Banner Electrical Verification The invisible bottleneck in IC design updated 1
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IEDM 2020 – Imec Plenary talk

IEDM 2020 – Imec Plenary talk
by Scotten Jones on 01-08-2021 at 6:00 am

Imec Figure 1

On Monday morning at IEDM, Sri Samavedam of Imec opened the technical program with a plenary talk entitled “Future Logic Scaling: Towards Atomic Channels and Deconstructed Chips”. I am not generally a fan of plenary talks, I think the presenters often try to cover too much in their talks and end up not providing enough detail to be… Read More


Optimization for pFET Nanosheet Devices

Optimization for pFET Nanosheet Devices
by Tom Dillinger on 01-04-2021 at 6:00 am

Intel flow TEM

The next transition from current FinFET devices at advanced process nodes is the “nanosheet” device, as depicted in the figure below. [1]

The FinFET provides improved gate-to-channel electrostatic control compared to a planar device, where the gate traverses three sides of the fin.  The “gate-all-around” characteristics… Read More


What Might the “1nm Node” Look Like?

What Might the “1nm Node” Look Like?
by Tom Dillinger on 12-28-2020 at 6:00 am

transistor density

The device roadmap for the next few advanced process nodes seems relatively clear.  The FinFET topology will subsequently be displaced by a “gate-all-around” device, typically using multiple stacked channels with a metal gate completely surrounding the “nanosheets”.  Whereas the fin demonstrates improved gate-to-channel… Read More


Analog Bits is Taking the Virtual Holiday Party up a Notch or Two

Analog Bits is Taking the Virtual Holiday Party up a Notch or Two
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-25-2020 at 6:00 am

Analog Bits Takes the Virtual Holiday Party Up a Notch or Two

As 2020 comes to a close, I hear a lot of chatter about virtual meeting fatigue; “I’m Zoomed out”. We’ve all attended virtual versions of conferences this year with various degrees of success. Overall, I have to say these events are getting better. Semiconductor and EDA folks have a way of adapting and inventing, and it’s showing … Read More


A Research Update on Carbon Nanotube Fabrication

A Research Update on Carbon Nanotube Fabrication
by Tom Dillinger on 12-22-2020 at 10:00 am

IV measurement testchip

It is quite amazing that silicon-based devices have been the foundation of our industry for over 60 years, as it was clear that the initial germanium-based devices would be difficult to integrate at a larger scale.  (GaAs devices have also developed a unique microelectronics market segment.)  More recently, it is also rather … Read More


Webinar: Increase Layout Team Productivity with SkillCAD

Webinar: Increase Layout Team Productivity with SkillCAD
by Daniel Nenni on 12-18-2020 at 10:00 am

Header Webinar 1

The Cadence Virtuoso Design System has been one of the premier Integrated Circuit design systems for many years and is used by most major semiconductor companies.  While it is powerful and versatile, it is often not optimized for certain complex, repetitive and time-consuming layout design tasks.

The founder and president … Read More


Silicon Catalyst’s Semi Industry Forum – All-Star Cast Didn’t Disappoint

Silicon Catalyst’s Semi Industry Forum – All-Star Cast Didn’t Disappoint
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-18-2020 at 10:00 am

Silicon Catalysts Semi Industry Forum – All Star Cast Didnt Disappoint

A few weeks ago I wrote about an upcoming event Silicon Catalyst was hosting, the Semiconductor Industry Forum – A View to the Future. I mentioned a high-profile group of presenters: Don Clark, Contributing Journalist, New York Times as moderator;  Mark Edelstone, Chairman of Global Semiconductor Investment Banking, Morgan… Read More


Advanced Process Development is Much More than just Litho

Advanced Process Development is Much More than just Litho
by Tom Dillinger on 12-16-2020 at 10:00 am

Vt distribution

The vast majority of the attention given to the introduction of each new advanced process node focuses on lithographic updates.  The common metrics quoted are the transistors per mm**2 or the (high-density) SRAM bit cell area.  Alternatively, detailed decomposition analysis may be applied using transmission electron microscopy… Read More


Alphawave IP is Enabling 224Gbps Serial Links with DSP

Alphawave IP is Enabling 224Gbps Serial Links with DSP
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-14-2020 at 10:00 am

Alphawave IP is Enabling 224Gbps Serial Links with DSP

Alphawave IP is a new member of the SemiWiki community. You can learn about the company and their CEO, Tony Pialis in this interview by Dan Nenni. Design & Reuse did a virtual IP-SOC Conference recently and Tony presented. The D&R event had a very strong lineup of presenters. They supplemented the prepared video presentations… Read More


Design Considerations for 3DICs

Design Considerations for 3DICs
by Tom Dillinger on 12-14-2020 at 6:00 am

LVS flow phases

The introduction of heterogeneous 3DIC packaging technology offers the opportunity for significant increases in circuit density and performance, with corresponding reductions in package footprint.  Yet, the implementation of a complex 3DIC product requires a considerable investment in methodology development for all… Read More