EUV faces Scylla and Charybdis

EUV faces Scylla and Charybdis
by Fred Chen on 08-03-2020 at 6:00 am

EUV faces Scylla and Charybdis

It is now time for the EUV community to realize they are caught between the proverbial Scylla and Charybdis. In Greek mythology, the two monsters terrorized ships that were unlucky enough to pass between them. By avoiding one, you approached the other.

S for Scylla, or Stochastics

Scylla was a former beautiful nymph turned into

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LRCX Strong Beat and Guide

LRCX Strong Beat and Guide
by Robert Maire on 08-02-2020 at 6:00 am

Robert Maire

Lam reported strong beat & guide, memory returns-
China trade and Covid impact near zero-
Looking at a strong H2 with WFE in mid $50B+-

Back on Cruise Control

Lam reported a great quarter, easily beating expectations coming in at $2.79B and $4.78 in non GAAP EPS-
Guide is for $3.1B +-$200M and EPS of $5.06+-$0.40-
Margins and all… Read More


Imec Technology Forum and ASML

Imec Technology Forum and ASML
by Scotten Jones on 07-30-2020 at 6:00 am

itf usa 2020 martin van den brink Page 15

On Thursday July 9 Imec held a virtual technology forum. Imec is one of the premier research organizations working on semiconductor technology and their forums are always interesting. My area of interest is process technology and the following are my observation in that area from the forum.

Luc Van Den Hove
Luc Van Den Hove is the… Read More


Apple’s Silicon Switch Changes Game & Balance 

Apple’s Silicon Switch Changes Game & Balance 
by Robert Maire on 06-24-2020 at 10:00 am

Intel Apple Silicon

Will/should others follow?
TSMC vs Intel impact?
Moving Apple’s supply chain further overseas

Apples move to self served silicon was no surprise…..
It has been speculated for years and we have talked about it many times.  It makes more sense for Apple to have silicon, custom designed for their applications and products… Read More


Can Threshold Switches Replace Transistors in the Memory Cell?

Can Threshold Switches Replace Transistors in the Memory Cell?
by Fred Chen on 06-08-2020 at 6:00 am

Threshold switch I V

The overwhelming majority of transistors produced in the world are used in memory cells, either as the memory itself (Flash, SRAM), or as the access device (DRAM). Yet, it is not necessary to have a transistor in every memory cell. In 2015, 3D XPoint, the first major product based on transistor-less memory cells, was announced [1].

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Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer-based Patterning

Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer-based Patterning
by Fred Chen on 05-06-2020 at 6:00 am

Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer based Patterning

Spacer-defined patterning is an expected requirement for advanced semiconductor patterning nodes with feature sizes of 25 nm or less. As the required gaps between features go well below the lithography tool’s resolution limit, the use of cut exposures to separate features is used more often, especially in chips produced… Read More


KLA Blows Away Competition in the Semiconductor Metrology/Inspection Market

KLA Blows Away Competition in the Semiconductor Metrology/Inspection Market
by Robert Castellano on 02-18-2020 at 10:00 am

KLA Blows Away CompetitionC1

KLA saw its share of the semiconductor metrology/inspection market increase from 52% in 2018 to 56% in 2019.

As a background, KLA manufactures and sells equipment used to monitor many of the 400 to 600 processing steps in the manufacturing of semiconductors, starting with a bare wafer, such as silicon, to a completed device. The… Read More


GLOBALFOUNDRIES Ready for IPO in 2022?

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Ready for IPO in 2022?
by Daniel Nenni on 09-28-2019 at 6:00 am

Hard to believe but it’s the 10th anniversary of Globalfoundries. What a journey this has been. It truly has been an honor to work with GF over the years as they invested many billions of dollars in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and added a colorful chapter in semiconductor history, absolutely.

We have written hundreds of … Read More


Chapter Nine – Specialization Inhibits System Level Optimization

Chapter Nine – Specialization Inhibits System Level Optimization
by Wally Rhines on 09-06-2019 at 6:00 am

Solving critical customer problems sometimes isn’t enough.  One of my most interesting experiences came during the development and rollout of a product that was designed to optimize integration of hardware and embedded software.  In this case, the product performed exactly as planned but the plan ignored the organizational… Read More


Chapter 7 – Competitive Dynamics in the Electronic Design Automation Industry

Chapter 7 – Competitive Dynamics in the Electronic Design Automation Industry
by Wally Rhines on 08-23-2019 at 6:00 am

Electronic design automation, or EDA, became the  term used for computer software and hardware developed to aid in the design and verification of electronics, from integrated circuits to printed circuit boards to the integrated electronics of large systems like planes, trains and cars. As the EDA industry evolved, certain … Read More