Semiconductors
When Micron announced plans to build two new fabs in the U.S. in 2022, the company vaguely said both would come online by the decade's end. Then, in 2023, it began to optimize its spending, which pushed production at these fabrication facilities. This week, the company outlined more precise timeframes for when its fabs in Idaho and New York will start operations: this will happen from calendar 2026 to calendar 2029. "These fab construction investments are necessary to support supply growth for the latter half of this decade," a statement by Micron in its Q3 FY2024 financial results report reads. "This Idaho fab will not contribute to meaningful bit supply until fiscal 2027 and the New York construction capex is not expected to contribute to...
Samsung to Produce DDR5 in 2021 (with EUV)
Samsung is on track to start volume production of DDR5 and LPDDR5 memory next year using a manufacturing technology that will take advantage of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). In...
20 by Anton Shilov on 3/25/2020SMIC Details Its N+1 Process Technology: 7nm Performance in China
SMIC first started volume production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET fabrication process in Q4 2019. Since then, the company has been hard at work developing its next...
20 by Anton Shilov on 3/23/2020GlobalFoundries & Everspin Extend MRAM Pact to 12nm
GlobalFoundries and Everspin have announced that the two have extended their Spin-transfer Torque (STT-MRAM) joint development agreement (JDA) to 12LP (12 nm FinFET) platform. The extension will enable GlobalFoundries...
4 by Anton Shilov on 3/13/2020TSMC & Broadcom Develop 1,700 mm2 CoWoS Interposer: 2X Larger Than Reticles
With transistor shrinks slowing and demand for HPC gear growing, as of late there has been an increased interest in chip solutions larger than the reticle size of a...
18 by Anton Shilov on 3/4/2020A Big Bet on SOI: GlobalFoundries Preps Another Supply Agreement for 300mm SOI Wafers
Having dropped out of the race for leading-edge manufacturing technologies in order to focus on specialty fabrication processes, GlobalFoundries has pinned some big hopes in manufacturing RF-SOI chips for...
26 by Anton Shilov on 2/27/2020GlobalFoundries' 22FDX with MRAM is Ready
GlobalFoundries on Thursday said that it had completed development of its 22FDX (22 nm FD-SOI) technology with embedded magnetoresistive non-volatile memory (eMRAM). The technology can be used for a...
7 by Anton Shilov on 2/27/2020Samsung Starts Mass Production at V1: A Dedicated EUV Fab for 7nm, 6nm, 5nm, 4nm, 3nm Nodes
Samsung Foundry has started mass production of chips using its 6LPP and 7LPP manufacturing processes at its new V1 fab. The new facility employs one of the industry’s first...
30 by Anton Shilov on 2/20/2020ASML Ramps Up EUV Scanners Production: 35 in 2020, Up to 50 in 2021
ASML shipped 26 extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) step-and-scan systems to its customers last year, and the company plans to increase shipments to around 35 in 2020. And the ramp-up...
22 by Anton Shilov on 1/23/2020TSMC Boosts CapEx by $1 Billion, Expects N5 Node to Be Major Success
TSMC is on track to begin high-volume production of chips using its 5 nm technology in the coming months, the company said in its conference call last week. While...
40 by Anton Shilov on 1/22/2020Samsung’s Fab in Hwaseong Suffers Power Outage
Samsung had to stop production of DRAM and V-NAND memory at its fab near Hwaseong, South Korea, due to power outage earlier this week. Damage caused by disruption of...
48 by Anton Shilov on 1/2/2020Japan Partly Removes Restrictions on Photoresists Exports to South Korea
Marking a thawing of relations between the Japanese and South Korean governments, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has partially removed export restrictions on photoresists to...
16 by Anton Shilov on 12/23/2019Intel Hires Fab Veteran, Former GlobalFoundries CTO Dr. Gary Patton
Intel has hired Dr. Gary Patton, the former CTO at GlobalFoundries and an ex-head of IBM Microelectronics business. Dr Patton was leading Global Foundries leading edge processes before that...
21 by Anton Shilov on 12/11/2019Panasonic to Sell Semiconductor Business to Nuvoton
Panasonic has announced plans to almost completely withdraw from semiconductor business and sell all of its related assets to Taiwan-based Nuvoton Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Winbond Electronics...
6 by Anton Shilov on 11/29/2019SMIC Begins Volume Production of 14 nm FinFET Chips: China’s First FinFET Line
SMIC has started volume production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology. The largest contract maker of semiconductors in China is the first company in the country...
15 by Anton Shilov on 11/14/2019GlobalFoundries and SiFive to Design HBM2E Implementation on 12LP/12LP+
GlobalFoundries and SiFive announced on Tuesday that they will be co-developing an implementation of HBM2E memory for GloFo's 12LP and 12LP+ FinFET process technologies. The IP package will enable...
13 by Anton Shilov on 11/5/2019Sony to Build New Fab to Boost CMOS Sensor Output
Sony this week has revealed that the company will be building a new semiconductor fab to boost output of its CMOS sensors, as part of a broader effort to...
16 by Anton Shilov on 11/1/2019GlobalFoundries and TSMC Sign Broad Cross-Licensing Agreement, Dismiss Lawsuits
GlobalFoundries and TSMC have announced this afternoon that they have signed a broad cross-licensing agreement, ending all of their ongoing legal disputes. Under the terms of the deal, the...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/28/2019Intel Files Antitrust Suit Against SoftBank-Controlled Firm Over Patent Aggregation
Intel this week filed an lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, a patent assertion entity controlled by SoftBank. Responding to a series of patent infringement lawsuits that Fortress has brought...
21 by Anton Shilov on 10/23/2019TSMC: 5nm on Track for Q2 2020 HVM, Will Ramp Faster Than 7nm
TSMC’s 5 nm (N5) manufacturing technology is projected to provide significant benefits when it comes to performance, power, and area scaling, which is why the contract maker of semiconductors...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/23/2019New Tools Simplify Development of 2.5D Multi-Die 7nm Designs at Samsung Foundry
Advanced packaging technologies simplify production and increase performance of highly-complex multi-die SoCs as the semiconductor industry is looking at chiplet approach as an alternative to large dies that take...
5 by Anton Shilov on 10/22/2019