Technology and Trends

This year’s SEMICON West has new dates, a new location in a new city and a new addition to the program—design! “The Convergence of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Design” will highlight the collaboration between semiconductor manufacturers and chip design teams to bring advanced systems to market. The three-hour session during SEMICON West will be held Tuesday, October 7, from 1-4 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.Five 20-minute presentations will describe successful collaborations and address challenges and opportunities about design and manufacturing security, long-term reliability, system performance issues, and modeling and verification that encompass the entire system. Attendees can expect to learn about the key drivers behind the need for collaboration that range from heterogeneous integration to advanced packaging technologies and applications such as automotive and medical.Session moderators are Ming Zhang, PhD, Vice President of Fabless Solutions of PDF Solutions, and me. “As design and manufacturing complexity continues to grow, driven by applications like AI, it is becoming increasingly difficult to account for every manufacturing variation during design and at sign-off or to fully anticipate the entire design space at chip and system levels during manufacturing technology development,” said Zhang. “Achieving tighter integration between design and manufacturing through broader and deeper data and methodology collaboration will be critical to improving predictability, accelerating time to market and enabling the next generation of semiconductor innovation.”It’s within this context that we selected the presenters who include:“Revolutionizing Silicon to Systems Design: Unlocking the Future with 2.5D and 3D Multi-Die Innovations” by Sutirtha Kabir of Synopsys.“Manufacturing to Development to Manufacturing for Circular Collaboration Leveraging AI and Other EDA Advances” with David Kelf from Breker Verification Systems.“Bridging the Silicon Divide: Converging Chip Design and Manufacturing in the Era of High Integration” from Lu Dai at Qualcomm Technologies.“3D and Chiplets Driving Moore’s Law into the Future” with Joe Kwan of Siemens EDA.“Multiphysics Multiscale Challenges and Solutions for 3D Heterogenous Integration” by Sudarshan Mallu from Ansys, part of Synopsys.The program concludes with a panel moderated by Zhang titled “The Convergence of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Design” and features the session presenters.Join us to learn how the semiconductor manufacturing and design communities are collaborating to deliver advanced systems based on chiplets and rapidly emerging packaging technologies including 2.5D and 3D ICs and MCMs. Audience participation will be encouraged.Also of interest to attendees is a SEMICON West keynote from John Kibarian, CEO, President and Co-Founder of PDF Solutions who is also co-chair of SEMI’s ESD Alliance Governing Council. Kibarian will address “Revolutionizing Semiconductor Collaboration: The Emergence of AI-Driven Industry Platforms” during the CEO Summit keynotes on Wednesday, October 8 at 10:20 a.m.SEMICON West 2025 makes its debut in Phoenix, October 7-9 at the Phoenix Convention Center. This milestone event gathers global leaders across the microelectronics supply chain to explore transformative technologies, develop the future workforce and drive strategic collaboration. Moving SEMICON West to Phoenix highlights Arizona as a key hub for innovation and industry growth. Visit the SEMICON West homepage for more details on full program, including “The Convergence of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Design” session, special features, sponsors and exhibits. Registration is open. Robert (Bob) Smith is executive director of the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community. 

BackgroundSEMI’s Device Working Group, part of its MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), actively works to lower barriers for MEMS-based gas sensor market adoption. In 2022, the group published SEMI MS14 – Guide for Critical Parameters of Gas Sensors [1, 2], which recommends guidelines for gas sensor product datasheets to improve standardization and adoption.This article explores what gas sensors are, how they are calibrated, what their limitations are, and how the next generation of MEMS-based gas sensors is driving innovation. Here, we utilize terminology that the most common, accepted, and recognizable across different sensing communities.From Gas Sensing Elements to Gas Detector SystemsFigure 1 highlights the primary components related to gas sensing. The most fundamental component, the gas sensing element, responds to changes in gas concentration. It is an analog circuit without additional electronics, and it often has only one output like resistance, current, light intensity, or voltage. It is sometimes called a gas sensor, but the recommended terminology is gas sensing element. Such terminology is the most popular, accepted, and recognizable across different communities.Figure 1: Components related to a gas sensorThe gas sensing element can connect to an additional electronic circuit that includes a signal conditioning module, an analog-to-digital converter, and as of recently, an onboard edge data processor. MEMS microfabrication technology allows multiple gas sensing elements and electronic circuit components to be fabricated as an integrated circuit module. These elements can be as small as a grain of rice. This combination of elements is often called a gas sensor, gas sensor system, or gas sensor module. However, the recommended terminology is gas sensing module.The gas sensing module can connect to additional electronic components such as power management, communication, human-machine interfaces, and others. It can also be supplemented with software or firmware and packaged in a mechanical enclosure to create a complete gas sensing instrument. Such gas monitors can be designed as stand-alone, stationary, handheld, or wearable systems, or embedded into bigger systems. The gas sensing instrument is commonly referred to as a gas detector, gas monitor, or gas sensor node, but the recommended terminology is gas detector.Gas Sensor CalibrationGas sensor calibration involves exposing a gas sensing element, module, or detector to various gas concentration standards under application-specific conditions. The output is then adjusted to match these standards, and the sensor is calibrated when the output aligns with the tested gas concentrations.Calibration provides information on uncertainty, non-linearity, and other parameters such as tested gases and their concentrations, and interferents such as ambient humidity and temperature and other gases. CoGDEM Guide to Gas Detection [3] describes common calibration routines and the factors affecting calibration. Companies that serve industrial safety markets also describe the necessary equipment and calibration technologies and offer guidelines and tutorials [4-6].A gas detector should operate under the expected application conditions to ensure it reports gas concentrations accurately. Examples of such conditions may be indoors, urban outdoors, industrial outdoors, exhaled breath analysis, and others. Accuracy refers to how closely the sensor readings match the actual gas concentrations. A calibration plan should account for all quantitative effects of these conditions. Figure 2 illustrates various gas detector accuracy levels and presents both complete coverage (full factorial) and partial coverage (fractional factorial) calibration plans [7]. These plans help manage calibration costs and complexity.Figure 2: Examples of full factorial and fractional factorial calibrations and correlation plot of benchmark versus sensor responsesThe calibration parameters are saved on the gas detector to convert measured responses into gas concentrations. In addition to traditional algorithms for industrial safety gas sensors, multivariate machine learning algorithms are also emerging. These algorithms can incorporate responses from the gas sensing element, along with contextual inputs from auxiliary sensors for interfering gases, temperature, humidity, and pressure. This data can be available on-board of the gas sensing module, on-board of the gas detector, or through the cloud. The calibration cost significantly increases the total production cost of mass-produced gas detectors because it adds additional steps and is time- and cost-intensive, but new approaches based by advanced algorithms have emerged that reduce calibration time and lower calibration costs [8, 9]. Not all gas detectors report individual gas concentrations. Some gas sensing applications only detect when a gas level reaches a specific threshold, for example a residential carbon monoxide alarm. Other gas detectors provide multiple air quality index values by accurately measuring concentrations of five pollutants: ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter of 2.5 mm and 10 mm [10]. These detectors are typically used for urban outdoor applications. Limitations of Single Output Gas Sensing Elements Prevent Their Acceptance in Many New AreasAvailable amperometric electrochemical sensors, semiconducting metal-oxide chemical resistors, pellistors, thermal conductivity sensors, and many others utilize gas sensing principles that were developed between the 1930s and 1970s. These innovations marked a significant advancement over using canary birds to detect carbon monoxide or miner’s lamps to identify methane in coal mines and other harsh environments. Early sensors relied on strong signals from a sensing element that measured high concentrations of a gas. Over time, engineers miniaturized these sensing elements without changing their underlying design principles, and today, the same sensing methods are still widely used to detect relatively high concentrations of specific gases for safety applications. However, single output gas sensing elements cannot mathematically differentiate various gases that produce similar sensor signals. They also cannot identify different sources affecting the sensor signal. Further, as the measured gas concentrations are getting smaller, the response drift of the sensing element and effects from other gases in air become more pronounced, reducing detector accuracy.For this reason, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recently highlighted that existing gas detectors have inherent limitations crucial to understand before collecting and interpreting data [11]. A Nature Perspective also noted that ambient interferences could make the data from single-output gas sensors “essentially meaningless” [12].Next Generation MEMS Gas Sensors: Solutions for Accurate and Stable Calibrated Gas Sensing Gas sensor developers and manufacturers are creating solutions that maintain accurate gas sensor performance at lower target gas concentrations over extended periods of time for chemically complex environments without increasing the hardware size or the amount of power consumption [13-15]. These solutions, inspired by traditional gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and laser spectroscopy detectors that have exceptional gas-recognition abilities that are enabled by one or several independent response variables, which are factors that are varied in the detector in a controlled fashion. Examples of independent response variables are retention time in gas chromatography, mass-to-charge ratio in mass spectrometry, and wavelengths in laser spectroscopy. Although these traditional detectors are relatively large and expensive, they deliver significant societal benefits in exquisite multi-gas detection in chemically complex environments that have earned three Nobel Prizes [16]. SEMI’s MSIG Device Working Group is exploring the tremendous opportunity to emulate the mathematical principles of these large and expensive traditional gas detectors for miniature gas sensors [17, 18]. Our approach is to move beyond the limitations of single-output gas sensing elements and to preserve accurate gas detection in diverse operational scenarios. Right now, scientists and engineers are designing the next generation of miniature gas detectors to operate one or more gas sensing elements under measurement conditions that suppress or eliminate ambient interferences, boost stability, and reduce power consumption. To enhance gas sensing accuracy and stability, metal oxide gas sensing elements are modulated by gas sensing modules using temperature modulation [19] (e.g., Bosch, Renesas, 3S Technologies), dielectric excitation [20] (e.g. GE Vernova) or photoactivation [21] (e.g. N5 Sensors). Miniature electrochemical sensors use bias modulation and incorporate multi-frequency impedance enhanced readouts [15], whereas acoustic resonant sensing elements are modulated by temperature and multi-frequency impedance enhanced readouts of multiple harmonics [22]. Additionally, stable multi-element, multi-pixel, and multi-modal gas sensing elements are combining different sensing principles to gather more information from the same event, delivering more accurate responses. Figure 3 conceptually shows how these next-generation gas sensors should be able to compete with the traditional large and expensive analytical instruments on performance without the burden of high SWaP-C (size, weight, power, and cost) [23].Figure 3: Next generation gas sensors competing with exquisite performance of traditional analytical instruments, but without their high SWAP-C burden. SWaP-C stands for size, weight, power, and cost.ConclusionThe next generation of gas detectors promises to deliver high performance in diverse and complex environments by overcoming the limitations of single-output gas sensing elements and integrating advanced algorithms and multi-modal sensing techniques. These innovations will not only enhance safety and quality of environmental monitoring, but they will also open new applications for various industries. As the gas sensing field continues to evolve, interdisciplinary collaborations and continued research will be critical for unlocking the full potential of these technologies.Radislav A. Potyrailo is a Sr. Principal Scientist at GE Vernova Advanced Research.Andreas Schütze is a Professor at Saarland University.Sreeni Rao is a VP of Product Management and GM of Environmental Sensing at Interlink Electronics.Christian Meyer is a Sr. Manager of Application Engineering at Renesas Electronics Corporation.Paul Carey is Director of MEMS Sensors Industry Group at SEMI.References1. SEMI MS14 - Guide for Critical Parameters of Gas Sensors. SEMI: 2022; https://store-us.semi.org/products/ms01400-semi-ms14-guide-for-critical-parameters-of-gas-sensors.2. Rao, S.; Potyrailo, R.; Sakauchi, R.; Carey, P., SEMI MS14-0422 Standard: Critical Parameters of Gas Sensors For Emerging Applications. SEMI Advanced Sensors Seminar Series: 2023; p https://www.semi.org/sites/semi.org/files/2023-05/SEMI-Gas%20Std%20Webinar%20V14_230531.pdf.3. Greenham, L., The CoGDEM Guide to Gas Detection. ILM Publications: 2012.4. Gas Detector Calibration Procedures, Requirements and Tips, Industrial Scientific 2025, https://www.indsci.com/en/blog/gas-detector-calibration.5. Gas Detector Bump Test: Bump Testing and Calibration of your Gas Monitors, PK Safety 2025, https://pksafety.com/blogs/pk-safety-blog/bump-testing-and-calibration-of-your-gas-monitors.6. What Are Calibration and Bump Tests for Portable Gas Detectors: Key Differences and Ways to Help Streamline Compliance, MSA 2024, https://blog.msasafety.com/what-are-calibration-and-bump-tests-for-portable-gas-detectors/.7. Ryan, T. P., Modern Experimental Design. Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2007.8. Fonollosa, J.; Fernandez, L.; Gutiérrez-Gálvez, A.; Huerta, R.; Marco, S. Calibration transfer and drift counteraction in chemical sensor arrays using direct standardization, Sens. Actuators B 2016, 236, 1044-1053.9. Robin, Y.; Amann, J.; Schneider, T.; Schütze, A.; Bur, C. Comparison of Transfer Learning and Established Calibration Transfer Methods for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Gas Sensors, Atmosphere 2023, 14, (7), 1123.10. Technical Assistance Document for the Reporting of Daily Air Quality – the Air Quality Index (AQI), US Environmental Protection Agency 2014, EPA-454/B-24-002.11. Barkjohn, K. K.; Clements, A.; Mocka, C.; Barrette, C.; Bittner, A.; Champion, W.; Gantt, B.; Good, E.; Holder, A.; Hillis, B. Air Quality Sensor Experts Convene: Current Quality Assurance Considerations for Credible Data, ACS ES T Air 2024, 1, (10), 1203–1214.12. Austen, K. Pollution patrol, Nature 2015, 517, 136-138.13. Bur, C.; Bastuck, M.; Spetz, A. L.; Andersson, M.; Schütze, A. Selectivity enhancement of SiC-FET gas sensors by combining temperature and gate bias cycled operation using multivariate statistics, Sens. Actuators, B 2014, 193, 931-940.14. Schütze, A., Keynote: High performance gas measurement systems – bridging the gap between sensors and analytics. IEEE International Symposium on Olfaction and Electronic Nose (ISOEN), Grapevine, TX, May 12-15: 2024.15. Potyrailo, R. A. In Cross-Pollination of Electronics and Mathematics: Unlocking New Horizons in Ambient Gas Sensing, SEMI MEMS and Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC) 2025, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, March 26-27, 2025.16. The Nobel Foundation 2025, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-prizes/.17. Potyrailo, R. A.; St-Pierre, R.; Crowder, J.; Scherer, B.; Cheng, B.; Nayeri, M.; Shan, S.; Brewer, J.; Ruffalo, R. First-order individual gas sensors as next generation reliable analytical instruments, Appl. Spectrosc. 2023, 77, (8), 860–872.18. Potyrailo, R. A.; Shan, S.; Cheng, B. Individual Optical Multi-Gas Sensors as Next Generation Second-Order Unobtrusive and Continuous Operation Analytical Instruments, Microchim. Acta 2025, Special Issue in Memory of Otto S. Wolfbeis, DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6234291/v1.19. Schütze, A.; Sauerwald, T., Dynamic operation of semiconductor sensors. In Semiconductor Gas Sensors, Elsevier: 2020; pp 385-412.20. Potyrailo, R. A.; Go, S.; Sexton, D.; Li, X.; Alkadi, N.; Kolmakov, A.; Amm, B.; St-Pierre, R.; Scherer, B.; Nayeri, M.; Wu, G.; Collazo-Davila, C.; Forman, D.; Calvert, C.; Mack, C.; Mcconnell, P. Extraordinary performance of semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors using dielectric excitation, Nat. Electron. 2020, 3, 280–289.21. Deb, S.; Mondal, A.; Reddy, Y. A. K. Review on development of metal-oxide and 2-D material based gas sensors under light-activation, Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science 2024, 30, 101160.22. Potyrailo, R. A., Tutorial: Next generation of gas sensors: anticipated and unanticipated advantages over last-century sensor designs. IEEE SENSORS, Vienna, Austria, Oct 29 - Nov 01: 2023.23. What is SWaP-C?, NSTXL National Security Technology Accelerator 2022, EPA-454/B-24-002.

In Q2, the SEMI International Standards Program made progress on several emerging initiatives. Together, we reached a critical milestone for one of our data standards initiatives with Document 6938C recently passing Technical Committee review in mid-June 2025. Ballot 6938C, which provides guidance on how to identify manufacturing equipment data provided by the equipment supplier that can be used in equipment engineering or analysis applications, is slated to join SEMI E190 and E190.1 in providing industry-enabling data standardization.In addition, we began major revisions to SEMI Standards S2, S8, and S10. These standards govern environmental, health, and safety (EHS) considerations, equipment user fatigue and injury reduction, and equipment risk assessment and evaluation, respectively. In our recently concluded North America Standards Summer 2025 Meetings, the NA EHS Technical Committee Chapter approved a revision ballot to SEMI S10. The ballot (7169) proposed several major revisions to the SEMI S10 Safety Guideline on risk assessment which included changes to references to equipment to objects under consideration. Other changes also included the relocation of the assessment of the risk of harm to property other than the OUC to a Related Information section. Additional details are provided below.We’re eagerly preparing for this year’s SEMICON West event, taking place for the first time ever in Phoenix, Arizona. We are also pleased to announce the return of the SEMI Global Standards Summit taking place Tuesday afternoon, October 7 at SEMICON West. Our inaugural Summit was held last year at SEMICON Japan 2024 last December. The Summit aims to identify standards-critical areas and work towards an industry standardization strategy for the next 3- and 7-year time horizons. This year's Global Standards Summit will feature sessions on Supply Chain Traceability as well as Environmental Sustainability. Similarly, as cybersecurity considerations become more complex, SEMICON West will host a dedicated Cybersecurity Forum from October 7-9 to address today’s most pertinent challenges. More detailed program information will be available soon. Finally, we’re looking forward to our SEMI Standards + Award Ceremony Networking Event at SEMICON West. Following the International Standards Meeting and Standards Summit on Tuesday, October 7, join us for appetizers, drinks, and great conversation from 6-7:30 p.m. In the meantime, learn more about becoming a member of the SEMI International Standards Program.Balloting for Document 6938Document 6938C introduces a new potential standard – Guide for Equipment Edge Data Governance. Under development by the Equipment Edge Data Governance (EEDG) Task Force since 2021, Document 6938C was balloted in Cycle 3-2025 and approved during the Information Control Taiwan Technical Committee (TC) Chapter meeting held on June 12, 2025. It has since received approval by the International Standards Committee Audits and Reviews Subcommittee and is now undergoing final processing for publication by SEMI. As manufacturing equipment offers more accessible data than ever, poor communication, inconsistent expectations, and data security concerns continue to halt or slow factory integration efforts. If passed, this new standard will help organize the information that supports smart manufacturing efforts at the edge. In addition, the EEDG Guide will provide a comprehensive set of best practices to both users and suppliers to increase the value of existing equipment data. Update on Revisions to SEMI S2, S8, and S10 Safety GuidelinesOur 2025 Q1 Standards Watch newsletter announced a significant overhaul for SEMI Standards S2, S8, and S10.S2, SEMI’s standard for performance-based environmental, health, and safety (EHS) considerations for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, is undergoing discussions on redefining safety interlock systems. The S2 task force will issue an informal ballot to the general audience for feedback. The results then will be used to develop a formal letter ballot.First developed in 1995, SEMI Standard S8 works to reduce fatigue and injury by matching equipment to the user’s size, strength, and range of motion. Although this safety standard has been periodically updated since its inception, its last substantial revision was in 2018. The ballot to revise S8 ultimately failed the EH S TC Chapter review at this year’s Winter Meeting. With 214 comments and negatives to consider, the task force is revising the ballot and plans to reissue in Cycle 7 of August 2025.Finally, SEMI Standard S10 is moving through ballot 7169. This standard defines a consistent means of risk estimation that other SEMI Safety Guidelines can invoke. Ballot 7169 will separate facility and building risk assessment to a non-normative portion of the document, ensure EHS risks are separately calculated from commercial object risks, and clarify risk assessment of observed events from risk assessment of foreseen events. Ballot 7169 results were reviewed on June 5 during the North America Standards Summer meetings. The document was approved and is being processed for publication by SEMI.Cybersecurity Forum at SEMICON West 2025This year’s SEMICON West will feature a dedicated Cybersecurity Forum to address the semiconductor industry’s rapidly-changing cybersecurity landscape. The SEMI Cybersecurity Forum will gather industry experts to share knowledge and experience on the following topics. The goal is to develop actionable strategies and a deeper understanding of current and future cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity in Legacy Semiconductor ToolsEmerging and Existing Cybersecurity Legislation and ComplianceCybersecurity in Maintenance and ManufacturingImpact of Cybersecurity Events on Semiconductor Manufacturing OperationsSupply Chain SecurityThreat Landscape in Semiconductor ManufacturingThe 2025 call for abstracts is now closed. Speakers will be announced in Q3.SEMI E187 Compliance Guidance White PaperThe SEMI Semiconductor Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium (SMCC), in collaboration with industry experts, is pleased to announce the release of the SEMI E187 Compliance Guidance Whitepaper. This comprehensive resource is designed to support semiconductor equipment suppliers and device manufacturers as they work to meet the requirements of the SEMI E187 0122 Standard - The Specification of Cybersecurity of Fab Equipment.Professionals involved in tool development, manufacturing, operations, and security will find the guidance particularly relevant and actionable. It provides guidance to address all twelve SEMI E187 requirements and focuses on new to fab equipment.Download the Whitepaper for freeSEMI Standards North America Summer MeetingsThis year’s SEMI Standards North America Summer Meetings were held from June 2-5 at SEMI’s headquarters in Milpitas, California. The meetings convened 11 committees and 40 task forces to discuss topics ranging from EHS to facilities, 3D packaging, MEMS, and more. In addition to the results of ballot 7169, technical changes to ballot 6601B, New Standard: Guide for Meeting IRDS Yield Table Recommendations for High Purity Polymer Materials and Components Used in Ultrapure Water, was also approved by the Liquid Chemicals North America TC Chapter, since the activity began in 2019. A Ratification Ballot will be issued in Cycle 7-2025 to verify the changes. In total, over 15 activities, ranging from Auxiliary Information, Reapprovals, and Line-Item ballots, also recently passed Procedural Review by the International Standards Committee (ISC) Audits Reviews Subcommittee and will be forwarded to Publications for final processing. The next SEMI International Standards Meeting will be held at SEMICON West from October 7-9 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Some technical committees and task forces may meet virtually outside of this meeting set, so be sure to check the SEMI Standards calendar of events for updates. Standards Introduced in Q2 2025New and revised standards released in Q2. April 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/stdpbc-0425May 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/stdpbc-0525June 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/stdpbc-0625Get InvolvedSEMI Standards development activities take place throughout the year in all major manufacturing regions. To participate, join the SEMI International Standards Program.SEMI Standards are available through individual download purchases or online via SEMIViews. Sign up for a 30-day SEMIViews trial.For more information, please visit the Standards website and events page. For any questions regarding SEMI Standards activities, please contact your local SEMI Standards staff. Paul Trio is Director of Standards at SEMI.

Ann Wu is CEO of EDA startup Silimate, developer of a co-pilot (chat-based GenAI) for chip and IP designers to find and fix functional and power, performance and area (PPA) issues in their designs. Rick Carlson is Vice President of Sales at ESD Alliance member company Verific Design Automation, provider of front-end EDA platforms to a range of small and emerging EDA companies like Silimate and larger EDA vendors.I recently talked with Ann and Rick who represent EDA’s new and old guard. I found them to be bullish about the emerging EDA space called AI EDA that uses GenAI and large language models as the foundational tools and the swelling numbers of well-funded startups entering this space.Smith: Ann, you were an Apple hardware designer. What encouraged you to leap into entrepreneurship using AI as the foundational technology?Wu: It was always my goal. Apple afforded me the opportunity to understand how one of the best companies producing some of the most cutting-edge chips in the world operates. It also gave me the opportunity to work with some of the most brilliant engineers and operators. My plan was then to go back to Stanford to explore and start a compelling venture with another similarly motivated friend, Akash Levy. That was the genesis of Silimate. The drive for leaping into entrepreneurship then ultimately stemmed from my frustrations with the existing chip design process. I sensed there was an opportunity to apply AI technology to solve some of these limitations of the existing approaches to chip design.Smith: What made you think that AI would be applicable to the EDA challenges that designers face?Wu: AI provides a compelling solution to some of the intractable problems that have existed in EDA. Traditional EDA solutions solve isolated problems through heuristic algorithms. There’s a high volume of gray area between the well-defined boxes of inputs and outputs that had previously been unsolvable. Now with AI, there is finally a way to sift through and glean patterns, insights, and actions from these gray areas.That’s the macro reason why there's so much excitement and appetite around the application of AI for EDA.Smith: It sounds like productivity enhancement. What are some other key words or selling points to use to convince a designer of AI’s potential for EDA?Wu: I would say "speedup" is one of those keywords. Ultimately, the designer is trying to meet or even shorten the time to tape out while hitting their design spec. That's driving all decisions, whether to throw more headcount at closing a certain block or to defeature something that's going to cause the team to miss the shuttle. It all comes down to whether a fully featured and functional design gets to tape out and gets to market ahead of competitors.Productivity as a keyword is not compelling. It’s hard to translate how saving minutes or hours of an engineer's time connects back to the bottom line. The bottom-line decisions are driven by the project’s timeline as time to market is everything.What’s needed is a way to sift out and resolve real design problems 100x faster, which ultimately results in real speed up on a project’s schedule. For example, processing large amounts of data with AI to find issues actively helps the designer converge their design to their target.Finding and resolving issues in a design within minutes instead of days or weeks instead of months is the kind of impact that directors, VPs, and managers want for adopting new tools.Smith: What is driving hardware designers into this EDA space?Carlson: The thing that's most intriguing is large language models, neural networks and AI. It seems like an “aha” moment when startup founders believe they can do something that's dramatic for the first time.When I look back over my photobook of moments in my time in the EDA industry, there's the wonderment. The things that can be brought to bear with iterative versions of new technology from companies like Ann's will offer multiple “aha” moments. This is game changing.Smith: Are venture capitalists investing in EDA again?Carlson: Yes. Some venture capitalists haven't invested in EDA for decades. These are smart people. They have plenty of good people that can do good due diligence. The amount of money that's being invested is significant. It's not just a little bit of seed funding. One startup’s first round was $3 million. They're now raising $20 million in the next round. They're saying that their pre-money has to be $50-$60 million. They're just coming out and there's a huge amount of interest.We're going to be looking back in a year and say we just couldn't believe how much money is pouring into this. It has a huge impact on the world stage. This is an amazing time to be doing anything in and around the design of computer chips.Smith: Y Combinator (YC) invested in Silimate.Wu: Yes, that's right. It's an honor to be the first EDA company that YC had invested in. The semiconductor and EDA space had been under the radar until recently—it’s such a critical piece of our technical infrastructure. The semiconductor industry hasn't been headline news in past years. Now every other day, the Wall Street Journal runs some semiconductor chip-related article. People are realizing this is a fundamental piece of our world's tech stack, and the software that drives this tech stack is equally important and there are investments to be made.Learn more about Verific and Silimate during the 62nd Design Automation Conference (DAC).Verific will exhibit in Booth #1316 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from June 23-25.Silimate’s Akash Levy, Founder and CTO, will participate in a panel titled “AI-Enabled EDA for Chip Design” at 10:30am on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.Robert (Bob) Smith is executive director of the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community.

The semiconductor industry is on track to expand and launch 97 new high-volume fabs online worldwide from 2023 through 2025, a major milestone that highlights the massive investment in chip production capacity. This rapid expansion is expected to drive a sharp increase in the deployment of pendulum valves. These valves, found in tens of thousands of semiconductor tools, are critical to the wafer manufacturing process.  Though hidden inside complex etch and deposition chambers, pendulum valves play a vital role in semiconductor manufacturing. They regulate gas flow and maintain the vacuum conditions required for precise wafer processing, ensuring efficient etching or deposition by controlling gases, managing exhaust flows, and maintaining chamber integrity. But what happens if a pendulum valve fails? It disrupts the vacuum necessary for wafer processing, causing chamber contamination and potentially ruining wafers. This leads to costly material scrapping, unplanned downtime, and production delays. Persistent failures can damage the turbo molecular pump or the entire tool, significantly increasing repair costs. Clearly, pendulum valves are essential for the reliability and performance of semiconductor equipment, particularly in etching and deposition chambers. Here are four critical reasons why:Consistent Vacuum Control: Maintaining a consistent vacuum environment is crucial for uniform layer deposition and etching, directly impacting the yield and performance of semiconductor chips. These valves regulate pressure and gas flow to ensure consistent and precise wafer fabrication processes. Contamination Prevention: Contaminants are a semiconductor manufacturer’s worst nightmare. Even microscopic impurities can destroy a wafer. Pendulum valves mitigate this risk with high-quality sealing mechanisms that create airtight environments, leading to high quality wafers and reducing waste.  Enhanced Yield: Pendulum valves are vital to achieving the highest possible yield in wafer manufacturing. Their ability to maintain operational stability and enhance process efficiency leads to fewer defects and higher productivity. By precisely controlling gas flows and preventing contamination, these valves reduce the likelihood of wafer defects and improve overall throughput. Minimal Footprint: Semiconductor fabs are high-tech, high-density environments where every square inch counts. Pendulum valves are designed with compact dimensions, allowing engineers to maximize production capacity without compromising performance or reliability.  Seal Performance Defines Valves’ Longevity  One of the core components of pendulum valves is its seals, directly impacting its durability, reliability, and maintenance. High-performance seals minimize downtime, reduce maintenance costs, and ensure a long operating life. However, achieving this performance requires attention to the challenges in semiconductor processes that impact performance and lifespan. Exposure to aggressive chemicals and plasma environments can degrade seals, causing erosion, sticking, and cracking. Continuous dynamic motion, including compression, decompression, and rotational movements, leads to friction and wear, shortening seal longevity. Errors, such as improper installation of static seals, can disrupt valve operation and cause delays. Extreme heat in wafer fabrication further tests the durability of valve components, while poor maintenance increases the risk of failures, resulting in costly downtime and repairs.  To keep valves operating at their peak efficiency, manufacturers need to prioritize five types of seals, identifying potential risks and tackling them effectively. The Pendulum Plate Face Seal, a dynamic component, must endure repeated compression and decompression during use. This constant motion, coupled with exposure to harsh chemicals, makes the seal vulnerable to issues like sticking and cracking. Without proper installation and attention, extreme failures, such as the seal dislodging entirely, can occur, disrupting operations.  Similarly, the Pendulum Plate Radial Seal performs a vital role, moving vertically within a piston bore. This component faces threats such as rolling, twisting, and chemical degradation, often leading to cracks or even fragmenting under severe torsional stress.   The Bonnet Seal, though static, is not exempt from potential difficulties. Improper installation or material cracking can severely compromise its functionality.  For dynamic applications like the Rotating Paddle Shaft Seal, friction is a constant adversary, compounded by chemical exposure that accelerates wear and tear.  Lastly, the Actuating Pins Seal, pivotal for enabling precise up-and-down movement within a piston bore, is particularly sensitive to installation errors.  When Failure is Not an Option  Addressing these challenges is essential to maintain the reliability and longevity of pendulum valves in semiconductor manufacturing. Greene Tweed uses a structured framework ‘Right Seal Pyramid’ to select the most suitable seal for every application. This process considers key factors like material compatibility, seal geometry, and operating conditions to develop solutions tailored to the specific needs of semiconductor manufacturing. By aligning seal types with precise engineering criteria, the Right Seal Pyramid methodology addresses key challenges like chemical resistance, mechanical stress, and installation accuracy, ensuring reliable performance in the harshest semiconductor manufacturing environments.  Explore MoreWant to learn how to prevent premature pendulum failure? Catch our full webinar replay or download our Semiconductor Playbook for expert insights, innovative solutions, and best practices tailored to your most critical applications. Carmen Quartapella is a Senior Engineer of Design Analysis at Greene Tweed. Quartapella has developed deep technical expertise over a three-decade career that spans multiple facets of the semiconductor industry. Throughout his career, he has gained expertise in Semiconductor Engineering, Engineering Management, Sales, Business Management, and Emerging Technologies. He graduated from Drexel University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering

As artificial intelligence (AI) proliferates rapidly, AI models and datasets are also growing rapidly in size. This growth far outpaces performance improvement in hardware systems, and is increasing AI’s energy consumption unsustainably. To address these challenges and explore collaborative solutions, SEMI’s Smart Data-AI Initiative - as part of its Future of Computing focus - recently hosted a day-long workshop on Sustainable AI Systems that brought together domain experts from the entire AI ecosystem. Speakers included industry leaders Applied Materials, AMD, Arm, ASE, Google DeepMind, IBM, Intel, Lam Research, McKinsey, Micron, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, SK hynix; exciting start-ups Cerebras, LightMatter, Mentium Technologies and Mueon; and leading-edge academic institutions, Stanford University and University of California, Davis Irvine. The keynotes, panels and spirited audience discussions covered novel devices, materials, advanced packaging, chiplets, photonics and architectures algorithms for data centers, cloud edge. This article synthesizes high-level insights from the workshop.The AI ImperativeThe day started with a basic question – why is AI essential to continued progress and prosperity? The answer lies partly in shifting global demographics, with the population aging in most developed economies. At the turn of the century, there were ~6 people in the workforce supporting each retiree, but projections indicate there will be only 2 active workers per retiree by 2050. In parallel, productivity growth rates have fallen to half of what is required. AI can help bridge this gap, if we can ensure continued progress of AI in a responsible and sustainable manner.The Energy WallA formidable roadblock to continued progress of AI is its rising energy demands. For example, the energy used by some large language models (LLMs) to run just one training cycle could be used to power thousands of homes. The switch to transformer models has increased AI-driven computing demand by a factor of 50 million over 5 years, and by some projections, this demand will consume half the world's generation capacity by 2050. This is clearly not sustainable! All players in the ecosystem are deeply committed to reducing AI’s energy consumption, and the industry has already decreased the energy used per token of computing by a factor of 100K in the past 10 years. However, the rapid growth of AI outpaces this, highlighting the huge challenge ahead.The System StackThis workshop was developed with the hypothesis that innovation is required across all segments, and an important first step is to initiate a dialog. Our highly distinguished speakers covered the entire solution stack, and while it is impossible to capture the ocean of insights that they shared, the following provides a flavor.Materials DevicesMaterials and devices used to build semiconductor chips form the foundation of the stack for all computing systems. Silicon substrates with copper interconnects remain industry’s mainstay, but are being augmented by innovative ideas. As device dimensions continue to shrink, novel 2D materials such as MoSe2, WSe2, ZrSe2 and NbP are being researched. While Si mobility degrades with decreasing film thickness, 2D materials maintain high electron mobility in thin-film substrates. These can be stacked to build 3D systems with lower power consumption than traditional planar structures. In parallel, novel device technologies such as gate-all-around (GAA) can provide power savings up to 25%.These novel materials and devices are complex, and require almost magical wizardry to build. For example, they may require depositing a stack of multiple defect-free films that are only a single (or few) atomic layer(s) thick, or etching a steep well that is one hundred times as deep as it is wide. It is an incredible accomplishment of the semiconductor industry to build these devices and chips successfully, but it is getting harder and more expensive. Consequently, AI is now being used as a tool to help with this ever-growing fabrication complexity of semiconductor R D and manufacturing. This is a synergistic virtuous cycle, where AI algorithms enabled by chips are used in turn to help with chip fabrication.System IntegrationThe next layer of the stack is the integration of individual devices into a system. Advanced packaging techniques, such as silicon or glass interposers (2.5D) for interconnecting chips, can reduce the communication distance and power consumption. These are often deployed for high-performance computing systems running AI algorithms. Beyond this, the industry is actively exploring 3D systems that are even more compact, both as multi-die 3D packages and as monolithic 3D chips.The concept of chiplets – smaller chips with specialized functions that can be assembled flexibly to optimize system performance – holds much promise. Industry consortia are developing protocols such as Universal Chiplet Interconnect ExpressTM (UCIeTM) to enable seamless integration of chiplets both in the planar and vertical dimensions. These advanced techniques pack more functional elements into increasingly compact form factors, but this proximity makes power delivery challenging and often generates intense heat. Much work is needed to ensure optimal power delivery and adequate thermal dissipation.Looking beyond traditional electronics, photonics represents an exciting opportunity. Most long-distance data communication is on fiber-optic cables and thus already photonic – bringing this to shorter distances can save energy while increasing bandwidth and performance. This requires efficient photonic-electronic integration at the packaging or even chip level, which is a major challenge requiring cross-disciplinary collaboration.Architectures and AlgorithmsAI algorithms need enormous amounts of data processing compared to traditional computing workloads. This requirement stretches (or breaks) the limits of traditional Von Neumann architecture, which requires frequent data movement between memory and processor elements for each computation cycle. Much of current architecture innovation focuses on bringing processor and memory elements closer to each other. System integration is already driving “compute-near-memory” architectures like high bandwidth memory (HBM). Other forward-looking implementations combine them into a single chip, known as compute-in-memory (CIM). Memory elements being explored for this purpose include resistive RAM (RRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) and magnetic RAM (MRAM). However, there is no one “perfect” memory – each has pros and cons in terms of latency, capacity, bandwidth, power consumed per operation, manufacturability, etc. Other researchers are also exploring devices like memristors for analog computing, which can improve energy efficiency for certain workloads.Finally, hardware-software co-optimization is crucial. Algorithms mismatched with the underlying system are energy expensive; conversely, co-optimized systems are highly efficient. While conceptually obvious, this is difficult in practice because development cycles are quite different – software algorithms can transform in a few months, while new hardware often takes years to develop. While some strategies can be used for mitigation – such as designing in redundancy/flexibility or making the hardware application-specific – much work remains to solve this conundrum.Pre-competitive Collaboration to Find SolutionsAll speakers emphasized that pre-competitive collaboration across the entire stack is critical, as these challenges are formidable and cannot be solved by one entity or in isolated silos. SEMI is a global and neutral organization with over 3,000 member companies, and is well-positioned to provide a pre-competitive collaboration platform to connect the dots across silos. In fact, SEMI’s mantra is “Connect, Collaborate, Innovate” – reinforcing its commitment to advancing the entire industry. For this purpose, SEMI’s Smart Data-AI Initiative continues to drive robust discussions on this topic – next there will be a roundtable discussion during SEMICON Southeast Asia, May 20-22 in Singapore, followed by a focused technology session at SEMICON West 2025, October 7-9 in Phoenix, Arizona. The overall objective is to move from “talking-the-talk” to “walking-the-walk,” towards creating system-level solutions for energy-efficient AI computing. Specifically, we want to identify the pre-competitive actions that could synergize individual innovations and make the whole greater than the sum of parts. Some ideas include collaborative proof-of-concept projects, industry standards and independent benchmarking. Come join us on this journey and connect with us at [email protected]. Dr. Pushkar P. Apte is the Strategic Technology Advisor and leads the Smart Data-AI Initiative at SEMI.

As healthcare undergoes a digital transformation, semiconductor technologies are emerging as a critical foundational enabler, making care more personalized, proactive, and accessible. At SEMI, we’re proud to highlight the leadership of STMicroelectronics (ST), a member and active participant in our Smart MedTech initiative’s governing council, for their commitment to advancing this critical frontier.With decades of experience in sensing, power management, and connectivity, ST is helping to shape a future where electronic systems seamlessly integrate with healthcare and wellness solutions, empowering both patients and providers.The Rise of Wearables and the Role of SemiconductorsST has long delivered innovation in automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. Now, the company is applying its expertise to wearable health technologies, a rapidly growing segment that’s reshaping how we monitor, diagnose, and manage health.Today’s wearables go far beyond their predecessors. They capture vital signs and biomarkers such as heart rate variability, ECG signals, blood pressure trends, and more with medical-grade accuracy, providing real-time insights that can inform treatment and improve outcomes. This evolution represents not just a technological leap, but a shift in how we deliver and think about healthcare.A Shared Mission to Scale MedTech InnovationST’s active engagement with SEMI’s Smart MedTech initiative reflects our shared commitment to building an agile, responsive ecosystem that can bring life-changing technologies to the market faster. Through Smart MedTech, SEMI unites leaders across the electronics and healthcare value chains to identify systemic barriers, spark cross-sector dialogue, and co-create strategies for scalable success.ST brings invaluable perspective and technical depth to this mission. Their approach focusing on full solutions rather than standalone components, demonstrates how semiconductor companies can play a central role in enabling integrated healthcare systems.Meeting the Moment: Prevention, Personalization, and ReachHealthcare systems globally face mounting challenges: aging populations, chronic disease burdens, rising costs, and a projected shortfall of 18 million healthcare workers (WHO, 2019). Against this backdrop, wearables and remote health monitoring tools are poised to deliver tremendous value.As ST points out, the economic case is clear: treating chronic disease can be 100 times more expensive than prevention, wearables offer a proactive path forward. By enabling continuous, at-home health tracking, these devices empower individuals to take control of their wellness and allow providers to intervene earlier and more effectively.Accelerating the Future TogetherAt the SEMI 2025 Technology Workshop, ST joined a panel discussion exploring how semiconductors are reshaping healthcare. The session highlighted the need for earlier diagnosis, personalized care, and scalable solutions amid rising chronic disease and healthcare labor shortages.Panelists emphasized moving beyond component sales to integrated, system-level solutions. ST’s role on the Smart MedTech governing council emphasizes their commitment to cross-sector collaboration and advancing MedTech adoption.The MedTech revolution requires more than great products, it demands aligned ecosystems, shared knowledge, and coordinated strategies. As a member of SEMI and a key voice in our Smart MedTech initiative, ST exemplifies how semiconductor innovation can drive real change in healthcare.We’re proud to work alongside ST and other industry leaders who are committed to creating smarter, more sustainable healthcare through electronics. Because in today’s healthcare landscape, an ounce of prevention enabled by semiconductors isn’t just worth a pound of cure, it’s a blueprint for global health resilience.See the full ST article STMicroelectronics and Medtech: Enabling Personalized Healthcare and Wellness through the Integration of Electronics featured on Smart MedTech webpage.Gity Samadi is Senior Director of R D at SEMI.Rafael Tudela Senior Technical Marketing Manager at SEMI.Michelle Smith-Moritz is Senior Program Manager, Smart MedTech at SEMI.

Say ‘Ahhhh’ – imagine your doctor monitoring a health condition from afar or emergency responders receiving real-time alerts that could save a life. A new smart sensor is taking the ouch out of wound monitoring. By using laser-induced graphene (LIG), a two-dimensional (2D) material, researchers are developing a sensor that could revolutionize the tracking of wound healing and recovery. Doctors could get a much clearer picture of the healing process, identifying issues like inflammation, physical strain or a spike in body temperature early on. "This unique sensor material we've developed has potentially important applications in health care monitoring,” said Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, James L. Henderson, Jr. Memorial Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) at Penn State. LIG sensors are self-powered which means they could be especially useful for continuous monitoring in clinical settings or helping detect fires in remote locations. Source: Materials Research Institute, Penn StateUnder the Sea – Mechanical engineers at Carnegie Mellon’s Soft Machines Lab have created a soft robot inspired by the quick and agile brittle starfish, the first mobile and untethered underwater crawling robot. Named after Sponge Bob Square Pants’ sidekick, PATRICK is an AI powered robot which operates without motors so as not to disturb delicate sea life. To make the robot move, the researchers hit it with electric current, causing the wires to heat up past its transition temperature and allowing the limbs to contract and move in different directions. “We want to put the power and the electronics on-board with the robots,” said Ph.D. candidate and PATRICK creator, Zach Patterson. The soft robotic systems which are ideal for tracking the health and quality of water, are biodegradable to eliminate waste and protect the natural environment.Source: Carnegie Mellon University, School of Engineering The sky is NOT the limit with engineering – While Blue Origin made the news recently for sending an all women crew to the edge of space, the first Mexican born woman to travel into space is Katya Echazarreta, an electrical engineer originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. Echazarreta was selected for the trip from a pool of 7,000 applicants from more than 100 countries based on her outstanding achievements in the space industry, including five NASA missions. She traveled to space in 2022 aboard Blue Origin’s NS-21 flight as one of Space for Humanity’s citizen astronauts. Echazarreta comes from a family of engineers and works to make space exploration accessible to young kids, teens, women, and other scientists and engineers through Fundación Espacial, a foundation started in Mexico. Source: Astronomy.comMargaret Kindling is Senior Program Manager at the SEMI Foundation. She promotes inclusive workplaces via initiatives including Women in Semiconductors, Semiconductor PRIDE and workforce and career development programming at SEMICON West and SEMIEXPO Heartland.

With microelectronics manufacturing increasing in complexity and facing more cybersecurity threats, the SEMI International Standards Program has made crucial progress on efforts to address these challenges and others, in the first quarter of 2025. MEMS manufacturing readiness and cybersecurity came into sharp focus with the introduction of SEMI Standard MS15 - Guide to MEMS Manufacturing Readiness Levels. In addition, this quarter saw the opening of the public commentary period for a SEMI-led semiconductor manufacturing cybersecurity profile, developed for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0. Through collaborative efforts, we held a successful North America Standards Winter Meeting in February, co-hosted a MEMS webinar, and published over 15 new and revised standards in areas such as equipment automation software, facilities, materials, and more.With exciting developments still to come, we’re looking forward to a wonderful year ahead.MEMS Manufacturing Readiness This March, SEMI unveiled its new standard, SEMI MS15 – Guide to MEMS Manufacturing Readiness Levels. This standard offers readiness level definitions, processes, and practices for creating MEMS products that meet targeted specification performance, quality, cost, and time-to-market. This standard is broken into eight distinct levels that cover basic research, all the way through high-volume production. Prior to the official release of SEMI MS15, we held a webinar that previewed how MEMS Manufacturing Readiness Levels will facilitate efficient MEMS development. Led by co-chair, Michelle Bourke of Lam Research, the SEMI MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) hosted a webinar featuring MEMS experts from SoftMEMS, HP, Teledyne MEMS, and Polar Semiconductor. Speakers shared insight into creating a structured and balanced MEMS manufacturing approach to drive successful products to commercialization. Cybersecurity Resilience Like 2024, cybersecurity remains pertinent in 2025. Last October, SEMI introduced SEMI Standard E191 and its subordinate standard, SEMI E191.1 to help define cybersecurity status information reporting. SEMI E191 and E191.1 join SEMI’s existing cybersecurity standards, SEMI E187 and E188. Last year also saw the development of the NIST CSF 2.0 Semiconductor Manufacturing Profile under SEMI’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium (SMCC). In partnership with NIST, SMCC advanced a community profile for CSF 2.0 that will serve as a cybersecurity framework specific to semiconductor manufacturing. The profile opened for public commentary between February 27 and May 30, with the final version slated for official release in Q3 of this year.As the semiconductor industry becomes increasingly reliant on digital technologies, we will continue to prioritize cybersecurity standards and initiatives essential for safeguarding the global supply chain.North America SEMI Standards Winter MeetingsFrom February 24 to 27 at SEMI’s headquarters, leaders from 11 committees and over 40 task forces collaborated on new and revised standards and safety guidelines for environmental, health, and safety, equipment automation and software, liquid chemicals, traceability, and more. Three SEMI Standard draft documents that were reviewed at the North America SEMI Standards Fall Meetings last November have also been approved and published. In addition to SEMI MS15, SEMI F122 – Guide for Facilities Data Package for Manufacturing Equipment Installation and Building Information Modeling, and SEMI E193 – Specification for 300 mm Film Frame FOUP (FFF), have also been approved and published. SEMI F122 suggests formats for reporting facilities data required to plan, prepare, model, and optimize a facility for the installation of manufacturing equipment by fab owners and manufacturing equipment customers. SEMI E193 drives consistent implementation of interfaces for film frame carriers that are compact and work with existing 300 mm FOUP standards and BOLTS interfaces. These standards are now available for purchase. The North America SEMI Standards Summer Meetings will take place from June 2-5 at SEMI’s Milpitas, California headquarters. Some technical committees and task forces may meet virtually outside of this meeting set – check the SEMI Standards calendar of events for updates!Standards Introduced in Q1 2025New and revised standards released in Q1. January 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/lang-english+stdpbc-0125February 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/lang-english+stdpbc-0225March 2025 standards: https://store-us.semi.org/collections/standards/lang-english+stdpbc-0325TestimonialsHear from Doug Suerich, Director of Marketing at PEER Group, how his work is helping shape smart manufacturing standards and global cybersecurity policies through our powerful collaborative platform. Get InvolvedSEMI Standards development activities take place throughout the year in all major manufacturing regions. To participate, join the SEMI International Standards Program.SEMI Standards are available through Individual Download purchases or online via SEMIViews. Sign up for a 30-day SEMIViews trial.For more information, please visit the Standards website and events page. For any questions regarding SEMI Standards activities, please contact your local SEMI Standards staff. Paul Trio is Director of Standards at SEMI.

In a world where technological advancements move at lightning speed, the semiconductor industry is facing unprecedented challenges. The demand for smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient devices is growing, and traditional manufacturing processes are being pushed to their limits. Enter Spin-on Dielectrics (SOD), a breakthrough material technology that offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for micro-gap filling and high-performance dielectric films. As the industry evolves, SOD is expected to play a pivotal role in enabling the next generation of chips that power everything from AI to everyday electronics.To learn more, SEMI Europe and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, held a joint webinar that focused on semiconductor device process evolution by SOD. The session featured insights from three technology experts in the company, including Dr. Surésh Rajaraman, Executive Vice President and Head of Thin Film Business Unit, along with Atsuko Yamamoto, R D Manager for Spin-On Dielectric, and Go Nakano, Global Marketing Manager for Dielectric Materials.SEMI: What is SOD, and how does it fit within the broader semiconductor manufacturing process?Rajaraman: SOD, Spin on Dielectrics, is a unique class of materials used to deposit thin layers of dielectric films, which act as insulators or other functional films, on semiconductor devices. The fabrication of a semiconductor chip involves thousands of intricate steps that incorporate conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. SOD is a versatile technology that supports device performance and miniaturization by enabling better gap fill and film uniformity, all while offering attractive cost of ownership.SEMI: Why is there so much focus on SOD materials, and how are they evolving to meet future industry demands?Rajaraman: As semiconductor devices become more complex—such as 3D NAND scaling to more than 300 layers and DRAM incorporating pillar capacitors—there’s a growing need for materials that can address challenges like interconnect delays, power consumption, and heat generation while maintaining optimal performance. Traditional dielectric materials are reaching their limits, making Spin-on Dielectrics (SOD) a critical solution. SOD offers advantages like bottom-up and seam-free gap filling, enabling ultra-thin insulating and other functional layers that enhance electrical and thermal efficiency and support next-generation device scaling.The industry is pushing the boundaries of scaling, with increasing aspect ratios and complex structures in Logic, 3D NAND and DRAM. Modern devices now require deposition in features which are not only incredibly narrow but also increasingly deep due to going into the third dimension. This creates new challenges, such as stress buildup and cracking in conventional SOD materials. To overcome this, we are developing enhanced formulations with improved mechanical stability and polymer backbone engineering. These innovations enhance gap-filling properties and resistance to process-induced stress, ensuring SOD remains a key enabler for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.SEMI: What are the current industry trends driving the adoption of SOD?Nakano: SOD is becoming a key technology because of its excellent gap-filling performance. Unlike gas-phase deposition methods like Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), SOD is a liquid-phase process. This makes it more efficient for high-aspect-ratio structures. It also helps reduce costs while maintaining high-performance dielectric properties.With increasing demand for high-density memory and logic devices, SOD is crucial for applications like DRAM and NAND flash, which require precise dielectric layer formation. In DRAM, we’re witnessing a shift from planar to vertical transistors, and even to monolithic 3D DRAM. These changes require new materials for gate insulators and electrodes, alongside improvements in aspect ratio gap filling.For NAND memory, manufacturers are increasing the number of memory layers, leading to taller memory stacks and deeper trenches. As lateral scaling progresses, narrower and more complex structures demand high-aspect-ratio trench fills to maintain performance and reliability.Logic devices are also evolving, with transistor structures moving from FinFETs to nanosheets and forksheets. This transition enhances performance, but it also introduces challenges in wiring density and electrical properties. The narrower pitch of wiring requires advanced dielectric solutions, like SOD, to enable reliable, high-performance semiconductor architectures.SEMI: With all these recent innovations, what role does Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany play in supporting these advancements, and what does the company offer its customers? Rajaraman: As the semiconductor industry pushes the boundaries of scaling, doing so requires materials that can support increasingly complex structures. We are the only materials company in the industry to possess the full spectrum of process technologies for gap-filling capabilities, including SOD, ALD, CVD, and Flowable CVD. Our strategic acquisition of Versum Materials has expanded our capabilities with organosilicon precursors. Combined with our SOD expertise, it allows us to reengineer material backbones with more material choices and tailored properties to optimize performance in high-aspect-ratio applications.To support this, we’ve expanded our global R D footprint. We now operate in various application labs, enabling close collaboration with customers for material customization and fine-tuning properties to address specific manufacturing challenges. Last year, we inaugurated a new R D center in Korea as part of our commitment to being near our customers and accelerating time-to-market for next-generation semiconductor solutions. As semiconductor roadmaps become more complex, customization and collaboration also become more critical. The key to innovation lies in working closely with our customers, understanding their challenges, refining materials, and optimizing processes together. By fostering this ongoing partnership, we can accelerate technological advancements and ensure that new solutions align seamlessly with evolving industry demands.SEMI: Can you share some technical insights on SOD?Yamamoto: SOD is a key material used in semiconductor manufacturing to create insulating layers with high precision. One of the essential components in SOD is PHPS (Perhydropolysilazane), a polymer composed of silicon, nitrogen, and hydrogen. This material is applied as a liquid solution and transforms into a high-quality silicon oxide film through a series of thermal processes.PHPS is essential because it enables precise gap filling in extremely small structures, helping to improve device reliability. The process involves spin-coating the polymer onto a wafer, followed by pre-baking to remove solvents. Then, it undergoes high temperature curing in an oxygen and steam atmosphere, forming a dense silicon oxide film. This method ensures uniform coverage and cost efficiency compared to traditional dry film deposition techniques.Our Spinfil® product line has evolved over the past two decades, starting with the Spinfil® 400 series and advancing through the Spinfil® 600 to the widely used Spinfil® 800 series. These improvements have enhanced gap-filling capabilities and film uniformity, making them ideal for high-aspect-ratio trench structures. The critical baking process involves spin coating and pre-baking before wafers undergo batch processing in a high-temperature furnace. Controlled temperature and moisture conditions transform Spinfil® into silicon oxide films, optimizing properties such as refractive index, shrinkage, and etching resistance and ensuring reliability in semiconductor applications.SEMI: What are the latest trends in new polymer development for SOD?Yamamoto: Our research focuses on three key areas: enhancing film quality, developing SOD for high-aspect-ratio trench filling, and advancing low-k SOD for semiconductor processes.To improve film quality, we introduced the Neofil®series, an evolution of the Spinfil® 800 series. This innovation reduces film shrinkage, lowers stress, and enhances wet etching rates, making it ideal for next-generation semiconductor nodes.Our latest Neofil® series for high-aspect-ratio trench filling is targeted for traditional dry processes like CVD and ALD, which can often lead to void formation and require multiple deposition-etch steps. Our latest SOD materials address this by improving polymer elasticity, ensuring uniform filling of deep trenches up to 16 microns without cracks, making them suitable for emerging 3D nanostaircase designs.In low-k SOD development, we’re focusing on siloxane-based polymers, which provide excellent trench-filling capabilities while maintaining strong mechanical and electrical properties. Compared to flowable CVD and ALD, SOD offers a more cost-effective and efficient alternative. With continued advancements, we anticipate SOD will become a key material for future semi-damascene processes, enhancing embedding performance and overall device reliability.SEMI ContactSitong He, Communications Manager Email: [email protected]