Artificial intelligence performance is increasingly constrained by memory rather than arithmetic throughput. Scaling laws show that model quality improves when parameter count, training data, and compute grow together, but this balance fails when processors cannot obtain operands quickly enough. Contemporary accelerators… Read More
The Twelve-Month Rule Does Not Describe a New Fab
By Nikhil Shah
Capital spending is often treated as if it becomes semiconductor capacity about twelve months later. That can be a useful rule for equipment installed in an existing fab. It is a poor description of a new fab built from the ground up.
I tested the distinction using five advanced-node projects in the United States where… Read More
Podcast EP362: An atomic layer in compute. A discussion of what can be built as graphene photonics scales with Cedric Huyghebaert
Daniel is joined by Dr. Cedric Huyghebaert, CTO of Black Semiconductor. Cedric is one of the world’s leading experts in the development and integration of 2D materials, particularly graphene, into industrial semiconductor manufacturing. With a PhD in Physics from KU Leuven and over 25 years at imec, Cedric built and led… Read More
How TSMC Is Wiring the AI Era With Light
TSMC’s photonics strategy is centered on integrating optical input-output with advanced logic, rather than selling conventional optical transceivers as standalone products. The company is developing a silicon-photonics foundry platform and a packaging architecture called TSMC-COUPE, or Compact Universal Photonic … Read More
Intel Eyes a Memory Comeback as AI Rewrites Chip Economics
Intel is considering a return to memory technology decades after abandoning mainstream DRAM and, more recently, selling its NAND business. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan has argued that memory should no longer be viewed simply as a low-margin commodity. Artificial intelligence is turning bandwidth, latency and data movement … Read More
The Fab Is Not the Finish Line
AI may close the design. The fab may finish the silicon. Production still has to realize the system.
Semiconductor engineering is becoming extraordinarily capable.
EDA platforms are expanding from individual design tasks toward increasingly complete system analysis.
Multiphysics simulation is connecting electrical, … Read More
PDF Solutions’ Exensio Was Built for Semiconductor Analytics. The New Exensio Aurora Architecture Is Built for Semiconductor Intelligence.
The semiconductor industry doesn’t have a shortage of data. It has a shortage of ways to turn that data into useful manufacturing insights quickly enough to matter.
That is the problem PDF Solutions’ Exensio solution has addressed for years. Built specifically for semiconductor manufacturing, Exensio brings … Read More
Beyond Moore: Co-Optimizing AI from Systems to Materials
At the OCP APAC Summit in Taiwan, August 11–12, 2026, Applied Materials’ Subi Kengeri framed artificial intelligence as the semiconductor industry’s largest inflection point. AI demand is accelerating the industry toward one trillion dollars in annual revenue, but the keynote’s central message was more consequential than… Read More
Podcast EP360: IDA Ireland’s Role to Expand Ireland’s Footprint Across the Semiconductor Ecosystem with Anne-Marie Tierney
Daniel is joined by Anne-Marie Tierney, Divisional Manager at IDA Ireland. Anne-Marie has 24 years’ experience in the global investment environment with IDA Ireland, working across several key roles in Ireland and abroad, positioning Ireland for high impact investments, with a specific interest in semiconductors. Prior … Read More
A 0.42-Nanometer Breakthrough From TSMC Could Push Transistors Beyond Silicon
Researchers at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and TSMC Corporate Research engineered a 0.42-nanometer aluminum-oxide interface that protects electron transport in monolayer MoS₂ transistors while enabling strong gate control.
Silicon transistors are approaching physical limits that make each new generation… Read More


Reducing EUV Exposure Dose Through Underlayer Engineering