TV sets. “As TV makers, particularly the Chinese brands, keep high inventories on hand, they end up cutting TV prices to manage their inventories, leading to lower margins – even for larger and premium TVs,” Yang said. “If their inventory clearance strategies and upcoming seasonal demand fall short of the expectations, these TV brands will eventually have to cut panel purchasing later in the year to lower the inventory burden.”

By Ed Korczynski

To fulfill the promise of the Internet of Things (IoT), the world needs low-cost high-bandwidth radio-frequency (RF) chips for 5th-generation (5G) internet technology. Despite standards not being completely defined yet it is clear that 5G hardware will have to be more complex than 4G kit, because it will have to provide a total solution that is ultra-reliable with at least 10 Gb/second bandwidth. A significant challenge remains in developing new high-speed transistor technologies for RF communications with low power to allow IoT “edge” devices to operate reliably off of batteries.

At the most recent Imec Technology Forum in Antwerp, Belgium, Nadine Collaert, Distinguished MTS of imec, discussed recent research results from the consortium’s High-Speed Analog and RF Program. In addition to working on core transistor fabrication technology R&D, imec has also been working on system-technology co-integration (STCO) and design-technology co-integration (DTCO) for RF applications.

Comparing the system specifications needed for mobile handsets to those for base-stations, transmitter power consumption should be 10x lower, while the receiver power consumption needs to be 2x lower. Today using silicon CMOS transistors, four power amplifiers alone consume 65% of a transmitter chip’s power. Heterogeneous Bipolar Transistors (HBT) and High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) built using compound semiconductors such as gallium-arsenide (GaAs), gallium-nitride (GaN), or indium-phosphide (InP) provide excellent RF device results. However, compared to making CMOS chips on silicon, HBT and HEMT manufacturing on compound semiconductor substrates is inherently expensive and difficult.

Heterogeneous Bipolar Transistors (HBT) and High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) both rely upon the precise epitaxial growth of semiconductor layers, and such growth is easier when the underlying substrate material has similar atomic arrangement. While it is much more difficult to grow epi-layers of compound semiconductors on silicon wafers, imec does R&D using 300-mm diameter silicon substrates with a goal of maintaining device quality while lowering production costs. The Figure shows cross-sections of the two “tracks” of III-V and GaN transistor materials being explored by imec for future RF chips.

III-V on Silicon and GaN-on-Silicon RF device cross-sections, showing work on both Heterogeneous Bipolar Transistors (HBT) and High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) for 5G applications. (Source: imec)

Imec’s High-Speed Analog/RF Program objectives include the following:

  • High-speed III-V RF devices using low-cost, high-volume silicon-compatible processes and modules,
  • Co-optimization with advance silicon CMOS to reduce form factor and enable power-efficient systems with higher performance, and
  • Technology-circuit design co-optimization to enable complex RF-FEM modules with heterogeneous integration.

5G technology deployment will start with speeds below 6GHz,  because technologies in that range have already been proven and the costs are known. However, after five years the frequency will change to the “mm-wave” range with the first wavelength band at ~28GHz. GaN material with a wide bandgap and high charge-density has been a base-station technology, and it could be an ideal material for low-power mm-wave RF devices for future handsets.

This R&D leverages the III-V on silicon capability that has been developed by imec for CMOS:Photonic integration. RF transistors could be stacked over CMOS transistors using either wafer- or die-stacking, or both could be monolithically co-integrated on one silicon chip. Work on monolithic integration of GaN-on-Silicon is happening now, and could also be used for photonics where faster transistors can improve the performance of optical links.

By Pete Singer

In a keynote talk on Tuesday in the Yerba Buena theater, Dr. John E. Kelly, III, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research, talked about how the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was upon us, and how it will dramatically the world. “This is an era of computing which is at a scale that will dwarf the previous era, in ways that will change all of our businesses and all of our industries, and all of our lives,” he said. “This will be another 50, 60 or more years of technology breakthrough innovation that will change the world.  This is the era that’s going to power our semiconductor industry forward. The number of opportunities is enormous.”

Dr. John E. Kelly, III, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research

Kelly, with 40 years of experience in the industry, recalled how the first era of computing began with mechanical computers 100 years ago, and then transition into the programmable era of computing. In 1980, Kelly said “we were trying to stack two 16 kilobis DRAMs to get a 32 bit stack and we were trying to cram a thousand transistors into a microprocessor.” Microprocessors today have 15 billion transistors. “It’s been a heck of a ride,” he said.

IBM’s Summit is not only the biggest computer in the world, this is the smartest computer in the world, according to Kelly.

Kelly pointed to the power of exponentials, noting that Moore’s Law represented the first exponential and Metcalf’s Law — which says the value of the network increases as the square of the number of connected devices to the network – is the second exponential. Kelly said there’s no end to this second potential, as devices such as medical connected devices and Internet of thing devices get connected.

A third exponential is now upon us, Kelly said. “The core of this exponential is that data is doubling every 12 to 18 months. In fact, in some industries like healthcare, data is doubling every six months,” he said. The challenge is that the data is useless unless it can be analyzed. “Our computers are lousy in dealing with that large unstructured data and frankly there aren’t enough programmers in the world to deal with that explosion of data and extract value,” Kelly said. “The only way forward is through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to extract insights from that data.”

Kelly talked about IBM’s history of AI – teaching early system 600 machines to play checkers, beating chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov with Deep Blue, Watson’s Jeopardy wins and most recently, Watson Debater. That can “not only can answer questions but can listen to a person’s argument on something, reason and counter-argue in full natural language against that position in a full dialogue, continuously.”

What’s changed? “We continue to make advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning algorithms that are just stunning,” Kelly said. “We are now able to learn over smaller and smaller amounts of data and translate that learning from one domain to another to another to another and start to get scale. Now is the time when this exponential is going to really explode.”

How does that equate to opportunity? Kelly said that on top of the existing $1.5-2B information technology industry, there’s another $2 trillion of decision support opportunity for artificial intelligence. “Literally every industry in the world, whether its industrial products, financial services, retail, every industry in the world is going to be impacted and transformed by this,” he said.

Quantum computing, which Kelly describe as a fourth exponential, is also coming which will in turn dwarf all of the previous ones. “Beyond AI, this is going to be the most important thing I’ve ever seen in my career. Quantum computing is a complete game changer,” he said.

The bad news? During his talk, Kelly sounded one cautionary note: “Companies that lead exponentials win. Companies that don’t lead, or even try to quickly follow, fail on exponential curves. Our industry is littered with examples of that,” he said.

By Shannon Davis

Steve Jobs. Benjamin Franklin. Albert Einstein. Marie Curie. What do these world-changers all have in common? Where did their drive to innovate come from? Melissa Schilling, PhD, had to find out.

“Innovation and creativity has been a hot area of research for a long time, but we don’t tend to study outliers and in part that’s because there’s methodological challenges with that,” she explained to the audience during her keynote address on Tuesday at SEMICON West 2018.

Melissa Schilling, PhD, New York University

So, the New York University professor created a multiple case study research project to tackle these questions, which are addressed at length in her latest book, “Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World.” Her book invites us into the lives of eight world-famous game-changers — Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Elon Musk, Dean Kamen, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs – and identifies the common traits and experiences that drove them to make spectacular breakthroughs, again and again. Schilling believed that once we understand what makes someone a serial innovator; we can also understand the breakthrough innovation potential in all of us.

The first common trait Schilling identified in her research was a sense of separateness – a discovery that she found remarkable.

“I thought most people would be super connected with lots of diverse connections,” she said. “I was wrong about that. Every single person I studied, with the exception of Benjamin Franklin, had this…feeling of detachment.”

Einstein, said Schilling, even went so far as to say he didn’t need direct contact with individual humans, even his own family. Marie Curie and her husband eventually sent both of their daughters to be raised by their grandparents, so that they could devote more time to their research. Dean Kamen’s feelings of separateness helped to shield him when his peers didn’t believe it was possible to create a two-wheeled wheelchair (which we now know as the Segway).

What can we learn from this? “First thing we have to learn is that we need norms that permit people to be unorthodox,” said Schilling. “We need to be able to embrace weirdness.”

Schilling pushed back against the idea of brainstorming teams in the tech world, a practice she says has potential innovators stuck putting out ideas that are more likely to get consensus from the rest of their team. She instead suggested to allow employees to work alone first, to commit to an idea and elaborate on it before sharing it with a team.

“Brainstorming teams cause people to come to mediocre compromises,” she said.

The second shared trait of serial innovators Schilling discussed was self-efficacy.

“Self-efficacy is that faith you have that you can overcome obstacles to achieve your goals and it makes you take on bigger projects,” Schilling explained.

She pointed to Elon Musks’ persistence in developing reusable rockets, in spite of NASA’s claims that it couldn’t be done, and Nikola Tesla’s dream of harnessing the power of Niagara Falls to provide electricity, despite having only seen a picture of Niagara on a postcard when he was a child in Croatia.

“Encourage people to try even if they fail,” she said, and warned against rescuing people who could benefit from learning things on their own.

The third trait Schilling outlined was one she said seven of the eight innovators possessed, which was having an intensely idealistic goal that mattered more to them than just about anything else.

“When you have an idealistic goal that people in your company can identify with, they’re going to work harder, they’re going to work longer, they’re going to think bigger, and they’re going to love it more,” she said.

And while timing and luck often did play an undeniable role in many of the serial innovators lives, Schilling was most surprised to learn that access to capital didn’t affect her research subjects’ abilities to innovate.

“Every single one of these people… started out flat broke,” she said. “They did not become innovators because they had access to capital.”

What was more important, she said, was their access to other people who had resources.

“One of the most valuable things you can do is help connect people to the other people they need,” she concluded.

Solid State Technology and SEMI today announced the recipient of the 2017 “Best of West” Award – BISTel for its Dynamic Fault Detection (DFD®) system. The award recognizes important product and technology developments in the electronics manufacturing supply chain. Held in conjunction with SEMICON West, the largest and most influential electronics manufacturing exposition in North America, the Best of West finalists were selected based on their financial impact on the industry, engineering or scientific achievement, and/or societal impact.

BISTel’s Dynamic Fault Detection (DFD®) system offers full trace data coverage and eliminating the need for timely and costly modeling and set up. DFD® is also a bridge to smart factory manufacturing because it integrates seamlessly to legacy FDC systems meaning customers can access the most comprehensive, and accurate fault detection system on the market. (South Hall Booth 1811).

“There’s a big emphasis in smart manufacturing at this year’s SEMICON West,” said Pete Singer, Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Technology. “The BISTel dynamic fault detection system is a great example of a fantastic smart tool now available to semiconductor manufacturers.”

About SEMI

SEMI® connects over 2,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, devices, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. FlexTech, the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA) and the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) are SEMI Strategic Association Partners, defined communities within SEMI focused on specific technologies. Since 1970, SEMI has built connections that have helped its members prosper, create new markets, and address common industry challenges together. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley (Milpitas, Calif.), Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit www.semi.org and follow SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Extension Media

Extension Media is a publisher of over 20 business-to-business magazines (including Solid State Technology), resource catalogs, newsletters and web sites that address high-technology industry platforms and emerging technologies such as chip design, embedded systems, software and infrastructure, intellectual property, architectures, operating systems and industry standards. Extension Media publications serve several markets including Electronics, Software/IT and Mobile/Wireless. Extension Media is a privately held company based in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit www.extensionmedia.com.