Semiconductor International Blogs
ESI acquires XSil IP and Assets
Other information sources / blogs may be satisfied giving you headlines and write-ups right off the newswire, but at PFTLE we seek to give you a lot more. So when we saw the outcome of the XSil bankruptcy a few weeks ago, we held off presenting it to you till we could speak directly to ESI and get a better idea of what their plans are. Long time readers know that PFTLE has been followi ... More
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Leading-edge microelectronics activity and real-world insight by Philip Garrou
Scatterometry on Steroids
It‘s always pleasant to report on ways that our industry often manages to pour old wine into new technology bottles. In this case, I am referring to a product-driven materials characterization package that could very well revolutionize one of the most critical elements of optical CD measurement. Several optical CD technologies need material optical properties (spectral n&k) to interpret ... More
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Alexander E. Braun focuses on current metrology issues and developments in the rapidly advancing fields of inspection, measurement and test, and evaluates their relevance and impact on the global semiconductor industry. Occasionally, he will growl, grumble and comment on other matters and subjects that may innocently and foolishly meander too close to his gunsights.
Sandisk Uses Nine-Chip Stack in Latest microSD Card
Our Inside Angle is supposed to feature some of the remarkable things that we see in tearing down the world’s latest high-tech products, not just chip internals, so I thought that I would switch gears a bit, to some impressive packaging we have seen recently. Sandisk announced back in the beginning of last year that they were assembling nine-dice stacks in their Shanghai plant, for 8-GB mic ... More
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Images are the star of this show, a new blog edited by Dick James, senior technology analyst and blogger-in-chief at Chipworks Inc. (Ottawa, Canada). These entries will sometimes deliver more in-depth analysis on major industry milestones, but the main focus is about high-magnification microscopy of the latest and greatest technology, reverse-engineered in Chipworks’ labs.
Peering into Nanocrystal NAND
Freescale Semiconductor’s assertion that nanocrystal (NC) NOR flash will go into manufacturing next year raises the question: Can nanocrystals be employed to extend NAND flash scaling? NAND is a much bigger market than NOR now, and its potential is nearly as limitless as the data we store. However, NAND faces the same scaling and reliability challenges that NOR faces. As the polysili ... More
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David Lammers looks at the stories behind the news shaping the semiconductor industry, including analysis, personality profiles, and quirky happenings.
Dow/Rohm & Haas Come to Peaceful Settlement
Over sixty lawyers gathered in a packed courtroom in Delaware this morning to watch a drama that ended up taking place behind closed doors. Dow Chemical and Rohm & Haas successfully reached an agreement out-of-court today regarding the $15 B acquisition of Rohm & Haas by Dow that was initiated back in July of last year when economic conditions were much rosier than they are today. This blo ... More
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Float-zone wafers are used in applications where the absence of oxygen impurities is necessary for good device performance, as is the case with high-efficiency solar cells or RF/wireless communications chips. In this blog “zone,” a variety of concepts will be floated for consideration to our readers in the blogosphere, inviting a discussion on any number of business and technology topics in device manufacturing.
Lithography for 22 nm Canceled
…The panel discussion, that is. Maybe it’s my warped sense of humor, but when the Tuesday night panel of lithography for 22 nm was canceled, the sign indicating as such struck me as funny. So much of the conversation at SPIE Advanced Lithography last week was focused on how difficult it was going to be to get to the 22 nm node, given that EUV lithography will no longer be the ... More
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Aaron Hand brings analysis and insight into the world of semiconductor lithography, looking at the stories behind the developments that shape this industry.
SEMICON West '08: The Days of Wine and Solar
I’m on a train from Madrid to Valencia, Spain, where I will attend the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition this week. As I look out over the rolling hills, I’m reminded of another solar event on the beautiful land surrounding San Francisco. As a pleasant final cap to a grueling SEMICON West/Intersolar North America week in mid-July, I joined Advanced E ... More
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Editors of Semiconductor International provide insight on Semicon West, including events, exhibitors and attendees
