Category Archives: Semiconductor Technology

Developments in semiconductors

January 31, 2023
11:36 am
by: Walt

A New Year, New Opportunities

Semiconductors are always in the news as the drive for greater capabilities in ever decreasing package sizes.  With the announcement of 3nm node devices going into production, the challenges continue to increase.  TSMC has started a pilot production of 3nm … Continue reading →

Posted in Semiconductor Technology

November 30, 2022
2:10 pm
by: Walt

Chiplets – What are semiconductor chiplets and why needed

As there are more references to the development of semiconductor chiplets, it might be useful to consider what they are and why they are needed. As the size of the semiconductor features shrink, more and more transistors can be packed … Continue reading →

Posted in Semiconductor Technology

October 31, 2022
8:45 am
by: Walt

Where Wafer Scale Integration Came From

This is a story that starts in the early days of electronics.  As new concepts were developed for applications employing electricity, there was a need to develop a means of assembling components into completed electric circuits.  The “breadboard” was developed.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Semiconductor Technology

March 31, 2022
7:27 pm
by: Walt

Is there an end to transistor area density shrinkage?

Moore’s Law is quoted in many different forms.  Basically, area density is a primary focus.  If the difference between generations in a 30% reduction in dimensions, then the area for a transistor (70% by 70%) is reduced by almost 50% … Continue reading →

Posted in Semiconductor Technology

February 28, 2022
7:42 pm
by: Walt

Nanoscale and semiconductors

There has been more information in the press about the coming 3nm generation of semiconductors.  [Note: I am on the semiconductor roadmap Litho subcommittee. Only information in the public domain will be covered in any of these blogs.) As pointed … Continue reading →

Posted in Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

August 31, 2021
7:10 am
by: Walt

More on Semiconductors

Last month, this blog covered some of the challenges of continually shrinking semiconductor geometries and the related difficulties with traditional transistor designs.  This month’s blog explores transistor geometry.  In May 2021, IBM announced a 2nm nanosheet semiconductor technology. [Ref. 1]  … Continue reading →

Posted in Semiconductor Technology

April 30, 2021
1:22 pm
by: Walt

2D Materials are Making Progress

The recent past few months have seen a few published articles on 2D materials and their applications.  The pace is picking up. One of the challenges of 2D materials is that the materials need to be incorporated into some other … Continue reading →

Posted in Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

June 30, 2019
11:11 am
by: Walt

A coming disruption in technology? Part 2

The design of the semiconductor circuit components has been evolving as the feature size shrinks.  The semiconductor industry has been able to develop new designs as older techniques become restrictive due to various material properties.  This blog is a short … Continue reading →

Posted in Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

May 31, 2019
3:57 pm
by: Walt

A coming disruption in technology? Part 1

There have been many years since the 1998 announcement of carbon nanotube transistors.  The hope has been for the semiconductor industry to create a means of producing a carbon nanotube computer.  First, why is there a need to replace the … Continue reading →

Posted in Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

January 31, 2019
3:22 pm
by: Walt

Two-dimensional materials’ research opening new opportunities

There have been some interesting reports in the last year that indicate there is a growth in interest and a branching out in nanomaterials research.  In the pursuit of increasing the capability of better batteries, researchers are investigating many different … Continue reading →

Posted in Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology