Chiplets (die stacking) is not new. The origins are deeply rooted in the semiconductor industry and represent a modular approach to designing and manufacturing integrated circuits. The concept of chiplets has been energized as a response to the recent challenges posed by the increasing complexity of semiconductor design. … Read More
IEDM: What Comes After Silicon?
The annual International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) took place last month. One of the presentations on the short course was by Matthew Metz of Intel titled New Materials Systems for Moore’s Law Continuation. In essence this was a look at some of the possibilities for what comes after silicon runs out of steam.
Matthew started… Read More
2024 Big Race is TSMC N2 and Intel 18A
There is a lot being said about Intel getting the lead back from TSMC with their 18A process. Like anything else in the semiconductor industry there is much more here than meets the eye, absolutely.
From the surface, TSMC has a massive ecosystem and is in the lead as far as process technologies and foundry design starts but Intel is … Read More
IEDM: TSMC Ongoing Research on a CFET Process
I attended the recent International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) last week. Many of the sessions are too technical and too far away from high volume manufacture to make good topics for a blog post. As a Fellow from IBM said about 5nm at and earlier IEDM, “none of these ideas will impact 5nm. It takes ten years for a solution to from… Read More
IEDM Buzz – Intel Previews New Vertical Transistor Scaling Innovation
For more than 65 years, the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) has been the world’s pre-eminent forum for reporting technological breakthroughs in the areas of semiconductor and electronic device technology, design, manufacturing, physics, and modeling. As I post this, the conference is underway in San Francisco… Read More
CEO Interview: David Moore of Pragmatic
David has almost 25 years of leadership experience in the semiconductor industry. Prior to joining Pragmatic, he served as Chief Strategy Officer at Micron Technology, Inc. He also spent six years at Intel Corporation in various roles, including General Manager of the Programmable Solutions Group, where he led the multi-billion-dollar… Read More
Predicting Stochastic Defectivity from Intel’s EUV Resist Electron Scattering Model
The release and scattering of photoelectrons and secondary electrons in EUV resists has often been glossed over in most studies in EUV lithography, despite being a fundamental factor in the image formation. Fortunately, Intel has provided us with a laboriously simulated electron release and scattering model, using the GEANT4… Read More
Arm Total Design Hints at Accelerating Multi-Die Activity
I confess I am reading tea leaves in this blog, but why not? Arm recently announced Arm Total Design, an expansion of their Compute Subsystems (CSS) offering which made me wonder about the motivation behind this direction. They have a lot of blue-chip partners lined up for this program yet only a general pointer to multi-die systems… Read More
Powering eMobility Through Silicon-Carbide Substrates
While writing on infotainment and ADAS I sometimes wonder about the devices that make an EV run. These have nothing to do with digital or software wizardry. While logic and software play a role, the real heart of EV power is in power electronics driving motors, regenerative braking and charger options at home and on the road. Technologies… Read More
Analog Bits Leads the Way at TSMC OIP with High-Accuracy Sensors
The 15th TSMC Open Innovation Platform® (OIP) event was held recently. This event is a focal point across the industry for cutting-edge development and industry-level collaboration. Appropriately, advanced packaging, paving the way for multi-die design was a focal point for the event. You can get a good overview of what was … Read More
TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum Preview 2024