IC to Systems Era

IC to Systems Era
by Daniel Nenni on 05-16-2019 at 12:00 pm

One of my favorite EDA disruptions is the Siemens acquisition of Mentor, pure genius. Joe Sawicki now runs the Mentor IC EDA business for Siemens so we will be seeing him at more conferences and events than ever before. Joe did a very nice keynote at the recent U2U conference that I would like to talk about before we head to the 56thDAC… Read More


56thDAC ClioSoft Excitement

56thDAC ClioSoft Excitement
by Daniel Nenni on 05-15-2019 at 12:00 pm

As the number one 56thDAC supporting portal we will publish what’s happening in the conference, on the exhibit floor, and outside activities. The SemiWiki bloggers will be out in full force with live coverage and behind the scenes looks. Remember, SemiWiki bloggers are actual semiconductor professionals with hundreds… Read More


The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part V

The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part V
by Daniel Nenni on 05-13-2019 at 7:00 am

Part 4 of this series discussed how a transistor Extension could be fabricated in a planar device without using an implant operation, and is instead formed using a preferential etch followed by a selective epitaxial deposition. This final installment of the series will present the formation of an Extension in a FinFET transistor… Read More


The SiFive Tech Symposiums are Heading to Six Cities in Europe in May!

The SiFive Tech Symposiums are Heading to Six Cities in Europe in May!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-12-2019 at 4:00 pm

Hello Cambridge, Grenoble, Stockholm, Moscow, Munich and Amsterdam
Our 2019 global symposiums and workshops have been hugely successful in promoting the RISC-V ISA and fostering expansive collaboration within the open-source community. It’s invigorating to see how the worldwide semiconductor ecosystem is energized and… Read More


The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part IV

The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part IV
by Daniel Nenni on 05-10-2019 at 2:00 pm

Perhaps the most innovative and effective Extension implant does not involve an implant at all, but is instead an etch followed by a selective epitaxial deposition.

In this Extension fabrication methodology the Source/Drains regions in a planar device are etched away in the normal fashion to accommodate the replacement Source/Drain… Read More


Three Reasons Why You Should NOT Miss 56thDAC

Three Reasons Why You Should NOT Miss 56thDAC
by Daniel Nenni on 05-10-2019 at 7:00 am

Reason number ONE:The next five DACs will be in San Francisco and this will probably be the last one held in Las Vegas so you absolutely do NOT want to miss it. One of my most memorable DACs was in Las Vegas in 1985. My wife came with me for our second honeymoon and, by definition, it was just that, a honeymoon. This year we will probably spend… Read More


eSilicon ASICs all in the Google Cloud

eSilicon ASICs all in the Google Cloud
by Daniel Nenni on 05-08-2019 at 12:00 pm

Having just completed a cloud evaluation for SemiWiki I can tell you why eSilicon chose Google. Simply put, they are working harder to get cloud business. Google ($4B) is the number five cloud provider behind Microsoft ($21.2B), Amazon ($20.4B), IBM ($10.3B) and Oracle ($6.08B). There is a lot of money in the cloud and a lot more … Read More


The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part III

The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part III
by Daniel Nenni on 05-06-2019 at 7:00 am

The problem of traditional FinFET Extension Implant doping concerns the awkward 3-dimensional structure of the fin. Because the Extension Implant defines the conductive electrical pathway between the Source/Drains and the undoped channel portion of the fin, it is essential that the fin be uniformly doped all three of its surfaces… Read More


The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part II

The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part II
by Daniel Nenni on 05-02-2019 at 7:00 am

The use of hard masks instead of photoresist for the Extension implant is an effective way to optimize the amount of dopant that is retained along the fin sidewalls for those fins that border along photoresist edges (as discussed in Part 1 of this series).

However, hard masks do nothing to address the dominant problem driving steeper… Read More


A Brief History of Methodics

A Brief History of Methodics
by Daniel Nenni on 04-29-2019 at 12:00 pm

Methodics has been a key player in IP management for over 10 years. In this section, Methodics shares their history, technology, and their role in developing IP Lifecycle Management (IPLM) solutions for the electronics industry.

Methodics is recognized as a premier provider of IP Lifecycle Management (IPLM) and traceability… Read More