Category: Semiconductor

Semiconductor/IC

  • An Easier-To-Build Unreleased Oscillator

    MEMS technology is providing new ways to generate reliable frequencies that conventionally require bulky LC tanks and crystals. Granted, it’s early days (as other monolithic…

  • Molly to the Rescue

    Graphene has excited technologists for years now, with its promise of high mobility, strength, and flexibility. Except for one big problem: no bandgap. So you…

  • Nanowire Advancements

    Nanowires are a perennial IEDM topic, and this year was no exception. Three papers in particular were identified as standing out. One of them relates…

  • A Big Endurance Boost

    Flash memories degrade over time as the oxide gets damaged and loses its ability to hold charge. It’s apparently well known that this damage can…

  • Germanium at IEDM

    There’s lots of interest in using germanium in pFETs to improve the symmetry between n- and p-channel devices in a CMOS inverter.  But integrating it…

  • What Makes LEDs Different?

    Earlier this month, KLA-Tencor released their ICOS WI-2280 inspection tool for LEDs. Reading through all the things it does and the improvements in provides –…

  • It must have been a dead-heat

    Two e-mails plopped in to the in-tray, both with the same time stamp The first was headlined ARM and Cadence Tape Out First 14nm FinFET…

  • MEMS: Unloved?

    Karen has been feeling unloved. That would be Karen Lightman, managing director of the MEMS Industry Group. After several years of MEMS taking a share…

  • 20-nm Test Enhancements

    ITC is usually the time when the EDA companies announce their coolest test-related advances. While Mentor announced their IJTAG support, Synopsys focused its agenda largely…

  • Breker Tests Multicore

    Earlier this year we were introduced to Breker, a company that generates C tests for stressing SoC architectures and verifying that things work even with…