Semiconductor manufacturers are under constantly increasing and intense pressure to accelerate innovative new chip designs to market faster than ever in smaller package sizes while assuring signal integrity and reducing power consumption. Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D-ICs) promise to answer all these demands… Read More
ASML EUV Update at SPIE
At the 2022 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, ASML presented an update on EUV. I recently had a chance to go over the presentations with Mike Lercel of ASML. The following is a summary of our discussions.
0.33 NA
The 0.33 NA EUV systems are the production workhorse systems for leading edge lithography today. 0.33 NA systems are… Read More
TSMC 2022 Technology Symposium Review – Process Technology Development
TSMC recently held their annual Technology Symposium in Santa Clara, CA. The presentations provided a comprehensive overview of their status and upcoming roadmap, covering all facets of process technology and advanced packaging development. This article will summarize the highlights of the process technology updates… Read More
Three Key Takeaways from the 2022 TSMC Technical Symposium!
The TSMC Technical Symposium is today so I wanted to give you a brief summary of what was presented. Tom Dillinger will do a more technical review as he has done in the past. I don’t want to steal his thunder but here is what I think are the key takeaways. First a brief history lesson.
The history of TSMC Technology Development with 12 key… Read More
Intel 4 Deep Dive
As I previously wrote about here, Intel is presenting their Intel 4 process at the VLSI Technology conference. Last Wednesday Bernhard Sell (Ben) from Intel gave the press a briefing on the process and provided us with early access to the paper (embargoed until Sunday 6/12).
“Intel 4 CMOS Technology Featuring Advanced FinFET Transistors… Read More
WEBINAR: 5G is moving to a new and Open Platform O-RAN or Open Radio Access Network
The demands of 5G requires new designs to not only save power but also increase performance and by moving to advance power-saving nodes and by using eFPGAs will help to achieve these goals. This paper will introduce 5G and O-RAN, the complexity of these systems, and how flexibility could be beneficial. Then we will dive into how eFPGA… Read More
An Update on In-Line Wafer Inspection Technology
From initial process technology development (TD) to high volume manufacturing (HVM) status for a new node, one of the key support functions to improve and maintain yield is the in-line wafer inspection technology. Actually, there are multiple inspection technologies commonly employed, with tradeoffs in pixel resolution,… Read More
Leveraging Simulation to Accelerate the Design of Plasma Reactors for Semiconductor Etching Processes
There is no shortage of reporting on the many technological advances happening within the semiconductor industry. But sometimes it feels like we hear less in the area of semiconductor manufacturing equipment than in the design and product arenas. That doesn’t mean that there is less happening there or what is happening there … Read More
Inverse Lithography Technology – A Status Update from TSMC
“Inverse lithography technology (ILT) represents the most significant EDA advance in the last two decades.” Danping Peng from TSMC made that assertion at the recent SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning Conference, in his talk entitled: ILT for HVM: History, Present, and Future. This article summarizes the highlights… Read More
Unlock first-time-right complex photonic integrated circuits
The capacity and energy efficiency challenges from the growing appetite for high-speed data along with advanced applications such as LIDAR and quantum computing are driving demand for increasingly large-scale photonic integrated circuits (PIC). With an ever-increasing number of components on a single photonic chip, manual… Read More


			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
Intel to Compete with Broadcom and Marvell in the Lucrative ASIC Business