Ensights

Entegris Offers New FOUP Form-Factors for Non-Standard Wafers Over the last few years, 3D stacking has gone from a relatively niche fabrication method to an absolute necessity for cutting-edge applications. As chipmakers delve into smaller and smaller nodes, stacking and die-bonding wafers has become a preferred way of creating more processing power in a smaller space. Stacked and bonded wafers don’t behave the same way as 2D wafers: Wafers are thinned prior to bonding, which results in wafers that can sag when handled Bonded wafers are thicker and heavier than 2D wafers when assembled Bonded wafers can also warp following assembly Many automation tools rely on the predictable geometry and characteristics of 2D silicon wafers for safe handling and transport. While stacked and bonded wafers are a game-changer for miniaturization, they can also force manufacturing compromises unless chipmakers adopt specialized tools for the back end of the line (BEOL).

The use of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors offers a huge advantage for electric vehicles (EVs) due to lower switching losses and higher efficiencies, but cost has always been a drawback. SiC wafer manufacturing can suffer from high costs and lower yields, causing SiC semiconductors to cost up to eight times more than their silicon equivalents. This cost often gets passed on to the end customer, making EVs more expensive.

A “one size fits all” approach for chemical air filtration entails a productivity and safety risk in commercial environments reliant on pure air quality. Trying to use one type of chemical air filter for every scenario may provide protection, but without optimization the protection is both limited and temporary.

In recognition of Earth Day, SEMI’s Climate Equity & Social Impact Working Group (CESI) organized a series of lighting talks from member organizations to highlight their progress on sustainability. We heard from companies around the semiconductor industry, as well as Entegris engineer Paola Gonzalez. They shared a number of different strategies for mitigating climate impact. Here are some of the key takeaways.

Airborne molecular contamination (AMC) is common to every environment. These contaminants are not physical particles such as those found in airborne dust or pathogens. AMC is gas molecules that are part of and move with air. These molecules are the result of outgassing or emissions from virtually anything that can be found in a given setting, from humans and animals to equipment, materials and processes, as well as external AMC sources. Sensitivity to these gases varies widely in each environment.

Hydrogen composes about 75% by mass of the normal matter in the universe, existing as H2 gas under standard conditions. This abundance of supply creates opportunities in numerous applications, including semiconductor manufacturing, for which hydrogen is considered a bulk gas and is employed in many parts of the ecosystem.

Are you looking for a supply partner to help you scale cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing? Do you need a partner that can help you keep up with pre-existing capacity increases? These challenges may lead to some hard choices.

Last year, Semiconductor Digest assembled six panelists from the world's leading semiconductor and automotive manufacturers and suppliers - including Volkswagen, Texas Instruments, Robert Bosch, Hyperion, and KLA, and Entegris - and asked them about the state of automotive electronics. They discussed issues such as the shift to automotive quad computing, the emphasis on infotainment, and the rise of alternative vehicle technologies such as electrification and self-driving.

Growth is good; no one in the semiconductor industry would argue this point. And according to Gartner, there’s a lot of “good” on the horizon. Current forecasts call for semiconductor sales to more than double in this decade, going from $400 billion in 2020 to $1T by 2030. With growth, however, come growing pains. To reach the heights of $1T-plus in semiconductor sales, the industry must evolve by significantly increasing not only the amount of wafers and wafer starts annually but also the amount of investment in equipment and materials. Semiconductor materials consumption during the same decade is expected to double as well. This creates great opportunity for materials suppliers, but it also will mean taking a hard look at the materials supply chain – what are the challenges, and how can they be addressed?

The growth of the biomanufacturing industry has created a demand for new and high-performance fluid handling systems and technologies for the management and storage of cell and gene therapy intermediates and gene-based medicines. New modalities come with risks that don’t yet have good solutions.

Changing one material in the semiconductor manufacturing process has a cascading effect on multiple process steps. Consider the replacement of tungsten (W) and copper (Cu) with molybdenum (Mo). Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) are implementing Mo in advanced designs, focusing on 2-nanometer (nm) nodes and below. Mo is highly conductive, can be deposited without a titanium or titanium nitrid

Silicon carbide (SiC) has become popular with chipmakers. Its wide-bandgap structure offers many design benefits for the operations of power semiconductors. Compared to silicon, SiC wafers enable the fabrication of faster, more efficient devices that can both operate at higher temperatures and remain stable when deployed in extreme temperature environments. Processing SiC wafers using the same materials and methods as silicon wafers is not a viable option, however.