By Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Manufacturing & Design sat down to discuss 3D device challenges and applications with John Lau, a fellow at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a research organization in Taiwan.

SMD: What is ITRI doing in 3D TSVs?
Lau: At ITRI we have developed the world’s first Applied Materials’ 300mm (3D TSV) integration line. The line was completed two years ago. We developed the process from the very beginning to the end. We don’t have products. We are demonstrating the feasibility for 3D TSVs.

SMD: What else is ITRI doing in the arena?
Lau: We also have a consortium call Ad-STAC (Advanced Stacked-System and Application Consortium). We have more than 22 members. We just develop the necessary technologies for 3D integration. The members are UMC, SPIL, Applied Materials, Brewer, Rambus, Cisco and others. In addition to that, we have some 80 people working on EDA. For 3D, EDA is very critical.

SMD: Where is the industry at with 3D TSVs?
Lau: For me, it’s still very early. You still have to bring the OEMs into the mix. The OEMs may say: ‘Oh, I’m interested.’ Then, you still have to wait three to five years. There are two different kinds of OEMs. One is consumer. 3D TSVs are still too expensive for them. However, it could be a different story for high-end, next-generation servers, networking and test and measurement gear.

SMD: Where is a good starting place for 3D?
Lau: Take the Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium. Several months ago, the group announced they would open up the spec by the end of this year. But that’s only for high-end servers, test and measurement, and networking. It’s for very high performance and not for the consumer. They may adopt 3D. But the Hybrid Memory Cube for mobile products? Come on. Of course, we hope 3D can be for the consumer market. In consumer, there are larger volumes.

SMD: What is the biggest challenge for 3D?
Lau: Cost. The consumer market is cost-driven. For the iPhone 5, the semiconductor bill of materials is less than $30. The ASICs and memory are less than $30. Now take Xilinx’s 2.5D FPGA. The CTO from Xilinx recently gave a keynote at Semicon West. His conclusion was that they need to reduce the cost. A 2.5D FPGA is still costly.

SMD: What are the manufacturing challenges?
Lau: Just to make the TSV is no more than 5% of the cost. But if you look at the other steps, you have temporary bonding, back grinding, and others. The biggest issue is thin wafer handling and temporary bonding/debonding. And then you need to debug it.

SMD: Who should make the TSVs? The OSATs or the foundries?
Lau: Xilinx is using 65nm technology for their 2.5D FPGAs. OSATs like ASE don’t have 65nm technology. If they did, they would become another foundry. The OSATs should not make the TSVs. I still say a dummy piece of silicon like an interposer, where the line widths are 3 microns and above, the OSATs can do that. Last year, Amkor said that they are not going to invest a penny to make TSVs. That’s the right direction.

SMD: Why is Wide I/O memory generating so much interest?
Lau: Memory bandwidth. Bandwidth is defined as the amount of data transferred per second. Typical dynamic random access memory has 4-, 8-, 16-, or 32-bit data width to communicate with CPU/logic/SoC and/or the outside world. These are called ×4-, ×8-, ×16-, or ×32-bit I/O. Wide I/O is defined as ×512-bit I/O or 512-bit data width or greater.

SMD: So memory bandwidth is the name of the game?
Lau: The memory bandwidth is proportional to memory I/O data width. For instance, the DDR3–1600 chip has a speed rating of 1600 Mb/s per I/O. If this DDR3-1600 chip has ×32-bit I/O data width, the chip would have a total memory bandwidth of 32 × 1600 = 51,200 Mb/s or 51.2-Gb/s. The larger the data width, the larger the memory bandwidth.

SMD: So where’s the bottleneck?
Lau: The data width is limited by IC packaging technology. With TSV technology, which provides very small via size (5- to 10-μm sizes are common) and pitch (20- to 40-μm pitches are common), a much wider I/O data path, such as 512-bit data width, is more than possible. On the other hand, wire-bonding technology has pad sizes and pitches that are many times larger than those of TSV. In order to achieve a 512-bit data width, the chip size, and thus the cost, has to be increased substantially. This is why TSV is so attractive for memory bandwidth. Let’s say that if we have TSVs run through a 4-DRAM stack with a ×512-bit data path, we could have the same DDR3-1600 chip with a total memory bandwidth of 102.4-GB/s. Of course, this DRAM stack has to interconnect to the logic/SoC in order to get this bandwidth.

28nm Super Low Power is the low power CMOS offering delivered on a bulk silicon substrate for mobile consumer and digital consumer applications. The 28nm process technology is slated to become the foundation for a new generation of portable electronics that are capable of handling streaming video, data, voice, social networking and mobile commerce applications.

To view this white paper, click here.

By Mark LaPedus
Apple, the world’s largest chip buyer, this year is expected to procure nearly $28 billion worth of semiconductors, up 15% from $24 billion in 2011, according to iSuppli. Apple is set to expand its lead in global chip purchasing in 2013, with growth of 12.3%.

Apple posted mixed results. “Our most recent checks confirm a lull in Apple’s iPhone production in 2Q12, down roughly 22% sequentially toward 29 million units,” said Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR. “Checks suggest Apple securing monthly iPhone 5 production capacity of 18 million to 20 million units, well ahead of Street sales estimates.”

Apple has also acquired fingerprint security company AuthenTec for $356 million.

SEMI reported that more than 60% of semiconductor equipment and materials companies say IP challenges have had an adverse impact on their companies.

GlobalFoundries is moving forward with the final construction for the extension of Module 1 at its Fab 8 campus in New York.

Rambus and GlobalFoundries disclosed the results from their collaboration on two separate memory architecture-based silicon test chips at 28nm.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) and ARM announced a multi-year agreement extending their collaboration beyond 20nm to deliver ARM processors on finFET transistors.

Rohm has taken a step in the foundry business. Under an agreement, the Japanese company will manufacture FRAMs for Ramtron.

Korean foundry vendor Dongbu HiTek has been certified to implement high-reliability ICs per the MIL-PRF-38535 standard.

Toshiba will cut production by 30% within its NAND flash memory fab in Japan amid a downturn in the sector.

Micron Technology’s recent purchase of bankrupt Japanese entity Elpida is a risk, according to iSuppli.

IC Insights forecasts the automotive IC market will grow 8% to $19.6 billion in 2012, up from $18.2 billion in 2011.

Samsung maintained its LCD TV leadership amid dismal market conditions.

Synopsys has completed the acquisition of Ciranova, a privately held electronic design automation (EDA) company.

28nm Super Low Power (28nm-SLP) is the low power CMOS offering delivered on a bulk silicon substrate for mobile consumer and digital consumer applications. This technology has four Vt’s (high, regular, low and super low) for design flexibility with multi-channel length capability and offers the ultimate in small die size and low cost. Multiple SRAM bit cells for high density and high-performance are available. With the simpler process integration of a “Gate-First” HKMG scheme, 28nm-SLPalso offers the use of an eFuse, which is known to be more competitive and superior than a BEOL copper fuse solution.

To read more, click here.

By Mark LaPedus, SemiMD senior editor

The shakeout in the next-generation memory market continues.

In one example, Rambus Inc. Monday (Feb. 6) acquired privately-held Unity Semiconductor, a memory technology company, for an aggregate of $35 million in cash. As part of this acquisition, the Unity team members have joined Rambus to continue developing innovations and solutions for next-generation non-volatile memory.

Seeking to replace NAND, Unity is developing a so-called CMOx Cross-point Memory, a vertical, four-layer memory array and peripheral control logic device. The memory effect of CMOx is created by moving oxygen ions between two metal oxides under an electric field. Last year, Unity entered into a joint development agreement with Micron to develop CMOx-based chips within Micron’s fabs. Micron is an investor in Unity. The company reportedly hopes to roll out is first devices in 2014.

In another example, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. recently acquired another next-generation memory startup – Grandis, a developer of spin-torque MRAM technology.

Going forward, some speculate that the big memory houses will end up gobbling up more of the smaller players for good reason. In general, most next-generation memory types have failed to live up to their promises. Most technologies are still not in production despite years of R&D. They are expensive to make and difficult to scale. Vendors also have no clue when they will ship their product in volumes.

Bob Merritt, an analyst with Convergent Semiconductors, a research firm, said: “I don’t think it will be a ‘shake out’ in the traditional sense of the demise of some of the programs as much as it will be a ‘shakeup,’ whereby the startups are acquired and inserted into programs that can provide deeper investment pockets and easier access to leading edge fabs.

Merritt added: “One could point to Micron/Numonyx as well as Samsung/Grandis.  It is also useful to look at Crocus/RusNano as a new kind of state-supported capitalism.  I would not be surprised to see some kind of Chinese-backed venture that would include one of the new and emerging memory technologies.”

Several years ago,  Micron Technology Inc. acquired Numonyx, a supplier of NOR flash chips and phase-change memory products.  In May, Crocus Technology, a developer of MRAM technology, and Rusnano, an investment fund in Russia, announced that they closed an agreement to create an MRAM manufacturing company, with a combined investment totaling $300 million.

Crocus and Rusnano formed Crocus Nano Electronics (CNE), to build an advanced MRAM facility in Russia, capable of manufacturing medium to high density MRAM products based on Crocus’ Thermally Assisted Switching (TAS) MRAM technology at 90nm and 65nm. Approximately $125 million will be invested in the first year for setting up CNE’s MRAM facility in Russia.

In October, Crocus formed a development agreement and a patent license agreement with IBM. Under the technology agreement, Crocus and IBM will jointly develop semiconductor technology that combines Crocus and IBM’s MRAM technology.

At the Global Technology Conference (GTC 2011), GlobalFoundries announced the winners of its “Leading in Innovation” awards, presented to customers who have demonstrated innovative solutions on products ranging from 0.35um non-volatile memories to 28nm smartphone processors.

The 2011 “Leading in Innovation” award winners are:

• Innovative Mobile Solutions
  • Broadcom Corporation, for its mobile connectivity combo chips, currently manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 65nm low power technology.
  • Inside Secure, for its MicroRead near-field communication (NFC) solution, manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 0.35um-EEPROM technology, and planned for production on 0.13um-EEPROM.
  • Rambus, for its high-speed low-power next-generation memory technologies developed on GlobalFoundries’ 28nm-SLP technology.
  • STMicroelectronics, for its technology development used in ST-Ericsson’s Nova A9600 smartphone application processor, planned for production on GlobalFoundries’ 28nm-SLP technology.
• Emerging Hot Startup
  • Lightwire, for its LWS1040-LC 10G optical transceiver module, containing a CMOS photonics circuit manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 130nm-RF technology, and 10G driver and receiver, manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 65nm process.

For more details about GTC 2011, please visit: http://www.globalfoundries.com/gtc2011/.