Employee Engagement is Key to ESG Success
Sep 21, 2022 · By Dean Freeman · 3D In Context, Blogs
3D In Context View all
Back To Work: How Will the CHIPS and Science Act Impact the Semiconductor Industry?
THE CHIPS and Science Act passed to great industry enthusiasm last month. Françoise wrote about the CEO Summit and some of the CEO’s thoughts on that celebratory day. But as I poorly paraphrase Aart De Geus, “Today we celebrate the success of this event (CHIPS) as co-collaborators, tomorrow it’s back...
SEMI Supports Sustainability Startup Initiative
Sustainability has become one of the key focus points for the semiconductor industry. When the big customers/users of chips – Apple, Google, AWS, META, and Microsoft – started to look at how to manage scope 3 emissions, they mandated semiconductor companies to work to meet net zero by 2040 or...
Will Easing the Chip Shortage Impact New 200mm Fabs?
Another highlight of SEMICON West centered around 200mm fabs. The 200mm industry has thrived on used equipment. As 200mm memory fabs closed, a significant amount of that equipment made its way to existing or emerging logic lines. Most of these lines process chips that have linewidths, or technology nodes at...
Simply Gobsmacked, The CHIPs Act Passes
It has been a tumultuous month. At the start of July, the CHIPS Act appeared to be going into a summer recess. Pat Gelsinger was playing high-stakes poker with congress, and the chip and wafer fab equipment industry was still extremely optimistic going into SEMICON West. As we exit July...
Francoise in 3D View all
3D InCites Members Attend Signing of the CHIPS and Science Act
On Tuesday, August 9th, President Biden sat down at a table on the White House Lawn for the highly anticipated signing of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. With the stroke of his pen, President Biden released public investments including 52.7 billion appropriations for semiconductor incentives; a new 25%...
What does the Passing of the CHIPS and Science Act Mean for Advanced Packaging?
I usually leave this sort of commentary to Phil Garrou and Dean Freeman. But after a year of debate and revisions, the CHIPS and Science Act (Formerly the CHIPS Act), has made it to President Biden’s desk, and who knows, by the time you read this, he may have signed...
SEMICON West 2022: Keynotes and Conversations
Is it over already? SEMICON West 2022 flew by, true to form. My week was filled with keynotes and conversations with many movers and shakers in the semiconductor industry and beyond. Here are my initial observations and takeaways, with lots more to come in our upcoming podcast episodes. It’s a...
The Importance of Building Trusted and Secure Microelectronics: A Conversation with Tom Smelker
In a recent podcast episode, I interviewed Tom Smelker, of Mercury Microsystems, about the company’s role in providing safe and secure advanced packaging technologies for the UD DoD, as part of the SHIP program. SHIP stands for State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging. The company just opened a new facility in Phoenix...
From Different Dimensions View all
Workforce Development Considerations in the Megachips Era
A recent Wall Street Journal article, The Microchip Era Is Giving Way to the Megachip Age, explains how the chip industry is transitioning from monolithically integrated chips to stacking chiplets to make megachips. In the U.S., DARPA is embarking on the Next Generation Microelectronic Manufacturing initiative focused on three-dimensional heterogeneous...
Chiplets and Sustainability
Advances in packaging can improve yield and reduce cost. Can they also reduce the environmental footprint of an electronic device? Let’s consider one example, the chiplet. Instead of large-monolithic CPUs with multiple functions integrated into one piece of silicon, the functions are divided between multiple smaller chiplets mounted on an...
The Road Towards Climate Neutrality from the Perspective of a German SME
This year in Germany, we experienced a record-setting summer, and not in a good way. Unprecedented heatwaves were recorded, and droughts are hitting several parts of the world, creating further instability in an economy still recovering from a pandemic. These and other climate-related disruptions emphasize the urgent need to address...
R&D and Smart Technology Leading the Way in China
Despite China reacting to the United States CHIPS and Science Act, the country continues to move forward with R&D and smart technology projects launched in August, continuing to be focused on R&D and new energy. The 10GW photovoltaic n-type cell production project based in the Economic and Technological Development Zone...
Packaging IFTLE View all
IFTLE 533: Fan-out, Chips-Last High-Density Packaging at Unimicron
Every now and then you run across a paper or presentation, and you say to yourself, “This clearly explains this or that technology…this is an important paper”. When I do that, I try to share them with you on IFTLE. In this case, I’m talking about the paper “2.3D Hybrid...
IFTLE 532: Fraunhofer IZM Examines Panel Level Processing Technology Limits
Continuing our look at presentations at the 2022 ECTC, who better to examine the question “Panel Level Packaging – Where are the Technology Limits?” than Tanja Braun and the group at IZM Fraunhofer who have become experts in this processing area over the last several years? Although they do not...
IFTLE 531: CHIPS and Science Act; TSMC Phoenix; Details on Apple M1
CHIPS and Science Act The CHIPS and Science Act will provide $54.2B in funding for the semiconductor and wireless industry, including $52 billion in grants and incentives specifically for the American semiconductor industry. In addition, a 25% investment tax credit for the manufacture of semiconductors and tools to create semiconductors...
IFTLE 530: Do Chiplets Increase Security Risks? Sony and Samsung Battle for Leadership in CIS
For those of you that haven’t seen it yet, a recent July 7th post by Ed Sperling is must read for anyone interested in the migration to chiplets. “Security Risks Widen with Commercial Chiplets”. He pulls together a number of inciteful comments from industry security experts on the impact of...
SemiSisters View all
Is Diversity and Inclusion the Secret to Your Company’s Success?
Until recently, many companies considered diversity a “nice to have.” Companies supported diversity and inclusion because they wanted to be good citizens because it was the right thing to do, and – for some, cynically – because it was good PR. But now research is proving the business case for...
Smartphone Addiction is Not a Gender-Specific Problem
An open letter to David Benjamin, EE Times Dear David, You really don’t get it. Why? Why, when more women are joining the microelectronics industry in technical and non-technical roles, would you resort to female stereotypes from the 1950s as a vehicle to discuss such an important topic as global...
2021 3D InCites DEI Fundraiser a Success; Thank You Sponsors
We took our annual mural project online this year! Illustrator Ronna Encarnacion created this original watercolor to reflect the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in creating sustainability. Proceeds from the project will be used to seed the 3D InCites DEI Fund to support technology businesses owned by women and...
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...
Latest Posts
How to Achieve Advanced IC Packaging Verification and Signoff
To satisfy industry demand for continued increases in electronic functions per unit area, foundries and outsourced assembly and test (OSAT)...
IFTLE 529: More Hybrid Bonding from ECTC 2022
Continuing our look at key Hybrid Bonding (HB) papers at the recent ECTC 2022 in San Diego, CA. Applied Materials...
What You May Have Missed In The CHIPS and Science Act
We’ve had several clients in both the semiconductor and sustainability spaces this week giving a variety of opinions on how...
Sustainability at SEMICON West: Design, Processing, and Collaboration
It is encouraging that SEMI is paying more attention to environmental issues. As Dean Freeman reported, SEMICON West devoted an entire...
The Kiterocket Lounge Was the Place to Be at SEMICON West 2022
From July 12-14, 2022, SEMICON West was back in full swing after the COVID years, and while I’m not certain...
IFTLE 528: 72nd IEEE ECTC: A Showcase for Hybrid Bonding
The 72nd IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) took place at the end of May in San Diego CA....
China’s Semiconductor Technology Is More Advanced Than Expected
After reading updates on numerous projects being launched in China, it comes as no surprise that according to Canadian tech...
How AI & Machine Learning Are Reshaping the Way Transit Systems Move Traffic Patterns
Of the many ways artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are poised to improve modern life, the promise of impacting...
Takeaways from the SEMICON West Sustainability Summit
One of my go-to statements when it comes to sustainability comes from a famous frog, “It’s not easy being green”....
IFTLE 527: 2nm Chips Scheduled for 2025; Advanced Packaging Becoming More Powerful Industry Segment
TSMC 2nm Chips Coming in 2025 At its recent North America Technology Symposium TSMC announced that it will begin volume...
IFTLE 526: NIST Funds SEMI/UCLA CHIPS HIR Roadmap; China Dumps US Computers
Another Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap The UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (UCLA CHIPS) and SEMI have announced that they have been awarded...
Semiconductor Growth: Is the Future Too Bright?
SEMICON West 2022 coming up next week will kick-off, at least for the time being, the back to post-COVID normal...
Sustainability 101: Cleaner and Greener Cleaning
Household hazardous waste includes quite a few products that are related to cleaning. In the list that I compiled for...
SEMI Market Intelligence Team Discusses Semiconductor Equipment Outlook
The SEMI Market Intelligence Team (MIT) recently recorded the first podcast in a new series with 3D InCites that will...
Why Chiplets aren’t your Grandparents MCMs and Other Takeaways from IMAPS Advanced SiP 2022
As I listened to keynote speakers and panelists at the recent 2022 IMAPS Advanced SiP Conference talk about the commercialization...
IFTLE 525: Activity at ASE, Amkor, Yole Développement and Adeia (Xperi)
Let’s continue our look at the key presentations at IMAPS DPC 2022 from ASE, Amkor, Yole Développement and Adeia. ASE...
China’s Semiconductor Industry Experiences Continued Growth
China’s semiconductor industry shows no signs of slowing down. China has a steady stream of projects signed and initiated in...
IFTLE 524: IMAPS Examines the Dept. of Defense SHIP Program
As part of the 2022 IMAPS Device Packaging Conference, the IMAPS Global Business Council (GBC) devoted its 2022 session to...
What’s Happening in the World of Sustainability
The last month has been an interesting time in the world of sustainability. First, the SEC released its estimates on...