PDF Solutions and the Value of Fearless Creativity

PDF Solutions has been around for over 30 years. The company began with a focus on chip manufacturing and yield. Since the beginning, PDF Solutions anticipated many shifts in the semiconductor industry and has expanded its impact with enhanced data analytics and AI. Today, the company’s impact is felt from design to manufacturing, to the entire product lifecycle across the semiconductor supply chain as shown in the graphic above.

I did a bit of digging to understand the history and impact of this unique company. Along the way, I found a short but informative video (a link is coming). One of the speakers is a high-profile individual that talked about PDF Solutions and the value of fearless creativity. That quote did a great job to set the tone for what follows.

A Memorable Conversation

To begin my quest, I was able to spend some time talking with Christophe Begue, VP of corporate strategic marketing at PDF. Besides PDF, Dr. Begue has a long history of technology and business development at companies such as Oracle, IBM, and Philips Electronics. As Christophe began describing some of the innovations at PDF, he discussed the key role that the PDF data platform plays in the industry. In the cloud, PDF manages over 2.5PB of data, the equivalent of 3 million hours of video. Many customers deploy the PDF database on site which allows them to centrally manage all their massive manufacturing data.

He went on to explain that PDF has always been focused on anticipating the next challenge the semiconductor industry will face to be ahead of the problem. Current challenges include dealing with innovations in 3D, operating through a complex global supply chain, and figuring out how to leverage AI at all levels, from design to manufacturing. He described how PDF’s capabilities are at the intersection of these challenges with a common platform and database to improve collaboration and scale AI to drive operational efficiency.

Christophe went on to describe PDF’s three solution areas that all leverage a common data infrastructure powered by AI. The platform contains several significant capabilities that impact the entire semiconductor industry. This includes systems to help with characterization, including a unique contactless probing system developed by PDF. More on that in a moment.  There are also technologies to help optimize manufacturing and others to integrate and coordinate the worldwide supply chain. The diagram below summarizes how these systems leverage a common data infrastructure powered by AI to impact the entire semiconductor industry.

Christophe also described the broad impact PDF has on the entire semiconductor supply chain. The substantial design and manufacturing challenges the industry is facing can only be addressed with broad-based collaboration. There are many parts of the puzzle and they all must fit together optimally to make progress. PDF Solutions is a significant catalyst for this broad-based collaboration. PDF believes that doing this can only be done through the use of an open platform. With that open platform PDF is able to integrate with other solution providers used across the semiconductor industry. He shared the graphic below to illustrate the breadth of PDF’s impact and partnerships.

A Short but Potent Video

This is the video that inspired the title of this post. It came from a discussion with Dr. Dennis Ciplickas, who spent 25 years at PDF Solutions. He said, “The time I spent at PDF fundamentally changed how I do my job…Being creative and giving yourself the freedom to be creative, even if you don’t really understand everything about the domain can lead to things you didn’t expect. Working at PDF we were always pushing the boundaries…and that led to insights…it’s the value of fearless creativity.” Dennis is now the technical lead manager for silicon product development at one of the leading cloud hyperscalers.

This video also describes the invention by PDF of eProbe, a contactless electrical test system that scans an entire wafer to identify and analyze hot spots. This is one example of how PDF pushes boundaries and improves the quality of semiconductor devices. There are many more such examples.

To Learn More

I’ve provided just an overview of how PDF Solutions is changing the semiconductor ecosystem. There is so much more to the story. If advanced design is giving you a headache, you need to know about PDF Solutions. The company can help. You can listen to an informative podcast with Dr. John Kibarian, president, CEO and co-founder of PDF Solutions on SemiWiki here. There’s also a great interview with John on Investment Reports here.

There are a couple of excellent blog posts available on PDF’s website as well:

Secure Data Collaboration in the Semiconductor Industry: Unlocking Innovation Through AI and Connectivity

Perspectives on PDF Solutions Performance in 2024 and Path Forward

And of course, that excellent video I mentioned can be accessed here. And that’s an introduction to PDF Solutions and the value of fearless creativity.