Feb 12, 2024 · By Mark Berry · 3D In-Depth
Is semiconductor device test non-value added? Certainly, some aspects are unchanging. Test is one of the three means to guarantee parts in addition to characterization and the design itself. Given the market backdrop – across automotive, computing, and advanced packaging – new test challenges and value adds have emerged. Three...Feb 08, 2024 · By Phil Garrou · Blogs
IFTLE has spent significant time discussing the lack of U.S.-based substrate manufacturing. Although packages such as the ball-grid array (BGA) were invented by U.S. companies like Motorola, production capacity was all off-shored to Asia years ago. Having competent U.S. production capacity has always been part of the US reshoring program....Feb 07, 2024 · By Tom Bauer · Blogs
As many organizations in the industry are grappling for external resources, Onto Innovation has expertly chosen to look inward. We recognize the unmatched talent that exists at our company already and have implemented a course of action that directly taps into that. Our employees continuously push the boundaries of innovation,...Feb 06, 2024 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
It was an interesting year for the 2024 3D InCites Awards as we changed our processes, criteria, and categories to improve the program. We intended to provide more opportunities for participation across the heterogeneous integration supply chain, and we are happy with the outcome. A special thank you to the...Feb 01, 2024 · By Avery Gerber · Blogs
Members of the 3D InCites community hit the year running by celebrating milestones, new hires, promotions, and grand openings. Here are some highlights that caught our attention. Amkor Technology, Inc. hosted DesignCon2024 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA Among the speakers was Amkor’s Ruben Fuentes, VP...Jan 31, 2024 · By Phil Garrou · Blogs
At this year’s IEEE International Electron Device Meeting, [IEDM] (December in San Francisco) SK hynix gave an interesting look at “Advanced Packaging Technology in Memory Applications for Future Generative AI Era”. [Generative AI creates new content through the use of machine learning models such as generative adversarial networks. Such frameworks...Jan 30, 2024 · By Dean Freeman · 3D In Context
“It ain’t over till it’s over.” is a frequently used Yogi Berra saying. The current semiconductor cycle has that feeling. While for some parts it appears to be over, for other parts it looks like most segments are at the bottom, and there are no strong growth indicators for the...Jan 24, 2024 · By Dean Freeman · 3D In Context
Happy 2024! For many the start of the New Year includes resolutions or goals to try to accomplish throughout the year. From a sustainability standpoint, this means that the ESG teams are collecting the data from 2023 to determine if they achieved what they had published in their 2022 sustainability...Jan 23, 2024 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
A Conversation About Leadership with SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha For the past few years, we’ve heard semiconductor market analysts prognosticate that based on estimated demand, semiconductors have the potential to become a $1Trillion industry in the next 7-10 years. This number is based on analysts’ projections of driving markets including...Jan 22, 2024 · By Peter Dijkstra · Processes and Technology
Every metal layer on a wafer, from M1 at the front end to redistribution for wafer-level packaging (WLP), requires patterning. Selective material removal, including etching oxides and metals, often becomes the critical path. It is essential to thoroughly strip photoresist and minimize contamination to achieve the desired yield. Plasma etching...Jan 17, 2024 · By Julia Freer Goldstein · Blogs
We continue to deal with a paradox: semiconductor chips are necessary to support digitalization and society’s transition to lower carbon power and transportation. At the same time, semiconductor manufacturing is resource- and energy-intensive. Efficiency improvements are one part of the solution, but they can only take us so far. There’s...Jan 16, 2024 · By Phil Garrou · Blogs
As IFTLE has explained previously, Investments in semiconductors will not succeed without investments in advanced packaging. The CHIPS for America program, agreeing with this premise, has announced that it will support the development of advanced packaging technology in the United States that can be transferred to manufacturing facilities, including recipients...Jan 15, 2024 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
As they do every year, semiconductor industry leaders gathered in Half Moon Bay, CA in early January for SEMI ISS 2024 to take stock of the economic trends and market drivers to set their corporate strategies for 2024. Appropriately, the weather outside the Ritz-Carlton, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, matched the...Jan 10, 2024 · By Francoise von Trapp · Blogs
2023 was a year of growth and change for 3D InCites, as well as me personally. In April, I left my role at Kiterocket and the security of a salary and benefits to follow my passion and focus full-time on supporting the 3D InCites Community. It was time, and I...Jan 08, 2024 · By Dean Freeman · 3D In Context
It all depends upon who you talk to at IEDM 2023. The semiconductor chip industry is either moving into a new realm that will be based upon chiplet technology, or the industry is continuing to drive front-end and backend technology forward and the two technologies are morphing together to drive...Jan 04, 2024 · By Bob Patti · Blogs
Challenges to 3DHI and chiplets remain, but new advanced packaging foundry solutions are stacking up The industry consensus is that the path to extending Moore’s Law lies in heterogeneous integration (HI) and chiplet architectures. Why, then, are we still waiting for the full adoption of HI, 3DHI, and chiplets? The...Jan 02, 2024 · By Tessa Baltussen · Blogs
The “Global Talent Shortage” is a buzzword that everybody uses nowadays. But what does it mean? The most used definition I found was that employers cannot find the people they need with the right blend of technical skills and human strengths. The talent shortage is a significant concern in the...Dec 28, 2023 · By Phil Garrou · Blogs
NIST held the “Chiplet Interfaces Technical Standards Workshop” at the NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in December 2023. During this workshop, technical experts from industry, academia, standards-setting organizations, and industry alliances gathered to discuss and prioritize specific standards efforts related to chiplet-based architectures with a focus on physical and logical...Dec 21, 2023 · By Phil Garrou · Blogs
The Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) program is the nation’s preeminent workforce development effort, funded by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Trusted and Assured Microelectronics program and managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. SCALE has a mission to bolster next-generation workforce development to bring the United States...Dec 20, 2023 · By Dean Freeman · 3D In Context
The Semiconductor industry has been ramping up its focus on sustainability for the past three to four years. Strong sustainability efforts have been in place for ST Microelectronics and Intel since 2011 and have trickled down to their suppliers through a sustainability focus on the supply chain. When Apple and...