Renesas Electronics

The air we breathe is precious yet neglected as anthropogenic pollutants continue to pour into the earth’s atmosphere. Still, there’s hope that greenhouse gas emissions – and the human behavior behind them – can be brought under control for the good of the planet with the help of gas sensors that gauge pollutant levels.Of the many air pollutants, some are more detrimental to our health than others. Figure 1 lists the top seven pollutants, their chief sources and health effects. The Air Quality Index is calculated by combining values from particles and four gases (carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide). The good news is that gas sensors are available in the market that can monitor each of those pollutants.Figure 1 – Top seven pollutants and their health effects. Source: EPA Air Sensor Guidebook The challenge is that many gas sensor end users today have little understanding of how to compare the performance characteristics of sensors offered by various vendors. SEMI is working to help end users clear that hurdle. SEMI-MSIG this year created a group within its Device Working Group focused on developing gas sensor standards aimed at growing the market and defining guidelines affecting areas including testing methods, reliability requirements, packaging and communication interfaces. Importantly, the standards will also make it easier for end users to make a clear choice among rival products.The SEMI-MSIG Device Working Group comprises devoted experts from leading gas sensor companies as well as OEMs. We welcome companies involved in deploying gas sensors to join this fast-growing group to improve air quality standards in sectors including residential construction, factory automation, automotive, consumer electronics and healthcare. One potential market is consumer electronics such as smart phones since concerns about air quality is growing among device users.The MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) Device Working group was formed in early 2019. Its mission is to develop a series of technical specifications, industry standards and best practices for MEMS and Sensor devices and platforms. The goal is to advance the use and expansion of MEMS and sensors worldwide.Table 1 – Top seven pollutants and their health effects. Source: EPA Air Sensor Guidebook In the past, we focused on inertial sensors (See IEEE2700 standard for inertial sensors as an example of an output of this team). In 2020, our focus shifted to gas sensors and we plan to expand our work to include other types of sensors in the near feature. Industry leaders such as Bosch, TDK Invensense, Renesas, Infineon, Analog devices, STMicroelectronics, GE and Intel meet every month to strategize on a series of initiatives.If you’re interested in joining the SEMI-MSIG Device Working Group, please contact Carmelo Sansone, Director of MEMS Sensors Industry Group.The MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) is a SEMI technology community that enables the MEMS and sensor industry to address common challenges, innovate and accelerate business results.Carmelo Sansone is director of the SEMI-MSIG. He has focused his career on building products and system solutions that have large impact in the marketplace. Sansone launched several sensor processor platforms for low-power applications, including the first microcontrollers with DSP capabilities, the core of today’s portable devices intelligence. Sansone has led the successful integration of the MSIG organization into SEMI by expanding its services and global reach. Carmelo holds a master’s degree in Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Biomedical from the University of Pisa and an MBA from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.

On June 1st, 2018, Toshiba sold Toshiba Memory, Toshiba’s memory business, to an investment group led by Bain Capital. Toshiba Memory was then owned by a consortium of American, Japanese and Korean companies.After the long and tough negotiations, Toshiba Memory moved forward at full throttle, holding a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 3D NAND fab (100,000 WPM) in Kitakami in July and, in September, celebrating the opening of Fab 6 Phase 1 (50,000 WPM). To be sure, NAND memory is a key feature of Japan’s semiconductor industry. But the sector’s reach extends well beyond memory with its rich and versatile product portfolio nourished by active investment.Born in the early 1950s, Japan’s semiconductor industry today boasts more than 30 companies with fabs. Many feature 200mm and smaller wafer lines with legacy technologies, form factors that account for the bulk of the world’s semiconductors and are the oxygen of Japan’s chip industry. Clearly, the world is not built only with the state-of-art 7nm processed chips on the latest generation 300mm lines. Japanese chipmakers are flourishing.Automotive SemiconductorsRenesas Electronics remains a giant in microcontrollers (MCU) and system on chip (SoC) devices for automotive applications. According to IHS Markit, Renesas automotive semiconductor revenue in 2017 reached $3.6 billion while Inineon Technologies and NXP Semiconductors revenues were $3.4 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively. The three companies dominate the global automotive MCU global market. The company recently acquired Integrated Device Technology (IDT), a U.S. fabless company specializing in analog/mixed signal chips, to strengthen its automotive semiconductor portfolio. Renesas operates four volume production fabs, according to the latest World Fab Forecast from SEMI. Renesas’s microcontrollers for automotive applications (Source: Renesas Electronics) Power SemiconductorsWith power semiconductors the chips of choice for boosting the efficiency and performance of motors and batteries used in equipment, demand for the devices is rapidly growing, especially for automotive applications. Power semiconductor companies in Japan are legion and include Denso, Fuji Electric, Fujitsu Semiconductor, Hitachi, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Electric, New Japan Radio, Origin Electric, Phenitec Semiconductor, Renesas, Rohm, Sanken Electric, Sansha Electric Manufacturing, Seiko NPC, Shindengen Electric Manufacturing, Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, Toshiba and Toyota Industries. The companies account for 26% of global power semiconductor capacity and will spend $317 million for construction and equipping in 2018.CMOS SensorsSony dominates the CMOS image sensors market with 42% share in 2016, according to Yole Développment. To meet growing demand for high-end CMOS image sensors, Sony has acquired several legacy 300mm wafer fabs and retooled them for CMOS sensor manufacturing. What’s more, Sony’s May announcement of its mid-term corporate strategy includes a 1 trillion Japanese yen investment in CMOS image sensors targeted to automotive applications by March 2021.Sony’s 7.42 effective megapixel stacked CMOS image sensor for automotive cameras (Source: Sony Corporation) MEMSMEMS is perhaps the most wide-ranging device market: Every application requires different capabilities and functions. The latest World Fab Forecast report lists 17 MEMS companies in Japan, though three makers of fast-growing RF MEMS, typically known as surface acoustic wave (SAW) or bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters, are coming to the attention of semiconductor manufacturers. All are familiar passive electronic components suppliers – Murata Manufacturing, Taiyo Yuden and TDK – and all acquired legacy semiconductor fabs to manufacture RF MEMS.Their high-performance radio wave filters make mobile phones usable around the world. Research companies like Yole expect the introduction of 5G cellular mobile communication systems to fuel another wave of growth of the RF MEMS market. Murata Manufacturing’s SAW filters for smart phones (source Murata Manufacturing) Japanese Supply Chain Meets All Different NeedsJapan’s semiconductor supply chain provides one third of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment and more than half of the industry’s materials. But Japanese suppliers also work with small and midsize makers of highly versatile chips critical to enabling the explosion of smart applications.Meet these versatile Japanese suppliers at SEMICON Japan to find solutions to your unique needs and help the world get smarter. Themed “Dreams Start Here,” SEMICON Japan 2018 reflects the promise of AI (artificial intelligence), Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart technologies. Featuring more than 750 exhibitors from around the world, the event is the gathering place to connect the people, technologies and business across the electronics manufacturing supply chain, from semiconductor manufacturing to autonomous cars, robotics and other smart applications. For more information about SEMICON Japan, visit www.semiconjapan.org.Yoichiro Ando is a marketing director at SEMI Japan.