nanochip fab solutions
Summer 2017
A Letter from Ali Salehpour—Breaking The Cycle: The Golden Age of Chip Manufacturing Has Begun
Industries have cycles, too—and some of them are almost as familiar as natural ones. Over the last few decades, for example, semiconductor manufacturing has been largely driven by the computer industry, with predictable upturns to support new PC launches, and then equally predictable downturns later.
Cover Story: Big Data and Neural Networks
By David Lammers
As streams of data began multiplying over the past decade and the term “big data” became common, concerns mounted about how such large amounts of raw data could be turned into useful information.
New FabVantage Service Improves Equipment Performance
By Roman Mostovoy, PhD
As devices become smaller and more densely packed, and the complexity of integrated circuits grows, defect reduction becomes more challenging while remaining critical to chipmakers’ competitiveness.
Wireless Everywhere: Connecting the Chip Industry's New Golden Age
The wireless landscape is becoming far more sophisticated as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and mesh networks such as Zigbee and Thread take hold. When Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Lucio Lanza was asked what the Next Big Thing is likely to be for the semiconductor industry, he gave exactly the right answer: "connectivity."
X-Fab Rides IPO to New Growth
With a successful initial public offering (IPO) now behind it, X-FAB Silicon Foundries is readying a capacity expansion drive for increased MEMS and analog/mixed-signal IC production across the six fabs it operates.
Smartphones Evolve to Meet the Demands of Virtual Reality
By Kerry Cunningham
When you put on a virtual reality (VR) headset you are transported to another world, a place where reality is just a whim of the imagination. What’s far from imaginary, though, is the impact VR is having on all of us, whether we personally use VR headsets or not.
Higher Productivity for Applied VIISta? Ion Implanters
By: Daniel Simon
Ion implant tools are essential for semiconductor manufacturing because dopants such as arsenic, boron and phosphorous must be implanted into silicon to fabricate transistor structures such as gates and wells.
What's New in MEMS?
By Mike Rosa, PhD.
While the MEMS market has matured in recent years, there’s still a lot of healthy growth ahead as new device technologies come to market and segment stalwarts (IMUs, RF MEMS, etc.) see device volumes rise with further adoption in end-user applications.
The Last Word
By David Lammers