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SemiWiki Podcast Banner
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The Leading Edge Depends on What You Are Doing

The Leading Edge Depends on What You Are Doing
by Paul McLellan on 12-06-2013 at 11:10 pm

At Semicon Japan a few days ago, Subi Kengeri of GlobalFoundries delivered the keynote. While he covered a number of topics, using Tokyo’s recent win of the 2020 Olympics as a hook, one major theme was the increasing importance of processes other than the bleeding edge digital processes that get all the news.

What is leading… Read More


SEMI Smart Technology Conference

SEMI Smart Technology Conference
by Paul McLellan on 10-15-2013 at 9:40 am

I should start by saying that SEMI Smart Technology is not technology that is only half as smart as our phones, it is a conference on smart technology organized by SEMI. Officially it is called the International Technology Partners Conference with a sort of subtitle of From Smart Cars to Smart Cities: Shaping the Future of MicroelectronicsRead More


3D: the Backup Plan

3D: the Backup Plan
by Paul McLellan on 09-05-2013 at 1:20 pm

With the uncertainties around timing of 450mm wafers, EUV (whether it works at all and when) and new transistor architectures it is unclear whether Moore’s law as we know it is going to continue, and in particular whether the cost per transistor is going to remain economically attractive especially for consumer markets … Read More


Save the Dates

Save the Dates
by Paul McLellan on 08-13-2013 at 3:22 pm

There are several events in Silicon Valley coming up of general interest to people working in EDA and the semiconductor industry.

SEMI 16th Annual Valley Lunch Forum. August 22nd, 11.30am to 1.30pm, Santa Clara Marriott

  • What are the Opportunities for Advanced Semiconductor Devices?
  • Where will the year end for 2013?
  • Will we have
Read More

SEMICON Taiwan 3D

SEMICON Taiwan 3D
by Paul McLellan on 08-08-2013 at 3:10 pm

SEMICON Taiwan is September 3rd to 6th in TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall. Just as with Semicon West in July in San Francisco, there is lots going on. But one special focus is 3D IC. There is a 3DIC and substrate pavilion on the exhibit floor and an Advanced Packaging Symposium. Design tools, manufacturing, packaging and testing solutions… Read More


Epitaxy: Not Just For PMOS Anymore

Epitaxy: Not Just For PMOS Anymore
by Paul McLellan on 07-25-2013 at 2:25 pm

At Semicon I met with Applied Materials to learn about epitaxy. This is when a monocrystalline film is grown on the substrate which takes on a lattice structure that matches the substrate. It forms a high purity starting point for building a transistor and is also the basis of the strain engineering in a modern process.

Since holes… Read More


Semicon: Multiple Patterning vs EUV, round #2

Semicon: Multiple Patterning vs EUV, round #2
by Paul McLellan on 07-24-2013 at 9:00 pm

Round #1 was here.

In the EUV corner were Stefan Wurm of Sematech (working on mask issues mostly) and Skip Miller of ASML who are the only company making EUV steppers (and light sources, they acquired Cymer).

You may know that the biggest issue in EUV is getting the source brightness to have high enough energy that an EUV stepper has … Read More


Semicon: Multiple Patterning vs EUV, round #1

Semicon: Multiple Patterning vs EUV, round #1
by Paul McLellan on 07-21-2013 at 9:01 pm

If you want to know the state of play in lithography, there is no better place than the special session on lithography at Semicon West. This year was no exception. The session was given the punchy title Still a tale of 2 paths: multi-patterning lithography at 20nm and below: EUVL source and infrastructure progress.

In the blue corner… Read More


Should the Design Automation Conference Colocate with SEMICON West?

Should the Design Automation Conference Colocate with SEMICON West?
by Daniel Nenni on 07-03-2013 at 8:10 pm

My friend and fellow blogger Kurt Shuler wrote recently, “DAC Is Dead? Long Live DAC!”, which is worth a click over. In addition to providing a nice attendance graph and the top three reasons why it is NOT all rosy, Kurt suggests colocating DAC with other conferences (DESIGN West) but fails to mention SEMICON West.

SEMICON West is Read More


Free Pass to SEMICON West!

Free Pass to SEMICON West!
by Beth Martin on 07-03-2013 at 1:00 pm

SEMICON West is next week, July 9-11 in San Francisco. If you haven’t signed up, and want to attend for free instead of $100,

1) Send an email to silicon_test@mentor.com with subject line “Semicon pass.”
2) Register for SEMICON West
3) After registering, download the SEMICON West mobile app and start building your schedule. Here… Read More