Semiconductor Fabrication News

June 14th, 2006 - Volume 1 Issue 4

Researchers in the semiconductor industry have been trying to apply nanotechnology to memory devices for years. Ferromagnetic materials such as barium titanate exhibit polarization characteristics like their magnetic counterparts, so they can be used to store data. But their bipolar properties have always dissipated at nanometer scale. Until now. Researchers at Harvard and Drexel Universities and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a little water condensation stabilizes the materials, which permits manufacturing devices that hold 10 million times the storage of current solutions. This item from New Scientist describes the discovery.

Synergetix® is a leading designer of custom high reliability connectors. Synergetix® designs utilize spring probe technology of IDI, its sister company, which is recognized as the leader in spring probe innovation. Spring probes provide excellent electrical performance characteristics and design versatility for applications ranging from the simplest to the most challenging.

As a long recognized pioneer in microwave and radio frequency technology, M/A-COM draws upon its vertically integrated device manufacturing capabilities to advance its expertise in substrate manufacturing. M/A-COM offers 3 in., 100 mm, and 150 mm GaAs substrates as well as InP substrates that exceed the ever increasing demands for high performance.

Bullen Ultrasonics machines hard, brittle material like silicon, quartz, silicon carbide, glass, and ceramics using their non-thermal, non-chemical, non-electrical, and low-stress ultrasonic technology. When combined with abrasive slurry, ultrasonic machining allows the tool to create accurate cavities of virtually any shape in hard, brittle materials.
Learn more about Bullen Ultrasonics.

For over 20 years, PortaFab Corporation has been a leading manufacturer of modular cleanrooms. With three distinct lines of cleanroom wall systems, they can develop a cost-effective solution for any application. All of their wall systems interface with floors, ceilings, and mechanical components to provide an ultra-clean environment.

Semiconductor manufacturing can seem a daunting process to someone looking at it for the first time. Even experienced engineers have to understand the unique personality of working with silicon wafers, wire-bonding, packaging, testing, and the rest. This comprehensive resource from siliconfareast.com provides an overview of every step of the process from sand to customer. Each article contains links to related material, so visitors can follow their own particular interests.

For many years, semiconductor makers have wondered if anything will ever supplant conventional optical lithography. Ever-smaller circuit features have been taxing its capabilities.

This page points to a series of articles that explores two apparent successors to the optical technique — 193 nm immersion lithography and EUV lithography. The articles are written by scientists and engineers from Intel, Nikon, Canon, and other companies at the forefront of the trend.

Ensuring that a device will work can involve structural or functional verification — or both. As devices become more complex, the success of functional verification declines rapidly. Companies increasingly turn to inspection as a viable alternative.

This article from Evaluation Engineering compares human and automated inspection and explains how to make the most of an automated process.

Getting your process under control — and keeping it there — requires measuring process and product parameters in real time. Gathering the data, however, represents only part of the challenge. The raw data cannot adequately provide process feedback, let alone support process changes and other decisions. Only analysis can turn the data into useful information. This article from the KLA-Tencor Web site explores in detail how to determine what data you need and how to evaluate it for effective decision-making.

ABLEFLEX® 6200 series printable films are designed for use in flex- or laminate-based packages. Ablestik Laboratories produces a line of printable films for chip scale packaging that combine the performance advantages of a film adhesive with the performance and total cost advantages of a paste adhesive.

The PIV (Pulse I-V) Package enables superior measurements and faster time-to-market for leading-edge researchers working with high-k materials, thermally sensitive devices, and advanced memory chips. It is the first commercially available solution to offer accurate and repeatable pulse and DC measurements in an easy-to-use, integrated package.

Read more about Keithley Instruments, Inc.

Maintaining quality in semiconductor manufacturing is as much about controlling environmental conditions as about any other aspect of the process. Dicing clean rooms set the standard. This article outlines the pitfalls inherent in a situation where even the tiniest contaminants can seriously compromise yields, describing how to keep yields and quality up — and consequently keep costs down.

Achieving in-line automation often means trying to make equipment from numerous vendors work together. No single vendor can provide all equipment or even the same equipment type for every application. This item from the Kulicke & Soffa Web site details an effort by several vendors to create a standard configuration to help manufacturers make the best equipment choices for their particular situations.

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As circuits get smaller and dielectrics of necessity get thinner, semiconductor manufacturers have to contend with unacceptable levels of gate leakage. High-k dielectrics would solve the problem, but they are both more expensive and more difficult to work with than conventional materials. Peter Singer of Semiconductor International describes a method discovered by researchers at the University of Kentucky (Lexington) that uses a rapid-thermal processing and anneal step to reduce leakage to more manageable levels.

So-called “radiation hardness” used to be a desirable characteristic primarily in military electronics. Today, however, communication satellites and other mainstream systems must withstand hostile radiation as well.

This article from microsemi.com describes radiation hardness as it applies to discrete semiconductors, explaining the meaning of device specifications and their relationship to real manufacturing situations.

U.S. Dynamics Corporation provides design and build, build-to-print, and upgrades for semiconductor equipment and automated systems. USD has designed and built multi-million dollar systems improving both productivity and system integrity. Systems include, but are not limited to: mask alignment, chip and substrate handling, ion etching, robotic transport systems, and disk polishing.

The multiSONIK™2 generator, featuring Blackstone~NEY Ultrasonics' patented dual sweep technology, can operate at frequencies of 40, 80, 120, 140, 170, 220, and 270 kHz according to a binary coded input. When it is teamed with Blackstone’s unique universal transducers, cleaning performance is optimized to a level that is unmatched using conventional ultrasonic cleaning hardware.

The end of every school year brings with it the challenge to working parents: Who will care for the children when they would otherwise be in school? Finding care is hard enough. Paying for it can cripple a family’s budget.

This piece from the San José Mercury News describes some important federal tax breaks that can help to alleviate the burden. It includes both what can be claimed and the kinds of care that are not eligible.

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The semiconductor industry has enjoyed healthy growth in the past few years. Market leader Intel saw sales grow by 14% in 2005, and other companies also did well. Maintaining such growth, however, requires attention to current products and customers as well as future products and customers. This article from Electronic Business presents advice from numerous business leaders on the most important considerations to keep your company’s prospects healthy.

The graphics of computer game environments have improved dramatically in recent years. Game scenarios look real. But until now, they didn’t feel real. Now a Silicon Valley startup named Ageia Technologies has developed a chip that makes game images obey the laws of physics. Objects will deform, splinter, shatter, and so on the way real objects do. This report from Red Orbit describes the development and what it means for serious gamers everywhere.

The underdog wins a round. Amid all the latest buzz over Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, an unlikely popular favorite emerged at the recent E3 Games Expo in Los Angeles. The Nintendo® Wii (pronounced “wee”) drew larger crowds than either of its rivals, despite the fact that Sony’s new system was making its first public appearance. People waited in line for hours to get a crack at the Wii. Although the Wii cannot compete on sheer processing power, Nintendo® has abandoned the traditional game controller in favor of a motion-sensitive alternative that looks more like a TV remote. This report comes from BBC News.

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