Semiconductors

With all the new fabs being built in Germany and Japan, as well as the expansion of production capacity in China, TSMC is planning to extend its production capacity for specialty technologies by 50% by 2027. As disclosed by the company during its European Technology Symposium this week, TSMC expects to need to not only convert existing capacity to meet demands for specialty processes, but even build new (greenfield) fab space just for this purpose. One of the big drivers for this demand, in turn, will be TSMC's next specialty node: N4e, a 4nm-class ultra-low-power production node. "In the past, we always did the review phase [for upcoming fabs], but for the first time in a long time at TSMC, we started building greenfield fab...

TSMC to Spend $100B on Fabs and R&D Over Next Three Years: 2nm, Arizona Fab & More

TSMC this week has announced plans to spend $100 billion on new production facilities as well as R&D over the next three years. The world's largest contract maker of...

45 by Anton Shilov on 4/2/2021

EUV Pellicles Ready For Fabs, Expected to Boost Chip Yields and Sizes

Foundries started limited usage of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) of chips in 2019. At the time, ASML's Twinscan NXE scanners were good enough for production...

35 by Anton Shilov on 3/31/2021

SMIC to Build a New 28nm Fab in Shenzhen: Production to Start in 2022

As further evidence that the ongoing chip crunch is hitting every level of the chip manufacturing chain, Chinese chipmaker SMIC has announced plans to build a new 28nm manufacturing...

12 by Anton Shilov on 3/20/2021

AI Meets Chipmaking: Applied Materials Incorporates AI In Wafer Inspection Process

Advanced system-on-chip designs are extremely complex in terms of transistor count and are hard to build using the latest fabrication processes. In a bid to make production of next-generation...

11 by Anton Shilov on 3/19/2021

GlobalFoundries to Invest $1.4B in Expansion, Potential Earlier IPO

GlobalFoundries this week reiterated plans to invest $1.4 billion this year in expansion of its manufacturing capacities across the world. Around one third of the sum will be co-invested...

21 by Anton Shilov on 3/4/2021

Report: Semi Demand 30% Above Supply, 20% Year-on-Year Growth

Semiconductor foundry offerings are thriving due to unprecedented demand for semiconductors and processors in recent quarters. Analysts from TrendForce believe that in Q1 2021 foundries will increase their revenue...

31 by Anton Shilov on 2/25/2021

TSMC Details 3nm Process Technology: Full Node Scaling for 2H22 Volume Production

At TSMC’s annual Technology Symposium, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer detailed characteristics of its future 3nm process node as well as laying out a roadmap for 5nm successors in the...

58 by Andrei Frumusanu on 8/24/2020

Marvell Unveils its Comprehensive Custom ASIC Offering

Last week Marvell had updated us with an overview of the company’s new more extensive and comprehensive custom ASIC offerings, detailing the company’s design abilities gained through the company's...

6 by Andrei Frumusanu on 7/27/2020

Altair Semiconductor Renames to Sony Semiconductor Israel

Today, after more than four years of being acquired by Sony, Altair Semiconductor is renaming itself as Sony Semiconductor Israel. The IoT focused company over the last few years...

4 by Andrei Frumusanu on 7/21/2020

Analog Devices To Buy Maxim Integrated

Today Analog Devices has announced that it will be acquiring Maxim Integrated in a transaction estimated at $21bn. The combined company value is said to end up being valued...

17 by Andrei Frumusanu on 7/13/2020

TSMC To Build 5nm Fab In Arizona, Set To Come Online In 2024

In a big shift to their manufacturing operations – and a big political win domestically – TSMC has announced that the company will be building a new, high-end fab...

100 by Ryan Smith on 5/15/2020

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 3/25/2020

SMIC 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 3/23/2020

GlobalFoundries & 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 3/13/2020

TSMC & 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 3/4/2020

A 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 2/27/2020

GlobalFoundries' 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 2/27/2020

Samsung 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 2/20/2020

ASML 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 1/23/2020

TSMC 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 1/22/2020

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