The SEMI Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors (S3) program, now in its 4th year of inviting startups to apply, is pleased to announce the 35 startups chosen to move to the semi-finalist virtual pitch event happening July 31 and August 1. From this pool, 10-12 finalists will be chosen and invited to pitch to a live audience at SEMICON West 2025 in Phoenix, AZ, October 7-9, 2025. The committee, made up of experienced Corporate Venture Capitalists (CVCs) from the global semiconductor industry, received impressive submissions in all three categories identified for 2025:Sustainable Semiconductor ManufacturingSustainable Data CenterGen AI for Sustainable DesignLed by Applied Materials this year, the program’s strongest feature is the exposure to the CVCs, as well as the personal mentoring each semi-finalist receives. The mentoring topics are tailor made to align with the greatest need of the startup and can range from basic introduction to semiconductor manufacturing, to connecting them to funding sources. A full analysis of the program kicked off this year’s efforts. The program saw a 100% increase in applications to 145 this year and thus the pool of semifinalists expanded from 30 to 35. While geographically diverse, the semi-finalists all share their solutions for the building and use of more sustainable electronics. Are you an investor and would like to receive notice of the virtual and live pitch events around S3? Register your interest here.2025 S3 Semifinalists3D Architech, Inc.Boston, MA, USA 3D Architech develops and commercializes advanced cooling devices for AI chips using a proprietary gel-based metal 3D printing technology. Unlike conventional methods limited to 100-micron structures, our technology enables highly complex microstructures at 10-micron precision, achieving up to 60% improvement in cooling efficiency. Actasys Inc.Brooklyn, NY, USAActasys has developed a precision cooling solution designed for thermal bottlenecks in semiconductor-driven systems such as networking cards (NICs), DPUs, switches, and optical transceivers. Instead of cooling entire racks or server rooms ActaJet™ targets localized hotspots at the device level, delivering scalable, high-efficiency airflow through a compact, adaptive, and electronically controlled actuator system. AlixLabs ABLund, SwedenAlixLabs AB is developing a disruptive semiconductor manufacturing technology based on Atomic Layer Pitch Splitting (APS). It enables cost-effective and environmentally sustainable scaling of transistor architectures by doubling pattern density without requiring advanced lithography. The core product includes both the APS process and customized etching equipment that integrates into existing semiconductor fab workflows, reducing complexity, cost, and environmental impact.AllonniaBoston, MA, USAAllonnia™ Surface Active Foam Fractionation (SAFF) unit is a turnkey PFAS remediation system engineered for on-site deployment. The system employs foam fractionation to physically separate PFAS from contaminated water streams, including both long- and short-chain compounds. SAFF arrives in a standard container and requires only electrical power, influent, and effluent hookups, and is telemetry-enabled for remote monitoring and control.Alloy EnterprisesBurlington, VT, USAAlloy Enterprises develops and manufactures cold plates, manifolds, and integrated thermal solutions for liquid cooling GPUs, CPUs, and other high-performance components in data centers and semiconductor equipment. Alloy utilizes a patented Stack Forging® process to enable direct-to-chip cooling to improve thermal performance and reduce pressure drop by up to 40 times, enabling data centers to run 44°C water and reduce pumping power.AlsemySeoul, South KoreaAlsemy is building an AI-powered platform that bridges Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and EDA domains enabling fabless engineers to reflect manufacturing data characteristics in their chip designs, while process engineers can make data-driven decisions to optimize manufacturing processes for maximum chip performance. By connecting these traditionally siloed areas, a feedback loop is created to drive efficiency and innovation across the semiconductor value chain.Arieca IncPittsburgh, PA, USAArieca's adaptable Liquid Metal Embedded Elastomer (LMEE) technology, which blends liquid metal and polymer, delivers both thermal performance and mechanical reliability. LMEEs are a cost-effective, dispensable emulsion that is compatible with existing high volume manufacturing tools and allows for low pressure spreading and excellent wetting. Atomos 3DWest Lafayette, IN, USAAtomos 3D offers low temperature transistor technology for monolithic 3D chip integrationCoflux Purification, IncHouston, TX, USACoflux Purification is developing a modular, point-of-use reactor system that both captures and destroys PFAS in semiconductor wastewater using our patent-pending Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs). These materials serve as photocatalytic adsorbents, combining high surface area, tunable porosity, and chemical stability to enable efficient PFAS adsorption and UV-driven degradation within a compact, modular system ensuring smooth operational deployment. CoolSem TechnologiesEindhoven, The NetherlandsCoolSem is developing a breakthrough thermal management technology for semiconductor devices. The Wafer Level Thermal Interface Stack (WLTIS) enables 1) up to 15x better thermal management; 2) 25-55°C lower chip temperatures; 3) 2-4° increase in device performance, reliability, and lifespan; and 4) up to 30-50% reduction in cooling energy needs. CoolSem help handle the exploding demand for AI training and inference without proportional increases in power usage or carbon footprint.CuspAICambridge, UKCuspAI is building an engine that combines Gen AI models, virtual twins, and active learning pipelines for simulation to develop sustainable materials solutions that address critical environmental challenges, including, environmentally-friendly etching reagents, specialized sorbents for emissions capture, and novel catalysts for manufacturing waste remediation. The engine has already proven successful in designing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for carbon capture and PFAS removal from water.FlexiramicsEnshede, The NetherlandsFlexiramics® is a flexible, 100% ceramic fiber material engineered as a drop-in replacement for PCB substrates. It dramatically improves heat dissipation and signal integrity in high-performance electronics, enabling faster, cooler, and more reliable semiconductor systems.FluorityxWatertown, MA, USAFluorityx is commercializing a portable low-cost polymer sensor for PFAS. This fast and efficient system will be able to measure low concentrations of PFAS and replace expensive equipment and does not require highly trained staff to operate and maintain the equipment.Forever AnalyticalSouth Bend, IN, USAForever Analytical is developing a field-deployable sensor capable of providing real-time total fluorine (TF) mass-balance information. The company is also developing a mass-spectroscopy based solution that can be coupled with the sensor to provide information on the specific PFAS molecules present in the waste stream and can be adapted to measure other contamination of interest, such as heavy metals, lead, and copper.Gallox Semiconductors Inc.Ithaca, NY, USAGallox Semiconductors is dedicated to commercializing beta-gallium oxide (Ga2O3)-based transistors and diodes. Our patented device topologies take advantage of Ga2O3's large bandgap (~4.8 eV), which enables lower conduction losses and higher voltage handling compared to SiC. Higher voltage operation means greater power densities and system-level efficiency, effectively generating less waste heat and reducing both energy loss and cooling burdens.IC Recovery, a Division of Greene Lyon Group, Inc.Beverly, MA, USAIC Recovery's multi-patented CHIP-RENEW® technology uses a proprietary process to apply a unique thermal fluid to the surface of PCBs until the solder alloy attaching chips and other components to the board substrate reaches temperature liquidus. At that point, we can selectively recover functionally valuable chips for renewal and reuse, and/or harvest all other chips and components on the board in order to concentrate their content for subsequent, sustainable refining.icspiKitchener, ON, CanadaIcspi has created a complete atomic force microscope (AFM) scan head on a 1 mm x 1 mm chip - 1 million times smaller than traditional AFMs and the future of nanoscale semiconductor metrology and inspection powered by arrays of thousands of micro-AFM devices. The technology boosts wafer coverage and speeds time-to-yield and reduces scrap. Kelvin Cooling Inc.Berkeley, CA, USAKelvin Cooling introduces high-efficiency nano-film evaporation cooling technology - enhancing thermal management by increasing heat transfer efficiency while reducing power consumption. This thin-film evaporation system enables direct-to-chip cooling, in a compact, scalable, and energy-efficient platform.LinqueMunich, GermanyLinque provides an integrated photonic switch (IPS) enabling AI-capable network nodes with reconfigurable all-optical routing for high data-rate channels with ultra-low latencies suitable for scale-out and scale-up layers of data center networks.Makr MicrosystemsBangalore, IndiaMakr Microsystems has developed a novel approach to AcousticAtomic Force Microscope (AFM) that uses common AFM instrumentation and simplifies interpretation, with a modified probe geometry that enables both acoustic transduction and sensing. We have demonstrated nanometer scale imaging from samples with shallow and deep subsurface structures.MatnexLondon, UKMatnex platform uses AI to rapidly scan the periodic table, allows input of objectives (functional electronic, optical, or mechanical properties) and constraints (element exclusions, intrinsic price, emission limits, etc.), and then searches a proprietary database to identify suitable stable candidates and their production methods. This provides fit-for-purpose materials that reduce environmental impact, improve the bottom line, and open new markets with technological breakthroughs.Mixx Technologies, Inc.San Jose, CA, USAMixx Technologies is a deep-tech startup building next-generation optical interconnect solutions to deliver non-blocking, energy-efficient data movement. The advanced 3DS platform enables petabit level end-to-end connectivity for AI workloads resulting in sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective scaling. The 3DS platform comprised of the engine, package and system, enables seamless deployment of the optical IO chiplet.Nano Performance Technologies Ltd.Coquitlam, BC, CanadaNano Performance Technologies (NPT) is developing next-generation nanomaterials, specifically, Tellurene and Bismuthene (2D materials) and ultra-pure gold nanoparticle, for use in semiconductors, quantum computing, and advanced biosensing. The innovation is the scalable production and commercialization of these materials. The platform combines IP from Purdue University with in-house lab capabilities, enabling a supply of application-ready nanomaterials to R D and manufacturing partners.NextGO EpiBerlin, GermanyNextGo Epi delivers high-quality and large-scale Gallium Oxide epiwafer for high-voltage (up to 10kV-level) applications that are durable in high-temperature operations and environments with high radiation levels.NextoarBangalore, IndiaNextoar is a deeptech AI startup, focused on using AI to train the frontline fab technicians, equipment engineers, maintenance engineers, test engineers, service engineers, etc., and others closest to the action. The system will make them part of the innovation engine by, augmenting frontline workers, amplifying their business impact and creating continuously innovating organizations.PhysicsXNew York, NY, USAThe PhysicsX platform is an AI-driven simulation software stack designed to speed up traditional numerical simulations, optimizes components within defined constraints, and generate innovative geometries using generative Large Geometry Models (LGMs). The technology seamlessly integrates into enterprise engineering workflows, driving tangible improvements in product design, manufacturing, and operations and has several successful implementations in the electronics ecosystem.Point2 TechnologySan Jose, CA, USAPoint2 designs and manufactures mixed-signal interconnect SoCs for terabit data transmission, to overcome the barriers of copper and optical cabling to accelerate AI interconnect in GPU cluster scale-up. e-Tube technology uses an RF Transmitter SoC to convert data from the electrical to the RF domain for transmission over plastic waveguides, with the RF Receiver SoC converting the data from the RF domain back to the electrical domain.PROUDLausanne, SwitzerlandPROUD's patented diamond-layer technology with the highest heat dissipation capacity ( 1000 W/m.K) of any existing material, deposited on chips, allows a direct upgrade in heat extraction, power output and efficiency.Scrona AGZurich, AustriaScrona has developed a scalable multi-nozzle electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printhead for additive microfabrication in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. This MEMS-based 128-nozzle printhead enables sub-10 nm resolution, ultra-low material use, and wide material compatibility, including metals, dielectrics, and polymers. It replaces wasteful lithography and etching with direct-write precision printing, significantly reducing energy, water, and chemical consumption in an automation-ready format.SKYRE, Inc.East Hartford, MA, USASKYRE develops and manufactures products for on-site purification and pressurization of process hydrogen and makes it available for reuse at the fab facility. The hardware is highly reliable with low maintenance costs with equal or better quality and lower cost than merchant hydrogen or onsite hydrogen generation.SyentaSydney, AustraliaSyenta has developed LEM - Localized Electrochemical Modelling - a process for depositing metal patterns using a local electrochemical process. The pattern is created on a stamp, which then prints the pattern on the substrate in an additive process.Terecircuits CorporationMountain View, CA, USATerecircuits develops advanced material solutions for heterogeneous assembly of small, fragile, and thinned components, Chiplets, sensors, power devices, and passives. The process is ideal for achieving scale with reduced waste; while meeting critical assembly challenges such as 3D assembly, silicon carbide die attach, flexible circuits, and optics. Vertical HorizonsCambridge, MA, USAVertical Horizons is a fabless semiconductor company commercializing vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors to revolutionize energy efficiency. Vertical GaN reduces energy losses by up to 30% and doubles power density, enabling a 50% reduction in system footprint. This innovation tackles the urgent need for a new generation of power infrastructure designed to scale AI, and high-density and high-power applications.Vionano Innovations IncSt. Paul, MN, USAVioNano Innovations is building a patterning platform to enable advanced feature scaling using self-assembling polymer brush materials. The system enables polymers over 193 nm DUV lithography patterns to double feature density without requiring ALD/CVD or etch steps. The result is a low-energy, high-resolution process for sub-20 nm features using existing infrastructure.XLYNX MaterialsVictoria, BC, CanadaXLYNX designs and manufactures a revolutionary family of polymer crosslinkers. These reagents are uniquely able to cure virtually ANY aliphatic polymer, by harnessing high-yielding insertions to carbon-hydrogen bonds. Curing can be triggered thermally (at temperatures as low as 80°C) or photochemically (using either UV or blue light). Heidi Hoffman is Senior Director, Marketing Sustainability at SEMI.

The semiconductor industry faces an uncomfortable contradiction. Markets are expanding and demand continues rising, but the talent pool is shrinking.By 2030, the industry will need to add 1 million skilled workers globally, with shortages of over 100,000 engineers in Europe and more than 200,000 engineers in Asia-Pacific. This expansion requires at least 100,000 second-line leaders and 10,000 third-line leaders—many of whom must come from outside the industry.Markets Keep Growing, Leadership Doesn'tThe industry's outlook remains optimistic. Nearly one in five (19%) semiconductor executives anticipate continued demand growth without inventory excess in the next four years. Global sales hit $627.6 billion in 2024—a 19.1% increase driven by AI advancements, consumer electronics demand, 5G adoption, and automotive innovation.Governments are backing this growth with large investments too. The European Chips Act aims to double the EU's production share to 20% by 2030 with €43 billion. Companies like NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, and STMicroelectronics are expanding. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) remains the world's largest contract chipmaker. The UK government unveiled a £1 billion strategy over 10 years, while the CHIPS and Science Act allocated $52.7 billion for US manufacturing and research.But there aren't enough semiconductor leaders to manage this growth.The Education CrisisThe talent shortage begins in universities. Electrical engineering and computer science enrollment has been declining for years. Germany saw 6.5% fewer STEM students in 2021 than the previous year.An analysis of recent data shows concerning patterns. While Germany had 81,934 electrical engineering students in 2018, Ireland had only 742 new electrical engineering students in 2017. The United States awarded just 13,767 bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering in 2018.Retirement and Skills GapsWhile universities produce fewer graduates, experienced leaders are retiring. One-third of US semiconductor employees are 55 or older. In Germany, one-third of the workforce will retire within the next decade.The job itself is also changing. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have surpassed systems architecture as the most sought-after skills in European markets. Software engineers specializing in embedded programming are becoming more important than traditional design engineers.Competition and TurnoverThe semiconductor industry competes with other tech sectors for talent, and ninety-two percent of tech leaders report challenges finding skilled workers.Employee turnover is accelerating as well. Fifty-three percent of semiconductor workers were expected to resign in early 2024, compared to 40% in 2021. Top reasons include lack of career development (34%) and insufficient workplace flexibility (33%).Geographic ChallengesManufacturing concentration creates additional problems. Taiwan handles 65% of global manufacturing, China 15%, South Korea 12%, and the US 12%. Despite this, U.S.-based companies hold roughly 46.3% of global market share.Each region has developed different skill sets, making it difficult to move leaders across markets.What Companies Are DoingAbout 60% of senior executives believe semiconductor companies have weak employer brands compared to higher-profile tech companies. Many are working to change this through competitive compensation, improved work-life balance, and better career opportunities.Some companies are expanding their search beyond traditional candidates, too. Seventy-three percent now use skills-based hiring, focusing on capability rather than traditional backgrounds. Others target adjacent tech sectors for executives with transferable skills.Retention has become more important as well. With the tech industry's 13.2% attrition rate, companies are investing in career progression and workplace flexibility.Diversity initiatives are also still gaining traction worldwide. Women represent only 17% of semiconductor tech roles, compared to 23% in the industrial sector.The semiconductor industry's future depends on solving this talent paradox. Companies that act decisively to attract, develop, and retain leadership talent will be best positioned to capitalize on market opportunities.About the AuthorJan-Bart Smits is Managing Partner at Stanton Chase Amsterdam and Global Subsector Leader for the Semiconductor industry.

In a letter sent to the United States Congress, SEMI, the leading industry association serving the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, and 16 member companies urged Congress include in reconciliation an expansion and extension of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. The letter calls for the expansion of eligibility for the federal investment tax credit (ITC) to make the entire semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, as well as R D and design expenditures eligible for the ITC and extend the credit beyond the current 2026 expiration date—to allow sufficient time to plan and execute investments. The U.S. semiconductor market is growing to meet the needs of critical technology applications like artificial intelligence (AI), telecommunications, and bioengineering that rely on semiconductors. That growth requires increased investment for upstream materials, chemicals, and electronic design automation (EDA), which are currently excluded from receiving the tax credit (also known as Sec. 48D). Excluding these critical manufacturing and R D projects undermines domestic investment efforts potentially ceding U.S. leadership and competitiveness. Semiconductor infrastructure requires billions of dollars in upfront investment, and tax incentives are essential to help offset these exorbitant costs. A competitive tax environment encourages semiconductor companies to invest in the U.S., strengthening domestic manufacturing and innovation while helping the U.S. meet its goals of maintaining global leadership with lower-cost regions also providing incentives.Also, the credit expires at the end of 2026, leaving insufficient planning and implementation time for the billions in upfront investment required to support semiconductor infrastructure in the United States. To support the success, growth, and innovation of the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem, SEMI and its members urge Congress to include in the reconciliation package:Expansion of the Sec. 48D tax credit for the entire supply chain—as included in the SEMI Investment Act (S. 1642)Extension of the credit to allow enough time for businesses to plan and execute needed investments as included in the BASIC Act (H.R. 3204)Recognition of R D and design expenditures as eligible Sec. 48D projects as included in the STAR Act (H.R. 802)These inclusions are crucial to maintain U.S. competitiveness in attracting global semiconductor industry investments.The letter was signed by CEOs or presidents of the following leading companies: SEMI; ASML; ASM; Advantest America, Inc.; Axcelis Technologies Inc.; Brewer Science; Chemours; Dupont’s Electronics business, and Qnity™; Entegris; Evatec NA, Inc.; EFC Gases Advanced Materials; GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.; Lam Research Corporation; Micron Technology; Tokyo Electron America, Inc. TEL Manufacturing and Engineering of America, Inc.; SACHEM, Inc.; SkyWater Technology.Visit SEMI Global Advocacy to learn more about public policy efforts and developments as well as how your company or organization can get involved.Christina Banoub, Senior Manager, Federal Affairs at SEMI.

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.

Congress has committed billions of dollars to expand America’s domestic advanced manufacturing capacity in semiconductors and related technologies. To speed up the reshoring process, President Trump established the office of Investment Accelerator in the Commerce Department to streamline government rules on investment, permitting, and site selection that historically have caused inordinate construction delays. The Investment Accelerator is a major step in rebuilding our nation’s technological manufacturing infrastructure. Equally critical is a skilled workforce to build trusted tech supply chains. The semiconductor industry worries that there won’t be enough workers to fill the supply chains. Shari Liss, Vice President, Global Workforce Development Initiatives, has said “my biggest fear is investing in all this infrastructure and not having the people to work there.” The fear appears warranted. A 2022 McKinsey Company report cited a projected shortfall of 300,000 engineers and 90,000 skilled technicians by 2030. To fill those jobs, workers need to know where to find them. Federal, state, and local governments can help promote such opportunities through various job centers and agency websites. But an essential piece of the puzzle are private-sector staffing firms that know how to find, place, and manage the talent supply chains manufacturers need. The staffing industry is uniquely qualified to meet this challenge. For more than eighty years, staffing firms have been the nation’s premier experts in recruiting, screening, and onboarding trusted talent, both temporary and permanent, in every job category. The last point is important because in addition to engineers and other STEM occupations, the construction and operation of advanced chip manufacturing plants requires large numbers of workers in ancillary and support roles, including managerial, administrative, human resources, legal, finance and accounting, health care, and industrial. The staffing industry has a proven track record of helping businesses quickly gain access to qualified talent. During the COVID-19 crisis, companies turned to staffing firms to supply workers to produce and deliver food, drugs, and other necessities, and nurses to augment overstressed hospital and nursing home staffs. The American Staffing Association partnered with retailers to fill openings for store clerks, warehouse workers, and forklift drivers at essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies. The Investment Accelerator will transform our technological infrastructure and create hundreds of thousands of great new jobs. Staffing firms’ demonstrated expertise in finding trusted talent makes them an essential partner in achieving President Trump’s goal of bringing those jobs back home. Matt Vuckov is the founder and CEO of TalentCraft, a strategic staffing partner based in the Chicagoland area, specializing in talent solutions for industries including healthcare, technology, government policy, and life sciences and biotech. With a strong focus on reshoring and semiconductor innovation, TalentCraft connects organizations with top talent to drive digital transformation and workforce development.In addition to leading TalentCraft, Matthew serves as Chair of the Engineering, IT, and Scientific Section Council and leads the ASA Reshoring Task Force, advocating for workforce strategies to support critical manufacturing and technology sectors in the U.S.Passionate about the future of work, Matthew leverages strategic partnerships with organizations like Purdue University’s Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy to help companies scale through skilled talent that fuels business growth and national impact.

The semiconductor industry's approach to equipment automation has evolved from early serial interfaces to modern, data-centric architectures. From the early SECS/GEM standards to the GEM300 suite and the more recent Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA) suite, all efforts reflect a deeper level of automation, standardization, and data richness. This approach shows both alignment with global trends, and at times, deliberate divergence to address domain-specific requirements. In the 1980s, SEMI introduced the SECS-I and SECS-II standards, which enabled structured communication between manufacturing equipment and host systems. SECS-I focused on physical connections, initially using the serial RS-232 protocol, while SECS-II defined standardized messages for event reporting, status updates, and command execution. At that time, other industries mostly operated with proprietary protocols, though Modbus had emerged as an open, widely adopted serial protocol for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). However, there was limited convergence in higher-layer communication models, and factories generally consisted of isolated systems with minimal integration. The early 1990s saw the introduction of the Generic Equipment Model (GEM) standard, which brought greater maturity to the semiconductor communication landscape. Built on SECS-II, GEM introduced structured states, events, and behaviors, making it easier to integrate and control equipment consistently across vendors. GEM effectively enforced a uniform interaction pattern, enabling semiconductor fabs to achieve better interoperability. During this same period, other industries began formalizing their own frameworks. For example, ISA-88, released in 1995, introduced modular batch process control models, and OLE for Process Control (OPC) offered a Windows-based, vendor-neutral standard interface for accessing device-level data. While these initiatives complimented GEM in spirit, they had a different focus. GEM specified behavior and interaction rules, whereas OPC initially addressed data access layers without enforcing equipment behavior. By the late 1990s, the semiconductor manufacturing industry was transitioning from 200mm to 300mm wafers, which demanded significantly more automation and coordination. To address these demands, SEMI introduced the GEM300 standard suite, extending GEM to cover advanced topics such as carrier management, substrate tracking, and process job execution. Standards such as E87, E90, and E94 became essential for fully automated 300mm fabs. GEM300 stood out not only for its functional scope, but also because compliance became mandatory for semiconductor equipment vendors. These requirements ensured a level of standardization and integration discipline that few other industries could replicate at the time.Semiconductor Multi-Chamber Cluster ToolAlthough the GEM300 advanced automation control in fabs, the need for richer, high-volume data collection became apparent in the 2000s. SECS/GEM interfaces, which were optimized for event and state messages, were not well suited for high-frequency sensor data or complex analytics. In response, SEMI developed the EDA standards, also known as Interface A, which introduced a parallel communication channel alongside GEM specifically designed for structured, high-throughput data access. Using the web technologies available at the time, including SOAP/XML over HTTP, EDA enabled factory systems to subscribe to live data streams and query metadata about equipment models, sensors, and events. The EDA initiative reflected the same architectural shift seen in broader industrial automation during the 2000s. The introduction of OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) in 2006 marked a similar leap forward. Unlike its predecessor, OPC-UA was not dependent on Windows and introduced secure, cross-platform, service-oriented communication. Like EDA, it supported information modeling, enabling machines to describe their structure, capabilities, and data points in a standardized format. The convergence of metadata-driven interfaces, platform neutrality, and secure, service-based communication indicated that the semiconductor industry's data needs were part of a broader transformation in how factories operate, instead of an isolated phenomenon.SEMI diverged from broader industrial practices in making this transition by maintaining two distinct communication channels in parallel. SECS/GEM extended through GEM300 and remained the standard for equipment control, basic state reporting, and process coordination. Conversely, EDA became a dedicated channel for high-speed, high-bandwidth data access. This dual-path strategy enabled semiconductor fabs to maintain the reliability and maturity of SECS/GEM-based automation while facilitating more flexible and scalable data acquisition through EDA. Many other industries, in contrast, aimed to unify these functionalities within a single protocol stack, such as OPC-UA, which evolved to handle both command and data semantics. However, the rate and scope of adoption differed between the semiconductor and general manufacturing sectors. Semiconductor fabs benefited from strict standard enforcement. Procurement contracts often mandated compliance with SEMI standards, accelerating uniform implementation. In contrast, other industries had to contend with legacy systems, vendor fragmentation, and less centralized enforcement. This resulted in a more gradual adoption of technologies. Although conceptually aligned, broader industry standards tended to offer flexibility and generality rather than the prescriptive depth seen in the semiconductor sector.By the 2010s, the push for digital transformation, predictive analytics, and machine learning had placed new demands on communication infrastructure. SEMI’s EDA framework began to show its age due to the performance limitations inherent in SOAP and XML. Meanwhile, RESTful APIs, JSON, and lightweight publish-subscribe (pub-sub) models were becoming the norm in IT, and increasingly, OT environments. OPC-UA added support for MQTT and UDP-based pub-sub messaging, and many manufacturers started using cloud-native communication frameworks for telemetry and remote monitoring. Recognizing the need for modernization, SEMI initiated EDA Freeze 3. This update replaced XML and SOAP with HTTP/2 and gRPC and uses protocol buffers for compact, efficient data serialization. Originally developed for high-performance web and cloud systems, these technologies significantly reduced latency and bandwidth usage. EDA Freeze 3 effectively aligns semiconductor data acquisition infrastructure with the latest IT paradigms. This mirrors the direction taken by leading manufacturers in other sectors who are beginning to explore gRPC, microservices, and streaming architectures as part of their factory modernization efforts.Despite this alignment, SEMI standards remain distinct in their specialization. They are tailored specifically to the needs of high-mix, high-precision, and high-throughput semiconductor manufacturing. This focus enables them to define precise control and data behaviors; however, it also makes them less transferable to other industrial domains. General standards, such as Ethernet/IP, ProfiNet, and OPC-UA, were designed with cross-sector applicability in mind. As such, they evolve with broader consensus, but they often lack the specificity required for the complex integration scenarios found in semiconductor fabs. The rise of AI, digital twins, and cloud-based control frameworks across industries is pushing everyone toward data-driven, interoperable systems. Whether the payload is a command for a lithography tool or a vibration stream from a packaging robot, the principles are converging. Communication standards must now be interoperable, contextual, secure, and scalable.In conclusion, the evolution of SEMI standards reflects a domain-specific response to challenges in semiconductor manufacturing and broader participation in global industrial trends. From SECS/GEM to GEM300 and now EDA Freeze 3, each step has paralleled broader movements in industrial communication, often anticipating or reinforcing them. The result is a mature, high-performance communication stack that shares architectural foundations with its counterparts in other sectors, while preserving the specialization that makes it effective for the semiconductor industry.About Dr. Fahad GolraAs Director of Product Innovation for Agileo Automation, Dr. Fahad Golra drives next-generation solutions in connectivity, data modeling, and communication architectures. Since joining the company in 2019, he has been a key force behind Agileo’s push toward Industry 4.0, championing interoperability, digital twins, and edge-to-cloud systems. With 15 years of experience spanning academia, research, and industry, Fahad brings deep technical insight and thought leadership to the semiconductor industry. An active contributor to SEMI and the OPC Foundation, he’s a frequent speaker at global industry events and a published author advancing the dialogue around smart manufacturing and automation.

“Critical minerals our world needs for electric vehicles and semiconductors can be found here. Clean energy we need to power artificial intelligence data centers and economic growth can be built here.”[1] This statement was made by former US President Joseph Biden during his visit to Angola in December 2024 to support a US-funded railroad project called the Lobito Corridor. The railroad would connect mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to a port on the western coast of Africa, an important step towards expanding access to critical minerals needed for growth of the semiconductor and energy industry in the west. According to the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), “there is no universally agreed upon definition of what ‘criticality’ means…criticality is also very country- and context-specific, particularly with respect to mineral endowment, the relative importance of the minerals to industrial and economic development, and a strategic assessment of supply risks and volatility.”[2] In other words, the term “critical mineral” may vary by location, application, and current events. Many countries have generated their own lists of critical minerals to help guide legislation, budgetary allocations and diplomatic efforts. For example, the United States Geological Survey released a list of “50 mineral commodities critical to the US economy and national security” in 2022 which included 10 minerals that were directly linked to semiconductors and electronics.[3] These included arsenic, dysprosium, gallium, lutetium, rhodium, ruthenium, tantalum, terbium, tin, and tungsten. Other lists might include cobalt, copper, and sometimes uranium. For most countries that make chips and electronics, critical minerals are both essential for supporting their industry and also hard to find within their own borders.While downstream electronics and semiconductor manufacturers are often located in countries with robust labor protections, the extraction of raw minerals too often takes place under less humane circumstances. In April 2024, the UN Secretary General launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to address the challenges associated with responsible extraction of critical minerals. One of the motivations for the formation of the panel was the concern about human rights violations related to mineral extraction. “Mining, at all scales, large and small, has too often been linked with human rights abuses, environmental degradation and conflict.”[4] The term “conflict mineral” has a much narrower definition than critical mineral, and usually only refers to tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, also known as ‘3TG’. This definition is often used in policy frameworks, such as the US Dodd-Frank 1502 Act[5] and the European Union (EU) Regulation 2017/821[6]. These four minerals were identified as a major source of income for armed groups in the DRC, fueling a decades long war that has claimed more than 6 million lives since the start of the Second Congo War in 1996.[7] For example, in May 2024, armed groups from Rwanda captured a town in the Congo with the largest coltan mine in the country, which is the second largest producer in the world of the ore that is refined to make tantalum - a key component of capacitors. The incursion helped to finance the armed group, collecting at least $800,000 per month in taxes.[8] Over the past 15 years, several frameworks have emerged to address the conflicts and tensions stemming from extraction of critical minerals. A common framework within the semiconductor industry was written by the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is an intergovernmental economic organization founded in 1948 (then known as OEEC) to “build better policies for better lives.” The organization publishes several guidelines, including the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct[9] (see suggested measures in Figure 1) and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas with focuses specifically on 3TG minerals.[10] These guidelines provide a structure through which companies and organizations might address human rights and environmental issues that may arise from their or their suppliers’ operations. Figure 1: Due Diligence Process and Supporting Measures from the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct (2018)Several regulations have been implemented by governing bodies to prevent financing of armed groups through procurement of conflict minerals. In the United States, Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires certain companies to “publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country.”[11] Also known as the “Disclosure Rule,” a company must file a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) describing the source and chain of custody of its conflict minerals, and must also conform to a nationally or internationally recognized due diligence standard such as the OECD guidelines. Similarly, the EU Regulation 2017/821 refers to the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines and calls on companies within the EU to monitor, audit and disclose procurement of conflict minerals. In 2024, the EU furthered its efforts to address human rights and environmental issues by adopting the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU CSDDD). This directive will require all companies that do business within the EU, regardless of country of origin, to monitor their supply chains for labor and environmental violations or risk penalty.Given the tremendous effort by the industry to address the conflict associated with 3TG minerals, it is unclear whether these efforts have had an effect. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which serves as the federal government’s watchdog agency and is tasked with providing Congress with independent, nonpartisan information, has been reporting on issues related to conflict minerals in the DRC since 2010. Kimberly Gianopoulos, Managing Director of GAO’s International Affairs and Trade Team, has led this body of work over time, including GAO’s most recent report, which was published in October 2024. Gianopoulos stated that, “although it has been over a decade since the SEC issued its conflict minerals disclosure rule in 2012, GAO’s most recent report found that there is no empirical evidence that the rule has decreased violence in the eastern DRC, where many mines and armed groups are located, and that a majority of companies that conduct due diligence on their mineral supply chains continue to report being unable to determine the origins of minerals used in their products.” The 2024 Conflict Minerals report can be found here: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107018.Regulatory approaches are only one way in which the semiconductor industry interacts with conflict mineral issues. Many companies and industry associations have implemented their own initiatives and formed associations to share resources to trace materials and collect supplier information. One such industry association is the Responsible Business Alliance’s Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI). Jennifer Peyser, the executive director of the RMI, stated that the initiative “supports over 500 downstream, midstream, and upstream member companies with a suite of due diligence standards and tools, data, guidance, training, and other resources for global responsible sourcing and regulatory compliance. Our facility and supply chain due diligence standards are rooted in longstanding international norms while reflecting emerging corporate and stakeholder priorities for regulatory compliance, managing sustainability risks and impacts, and fostering responsible mineral supply chains.” More information about the RMI can be found here: www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org.Recently, SEMI has formed a new Responsible Supply Chain (RSC) working group under its Supply Chain Management initiative to provide a platform for enabling traceability and provenance across the supply chain to meet government regulations on conflict minerals and unfair labor practices. This new working group aims to bring together SEMI member companies to raise awareness of key issues, share resources, and advocate effective regulations and standards. The working group is comprised of SEMI member company employees from a wide range of backgrounds, including sustainability managers, supply chain experts and process engineers. If you are interested in joining our discussions, please visit our website for more information: https://www.semi.org/en/industry-groups/supply-chain-management. On July 9 at 8am Pacific/11am Eastern, the SEMI Responsible Supply Chain working group will host a webinar featuring a roundtable discussion with Jennifer Peyser, Executive Director of the Responsible Business Alliance’s Responsible Minerals Initiative, and Kimberly Gianopoulos, Managing Director of the International Affairs and Trade Team at the US Government Accountability Office, including Q A for attendees to join the discussion. Visit https://www.semi.org/en/event/critical-minerals-due-diligence-and-semiconductor-supply-chain to register.Other upcoming events include a panel discussion at SEMICON West, October 7-9, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona!Author Bio:Dr. Kimberly Harrison Ph.D is a Senior MEMS Designer with AMFitzgerald Associates, a design firm located in the Bay Area California. She has a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and has worked as a designer and process engineer in the semiconductor industry for 10 years. She was nominated as a 2022 MEMS Sensors Industry Group Emerging Leader. As a founding member and leader of the SEMI Responsible Supply Chain Working Group, she hopes to bring SEMI members together to discuss solutions to human rights issues in the semiconductor supply chain.References:[1] Remarks by President Biden Participating in the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit in Benguela, Angola (December 4, 2024). https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/12/04/remarks-by-president-biden-participating-in-the-lobito-corridor-trans-africa-summit-benguela-angola/[2] Critical Minerals: A Primer (November 1, 2022). https://www.igfmining.org/resource/critical-minerals-primer/[3] https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/us-geological-survey-releases-2022-list-critical-minerals[4] Resourcing the Energy Transition: Principles to Guide Critical Energy Transition Minerals Towards Equity and Justice (April 11, 2024). https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/critical-minerals[5] https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/small-business-compliance-guides/conflict-minerals-disclosure[6] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/821/oj/eng[7] Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (March 20, 2025). https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo[8] The Evidence that Shows Rwanda is Backing Rebels in DR Congo (January 29, 2025) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgyzl1mlkvo[9] OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct (February 1, 2018). https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-due-diligence-guidance-for-responsible-business-conduct_15f5f4b3-en.html[10] OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, 3rd edition (April 6, 2016). https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-due-diligence-guidance-for-responsible-supply-chains-of-minerals-from-conflict-affected-and-high-risk-areas_9789264252479-en.html[11] https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/small-business-compliance-guides/conflict-minerals-disclosure

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

Driven by the recovery of the overall semiconductor market and rising demand for advanced materials for high-performance computing (HPC) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing, global semiconductor materials revenue rose 3.8% year-over-year in 2024. At the heart of this momentum, Strategic Materials Conference (SMC) Korea 2025 brought together approximately 300 industry leaders on May 14 to discuss bold innovation roadmaps and the evolving challenges of the new AI-driven era.Celebrating its 10th edition, SMC Korea served as a convergence point for leaders across the semiconductor ecosystem—including materials suppliers, equipment manufacturers, chipmakers, and academia.“This year’s SMC Korea has recorded the highest level of Q A engagement. A full hour was dedicated solely to an audience-driven panel discussion, where questions ranged from materials technology and business to semiconductor process roadmaps and market outlook. The depth and interactivity of the dialogue reflected the standards of leading technical conferences. Some attendees even noted that it surpassed any academic or industry symposium currently held in Korea,” said Oh Kim, Co-chair of the EMG Korea Chapter and representative of Air Liquide Solutions Korea.Exploring Next-Gen Technologies: 3D DRAM and CFETThe first session focused on next-generation semiconductor technologies, highlighting the future of materials and processes for 3D DRAM and Complementary FET (CFET) devices.Dr. SukKoo Hong, Head of the Material Development team at Samsung Electronics, kicked off the session by outlining a roadmap for materials innovation in 3D DRAM and CFET. Dr. Hong emphasized key technical challenges in the development of 3D DRAM and CFET, highlighting the need for continued innovation in process integration and material engineering. Building on this, Dr. Hong stressed the increasing complexity of material processes and the critical need for tight cross-industry collaboration.Dr. Inhee Lee, Director of imec’s Active Memory Program, highlighted the diminishing improvements in DRAM scaling and emphasized the urgent need for new high-k materials to enable higher density in next-generation 3D DRAM and 4F² DRAM architectures. Dr. Lee emphasized the need for further validation on performance shifts and data retention time resulting from changes in channel materials and architectures.Professor Changhwan Choi of Hanyang University presented key material and process trends for CFET devices, focusing on monolithic and sequential integration as well as Backside Power Delivery Network BSPDN) technologies.The session also featured a presentation by Linghzhi Zhang, Director of Product Management at Air Liquide Advanced Materials focused on “Si, Ge, B Hydrides for Next Generation Semiconductor Devices – Challenges and Perspectives.”The Future of Semiconductor Materials: Market Trends and Innovation StrategiesThe second session highlighted semiconductor materials from multiple perspectives, including market outlooks, advanced technology solutions, and strategic responses to industry challenges.Dr. Prayudi Lianto, Technology Manager at Applied Materials, discussed the technical barriers currently facing HBM, particularly the stacking height limitations. Dr. Lianto highlighted the importance of advanced packaging technologies such as through-silicon via (TSV) and hybrid bonding, and emphasized the critical role of material innovations. Key challenges include void formation during TSV gapfill and developing robust bonding strength and interfacial metals for low-temperature hybrid bonding.Andy Tuan of Linx Consulting provided a market outlook centered on macroeconomic shifts and evolving supply chain structures. Tuan noted that while the semiconductor industry is undergoing a short-term correction, the materials market continues to grow steadily—driven by 300mm logic, DRAM, and 3D NAND. Tuan projected that demand for process materials such as lithography, deposition, and CMP will see a notable recovery post-2025.Dr. Deoksin Kil, Senior Fellow at SK hynix, underscored the growing significance of advanced process materials—including high-performance photoresists, functional chemicals, and CMP slurries—as enablers of semiconductor scaling and 3D evolution. Dr. Kil also stressed the need to maintain consistent quality and supply chain resilience, while pursuing sustainability through low-GWP gases and PFAS-free materials.The session also featured the following presentations:Yohan Ahn, Senior Director, Entegris: “Technological Trends and Necessity of Material Contamination and Filtration for Wafer Defectivity Control in HBM Manufacturing”Dr. Mikko Utriainen, Chipmetrics: “Advancing ALD Tool Qualification Using Ultra-High-Aspect-Ratio Test Structures”SEMI Korea extends its gratitude to all SMC Korea 2025 sponsors for making this insightful conference possible. Dongwoo Fine-chemJSR Electronic Materials KoreaHuntsman Performance ProductsUP ChemicalDuPont Electronics IndustrialDongjin SemichemSK trichemTEMCEntegrisAir Liquide Solutions KoreaJaegwan Shim is Senior Specialist, Marketing at SEMI.