Ensights

For decades, the semiconductor device manufacturing mantra was “How do we make them smaller, cheaper, and faster?” The pursuit of Moore’s Law – the doubling of transistors on a chip every two years – was achieved through planar scaling. But that approach could only go on for so long. The mantra now is “How do we improve power, performance, area, and cost (PPAC)?” At the 14 nm node, it was clear that the best way to push the limits of semiconductor device PPAC was to take it into the third dimension.

Things are not always as they appear. Take semiconductor manufacturing. On the surface, it may seem that the secret to making semiconductor devices more advanced lies in the design. But just as an architect’s design for a building may not be structurally feasible without the right materials, a semiconductor device design may not be functional if the materials and their interactions are not considered and optimized.

By: Mike Lamach, Reach-In Sales Leader, FARRAR™ | Trane Technologies The explosion of needs for -80°C through -60°C assets over the past decade has been nothing short of remarkable. Clinical research investments keep expanding while commercial-scale needs continue to transform the landscape.

Here’s a challenge, say the number 9 out loud, nine times. 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9.

To wrap up the Year of the Tiger (2022), there are still lessons to be learned from the animal kingdom. A tiger out in the open roaming the savannah is at risk of injuries from predators, including human hunters. Wafers left out in the open in a fab are susceptible to damage that can cause dramatic yield drops. The larger the wafer diameter, the greater the risk.

As the chief technologist for the Life Sciences Division at Trane Technologies, Scott Farrar knows a thing or two about ultra-low temperature control for the life sciences industry, perhaps drawing inspiration from his days at Penn State University enjoying peach ice cream. Scott’s biggest inspiration, however, was his entrepreneurial dad who started a solar equipment company, teaching Scott from a young age the importance of sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and solving problems. Scott carried those tools with him, and upon completing his formal education, went to work for a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in research and development, specializing in low-temp freezers and incubators as well as heat-momentum and mass-transfer-type processes for the pharmaceutical industry. His exposure to dilemmas and investigative approach is what drove him to create better customer experiences.

What do plasma chamber components have to do with deer or wild boar? These animals are potential sources of food for the tiger. The components are potential sources of contamination in the fab. Success in both cases relies on attention to detail and a flexible strategy. Whether you are chasing prey or particle contamination, a multi-pronged approach is best.

Entegris is proud to announce a new relationship with Farrar Scientific, by Trane Technologies – a global climate innovator. Farrar offers best-in-class operating systems for ultra-cold temperature storage and controlled rate freeze/thaw chambers for pharmaceutical, biotech, and biorepository applications. Entegris offers the best-in-class Aramus™ bag for robust cold storage and transport. Collaborating with Farrar enables Entegris to offer a combined solution that accelerates the freeze/thaw process.

Entegris is proud to announce a new relationship with HOF Sonderanlagenbau GmbH, an international provider of freeze/thaw equipment and special solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Entegris offers the best-in-class Aramus™ bag for robust cold storage and transport.

Summer is the perfect season to enjoy the great outdoors with friends and family. Unless, of course, the air is filled with smoke and ash. The color-coded air quality readings too often go beyond the red danger zone into purple, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of over 200 parts per million (ppm) of particulate contamination. This particulate count is far above what is safe even for healthy adults. In many parts of the western U.S. and beyond, purple air has become far too familiar.

The explosion of data generation has been accompanied by a corresponding explosion of memory storage technology options. The array of acronyms is astounding—NAND, DRAM, SRAM, MRAM, PCRAM—and finding the right option can be complicated. For applications that need nonvolatile memory with high switching speed and fast data access, storage class memory (SCM) can be a perfect fit.

Whether it is a deliberate strategy or serendipity, the innovations that shape our lives are the result of skilled people put into the right environment to create something new. Innovation is not an exact science, but persistence and some good luck have yielded all the amazing tools and technology we rely upon.