IC Packaging Technologies Contribute to Smaller, Faster, Cheaper Electronic Systems with Longer Battery Life
Sep 23, 2020 · By Herb Reiter · 3D In Context, Blogs
3D In Context View all
The TSMC 2020 Virtual Technology Symposium and OIP Ecosystem Forum
Just like most other events that attract a large number of people, TSMC 2020 events were held online too. While I missed the many friends I normally meet at TSMC events, I was able to follow the powerful messages from TSMC, its Open Innovation Platform (OIP) partners, and satisfied customers...
Smart Mobility: An Impactful and High-growth Market
About 70% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is driven by consumer demand. What consumers are looking for is influenced by, for example, fashion trends, product innovations, environmental forces, and personal interests. Regarding personal interests: Sales of electronic components at Fry’s are poor, Radio Shack stores even vanished completely....
ISES 2020 Highlights Asia’s Advanced IC Packaging and HI Capabilities
Several decades ago, Asia began its quest to be a reliable and cost-effective IC packaging, assembly, and test partner for low complexity ICs. Since then, Asia has proven itself as the world’s dominant wafer manufacturer and developer of process technologies, down to smallest feature sizes. On August 4, 2020, I...
DAC 2020 Addresses Chiplet Design and Integration
In the early days of ASIC technology, only logic library elements and basic I/Os with up to 10s of transistors were available for customizing gate arrays and/or logic functions in standard cell chips. And then, “megacells” (a.k.a. Functional Blocks, Semiconductor IP Blocks), comprised of 100s, even 1000s, and more transistors...
Francoise in 3D View all
Are You Ready for an Onslaught of Virtual Events?
From basic webinars and Zoom happy hours (like our SemiSister Social Hour above), to full-blown technical conferences, trade shows, and even some hybrids, we’ve all been dabbling in virtual events for about six months now. But based on the emails flooding my inbox, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. But Wait…...
How is COVID 19 Impacting the Semiconductor Industry’s Diversity and Inclusion Efforts?
A headline on CNN Business caught my eye last night: Working mothers are quitting to take care of their kids, and the US job market may never be the same. I started reading and went down a rabbit hole of related articles that revealed a few things: Unlike the recession...
Cruising the Virtual SEMICON West Expo Hall
This morning at Virtual SEMICON West, I tried to attend a bunch of sessions and take notes so I could write about them. I really did. But I was experiencing information overload. And so, I decided to just listen to and watch a few, and maybe go back to the...
COVID 19 and Black Lives Matter Change the Conversation for SEMICON West Keynotes
I had a dream last night that the SEMI team was a little upset with me because we were getting more visitors to our booth to watch the Zooming into SEMICON West interviews than they were getting for the live keynotes. Wishful thinking, I know. But I thought I’d put...
From Different Dimensions View all
SEMICON West 2020: Sentiment, Sustainability, Diversity and Pandemic
Another SEMICON West has come and gone. Well almost gone, this one will be with us virtually until mid-September. SEMI’s 50th SEMICON West wasn’t the celebration that they expected; however, I think it turned out all right, considering the circumstances. As Larry Broome posted “my feet hurt less, the food...
How we Helped a Customer Deliver a GEM-compliant Equipment using CCF
Welcome to the first posting in the Cimetrix CIMControlFramework (CCF) Services blog series! While Cimetrix has been providing professional services for many years, in order to better serve the growing demand from many new equipment maker customers worldwide that have purchased our CCF product, Cimetrix earlier this year formed a...
Semiconductor Back End Processes: Selective GEM300 Adoption
GEM and GEM300 Adoption In a previous blog, I shared how the relatively new SEMI task force in North America called “Advanced Back End Factory Integration” (ABFI) has already decided to promote the adoption of the GEM standard. In this blog, I will explain how the task force is also planning...
How to Create a Vibrant Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry in the United States
Having spent the last 30 years working in semiconductor manufacturing, it is both exciting and unsettling to see renewed political interest in the revitalization of this industry in the United States. Gone are the days of ‘It doesn’t make any difference whether a country makes computer chips or potato chips!’...
Packaging IFTLE View all
IFTLE 460: On Lost Years and Gang Bonding for Multi-die Stacking
Is 2020 A Lost Year? I recall, growing up in Hell’s Kitchen in NYC, the old-timers in the neighborhood used to explain that some years in one’s life were simply to be viewed as “lost years”. Remember, this was coming from the generation that lived through the Spanish Flu pandemic...
IFTLE 459: imec Develops Nano-TSV for Heterogeneous Integration
This week we continue our look at ECTC 2020. imec and SPTS Collaborate on Nano-TSV Processes As part of our IFTLE theme of advanced packaging and interconnect going submicron, let’s look at the imec (long renowned for both their front end and back end work) presentation “Extreme Wafer Thinning and...
IFTLE 458: The Demise of US Chip-making Accelerates as Intel Falls Further Behind
Back in the late summer of 2018 IFTLE unleashed one of its more sarcastic cartoons to note that GlobalFoundries had just announced it would no longer try to compete at the latest node. (See IFTLE 395 “And Then There Were 3…”) Is Intel Next? Well, the remaining three mega players...
IFTLE 457: Hybrid Bonding Comes of Age
I first started covering Ziptronix and its hybrid bonding technology back in 2007 when I was writing Perspectives from the Leading Edge (PFTLE) for Semiconductor International (SI). I’d give you the references, but SI went belly up in 2010 and I learned my first lesson about the NON-archival nature of...
SemiSisters View all
SemiSister Success Story: A Woman on the Edge of 3D Technology
Severine Cheramy has devoted her career to developing 3D integration technologies and bringing them to market. She was the first person to show me what a TSV wafer looked like when I visited CEA-Leti’s cleanroom in 2009 during my Tour de France in 3D. At the time, she was a...
Diversity, Parity, Prosperity: Perspective of an Industry Veteran
“Don’t surround yourself with yourself …” Yes, from I’ve Seen All Good People. “At Japan’s Most Elite University, Just 1 in 5 Students Is a Woman.” The New York Times, 08 December 2019 “The semiconductor industry isn’t known as a standout example of diversity and inclusion. But that’s changing.” Jane...
As a Pioneer in EDA, Dr. Mary Jane Irwin Pays it Forward
Tomorrow evening (Nov. 7, 2019), Dr. Mary Jane Irwin will take the stage at a dinner being held in her honor, as she becomes the first woman to ever receive the 2019 Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to Electronic System Design. The award is presented annually by the Electronic...
The World Series 2019: The Technology of Baseball
I’m a huge baseball fan. And while my favorite team, the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t even make it into the playoffs, it doesn’t mean I’m not glued to my MLB app to keep track of the World Series. I LOVE IT! ALL OF IT! The plays, the jockeying for position, the...
Latest Posts
TechSearch Presentation Highlights Key Developments in Advanced Packaging
In a recent MEPTEC / iMAPS webinar, Jan Vardaman, President, and Founder of TechSearch International presented growth drivers for advanced packaging...
IFTLE 456: SPIL Fan-out Embedded Bridge (FOEB) Technology
in this week’s post, we continue our look at the 2020 IEEE ECTC virtual conference. Siliconware’s presentation “Scalable Chiplet Package...
3D ICs Tear Down the Dreaded Memory Wall and Save Power
About 50 years ago, I started my career as a system-level designer, focused on an interface card for the Siemens...
IFTLE 455: Advanced Microelectronics is Coming Home
In IFTLE 441, (published in February before we were paying attention to the pandemic and the devastation to the world...
SEMICON China – An Exhibitor Perspective
After the cancellation of SEMICON Korea in January, not many were surprised to learn that SEMICON China would not take...
SEMICON China 2020 at a Glance
SEMICON China 2020, collocated with FPD China, was successfully held June 27-29, 2020. SEMICON China was the first big semiconductor...
VLSI 2020: 3D Continues to Dominate Advanced Semiconductor Technology
As a process geek, The Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits has long been one of my favorite conferences. The...
FCC-approved BLE and LoRa module includes Antenna in Package
In engineering school, I learned that different laws of physics apply when the widely used electricity with 50/60 Hertz gets...
IFTLE 454: TSMC Exhibits Packaging Prowess at Virtual ECTC 2020
I cannot say I enjoyed this year’s COVID 19 version of ECTC 2020, but I guess it was better than...
Social Distancing Spotlight: How KLA Keeps Looking Ahead
Over the past few years, we’ve seen KLA evolving from its origins as a process control company focused on front-end...
3D InCites’ Mural Project Raised $4000 For IMAPS Foundation
If you’ve attended the IMAPS Device Packaging Conference over the past three years, you probably noticed a hand-drawn mural coming...
IFTLE 453: No, This Ain’t Your Father’s Microelectronic Packaging
In a recent IMAPS webinar, John Park (Figure 1), product management director of Cadence Design Systems, gave a tutorial entitled...
An EDA Perspective on Today’s Advanced Packaging
In my alliance management roles at electronic design automation (EDA) companies, I arranged many presentations to convey the benefits of...
3D System Integration – It Takes a Village
Actually, 3D System integration takes more than a village. It takes a global effort. As Virtual ECTC 2020 continues this...
Industry Outlook: What Goes Down Must Come Up
The GDP is down, the stock market is up, unemployment, at least in the USA, is confused, so what is...
IFTLE 452: Samsung Foundry SRAM on Logic 3DIC
Samsung Foundry SAINT-S Samsung Foundry revealed their SAINT-S technology for SRAM on logic 3DIC, at the recent IMAPS Device Packaging Conference,...
Semiconductor Backend Processes: Additional SEMI Standards Related to GEM
Background In a few previous blogs, I shared how the relatively new SEMI Advanced Backend Factory Integration (ABFI) task force...
ECTC 2020 Online is Accessible at No Charge
When I switched my focus from single-die SoCs to multi-die ICs, I had to learn a lot about IC packaging...
Social Distancing Spotlight: ERS Celebrates 50 Years of Thermal Solutions
50 years of providing specialized thermal solutions to the semiconductor industry is a significant accomplishment. It means your company is...