Materials

Superconducting Naturally – Miassite is a naturally occurring mineral which scientists at Ames National Laboratory have identified as the first unconventional superconductor found in nature. Unlike conventional superconductors that follow the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, minerals such as miassite exhibit unique properties outside of this framework. Made of rhodium and sulfur, miassite was initially recognized as a regular superconductor in 2010. Recent tests confirm it joins a small, exclusive group of unconventional superconductors previously limited to lab-made materials.Lab tests on miassite involved measuring magnetic reactions, inducing defects, and analyzing energy gaps, all confirming its unconventional behavior. While naturally occurring, samples are unlikely to be superconductive due to their disordered state, miassite’s lab-verified properties open doors to new research and highlight its unique duality as both a conventional and unconventional superconductor.Source: A Superconductor Found in Nature Has Rocked the Scientific WorldPheromones + vision = mate selection – When choosing a mate, Heliconius butterflies, despite their tiny brains can outperform current AI in multi-sensory decision-making by processing visual and chemical cues simultaneously. This discovery inspired Penn State researchers to develop a low-energy, multi-sensory AI platform using 2D materials. The device combines molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) to mimic visual capabilities and graphene to detect chemical signals like pheromones.The device could integrate visual and chemical cues, offering adaptability like a butterfly’s mating behavior. This innovation addresses limitations in current AI, which relies heavily on energy-intensive, single-sensory processes. Researchers aim to expand the device to process three senses, like crayfish using visual, tactile, and chemical cues. The work, supported by the U.S. Army Research Office and the U.S. National Science Foundation, could revolutionize applications in robotics, smart sensors, and critical environments, by enabling AI systems to detect issues using multiple sensory inputs efficiently. Imaging of Heliconius Butterfly A Butterfly Effect – Proving once again that there is a lot to be learned from nature, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed innovative, colored solar facade elements inspired by morpho butterfly mimicry. These panels are aesthetically pleasing, integrate seamlessly into building exteriors, and retain high efficiency, achieving 95% of the power output of uncoated panels. Using vacuum-applied 3D photonic structures like those on butterfly wings, the panels produce vibrant, angularly stable colors with minimal energy loss. This MorphoColor® technology addresses architects’ and building owners’ concerns about design, offering an efficient, visually appealing solution for building-integrated photovoltaics while surpassing other technologies currently available.Close up of a morpho butterfly wingSustainable Flight – The world’s fastest supercomputer, Frontier, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, enables unprecedented advancements in sustainable aviation technology. Capable of over a quintillion calculations per second, Frontier allows GE Aerospace to conduct full-scale simulations of its revolutionary Open Fan engine design, accelerating insights into aerodynamics and turbulence. This groundbreaking tool aids the CFM RISE program, which aims to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by at least 20%. Frontier’s detailed simulations predict engine performance under real-world conditions, saving years of testing. The partnership between GE Aerospace and Oak Ridge is expanding, promising future collaborations in climate modeling and advanced simulation techniques.An Open Fan engine design developed as part of a new project led by GE AerospaceSource: https://www.geaerospace.com/news/articles/new-frontier-how-ge-aerospace-using-worlds-fastest-supercomputer-help-design-open-fanMargaret Kindling is Senior Program Manager at the SEMI Foundation. She promotes inclusive workplaces via initiatives like Women in Semiconductors, Semiconductor PRIDE and workforce development programming at SEMICON West and SEMIEXPO Heartland.

Integrated photonics offers the semiconductor industry a new way to increase the speed and capability of classical compute functions, as well as enabling quantum computing. The III-V Summit, hosted by SEMI Europe in partnership with Photon Delta at SEMICON Europa, opened with a compelling question: why is a photonics summit taking place in the middle of a semiconductor event? Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of SEMI, highlighted the growing convergence of the semiconductor and photonics industries, stating, “It is my firm belief that a boost to Moore’s Law will come from the III-V world.” Declaring that the rate of growth in integrated photonics is set to pick up substantially, Manocha assured, “I will be your ambassador to make sure that the III-V technologies gain far greater visibility than they have today.”Ajit Manocha, President and CEO, SEMIThe promise of new III-V technologies is generating significant excitement within the semiconductor industry. Abdul Rahim, Ecosystem Manager at PhotonWorld, acknowledged the reality that today’s III-V device industry operates in a limited sphere, stating, “The III-V world is still at the interface of industry and academia. There is one main application for III-V devices – transceivers for data centers.” Abdul Rahim, Ecosystem Manager, PhotonWorld Carlos Lee, Director General of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), echoed this message, “Photonics is not so much an industry today; it’s an ecosystem. It lacks the standards, roadmaps, and market data that a full-fledged industry needs – but we are getting there.” Carlos Lee, Director General, European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC)However, Rahim pointed to a number of trends that are driving the growth of III-V technology for integrated photonics. One key development is large-scale integration, “over the years, the number of devices in one photonics integrated chip (PIC) has been growing fast, reaching tens of thousands of components on-chip,” Rahim explained. Additionally, the widening frequency range supported by III-V devices is unlocking new applications beyond the telecom sector. Broad Scope of Research into III-V Technology for Integrated PhotonicsResearch into III-V technology spans an impressive range of materials, processes and applications. Nick Singh, CTO at Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, a government-backed technology incubator, described in detail the most important fields of research that are driving innovation in integrated photonics. “III-V materials are special because they can be engineered,” Singh explained. Highlighting their potential role in advancing quantum computing, Singh added, “The ability to use new materials is crucial to reducing the reliance on algorithmic compensation for errors and non-linearity in hardware.” Nick Singh, CTO, Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult However, Singh emphasized the need for the photonics industry to address structural challenges that could hinder progress. “Collaboration is crucial to standardize process development kits (PDKs) for photonics device fabrication processes—it’s like the Wild West in PDKs right now,” Singh remarked. “Additionally, the availability of raw materials presents a significant challenge.”The truth of this warning was confirmed by Diane Scott, Vice President of TECHCET, stating, "The US has deemed gallium to be the number one supply chain risk among a list of 50 raw materials, and the European Union (EU) has identified gallium as a critical raw material."Diane Scott, Vice President, TECHCETSuch geopolitical concerns have done little to dampen the intensity of research in III-V technology. One of the powerhouses of integrated photonics research is IBM, and Heike Riel, a Fellow at IBM Research with a special interest in quantum computing, revealed promising avenues that IBM is exploring. “IBM has developed local III-V-on-silicon heteroepitaxy, “Riel explained. “Using a direct growth method, we can grow vertical, lateral, and even 3D structures in III-V, such as stacked GaAs structures.” Riel highlighted the potential applications of this technology in emerging processor designs, including the Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU) and analog computing devices with in-memory logic. “Here, we can deploy GaAs as a photorefractive material, used as a grating, to perform the same function as conventional electronic non-volatile memory in an analog computer chip,” Riel noted. Heike Riel, IBM Fellow, IBM ResearchAlso at the forefront of photonics integration is Black Semiconductor, a start-up company based in Aachen, Germany, which is developing devices using graphene. Cedric Huyghebaert, CTO of Black Semiconductor, shared the company’s vision, “We want to use electronics to compute, and photonics to transfer data, and bring both functions together on the same chip.” Black Semiconductor’s mission is to become the first foundry to offer integrated graphene technology. “Our ambition is to integrate graphene in line with semiconductor standards using semiconductor tools – avoiding the need for exotic processing technologies,” Huyghebaert explained. “We also aim to demonstrate co-integrated photonics on a 300mm wafer system, regardless of the process node. In doing so, we want to prove that deep technological innovation of this kind is possible in Europe.”Cedric Huyghebaert, CTO, Black Semiconductor GmbH Bringing Integrated Photonics to the MassesAs III-V technology develops to enable a broader range of integrated photonics applications beyond the telecom market, experts are recognizing the need for it to become more accessible if it is to be adopted by a wider range of manufacturers. Joni Mellin, manager of the photonics business line at the X-Fab Group, emphasized, “As an industry, we need to bring electronics design automation (EDA) tools up to a level of capability that matches that of the silicon world, so that you do not need a PhD to do product design – we need to make it accessible to ordinary electronics engineers.” Joni Mellin, BL Manager Photonics, X-FAB GroupAdoption of the technology also requires access to production capacity. Peter Maat, Senior Product Manager at SMART Photonics, an open foundry for indium phosphide (InP) programmable interface controllers (PICs), highlighted the challenges in this area. Maat explained that the availability of the foundry as “not a trivial capability,” because many InP fabs are run by integrated device manufacturers, and are closed to other users. The SMART Photonics business model aims to provide a comprehensive enablement service for fabless manufacturing of PICs. “Our responsibility is to produce stable, manufacturable building blocks that we make available to designers and to provide a platform which enables our circuit building blocks to be combined into an integrated photonics circuit,” Maat said.Peter Maat, Senior Product Manager, SMART Photonics Jayakrishnan Chandrappan, Head of Advanced Packaging Technology at CSA Catapult, also emphasized the importance of access to production capability. “The CSA Catapult has one of the world’s only sub-10micron hybridization facilities for advanced packaging that is open to third-party users,” Chandrappan noted.Jayakrishnan Chandrappan, Head of Technology, Head of Technology - Advanced Packaging, Compound Semiconductor Applications CatapultPromising Future for Integrated PhotonicsAs the summit concluded, the atmosphere was charged with optimism about the future of integrated photonics. The discussions highlighted how III-V materials, combined with advanced packaging, are set to play a pivotal role in shaping next generation technologies. A recurring theme throughout the event was the profound impact III-V materials will have, as they poised to become a corner stone of virtually every emerging technological advancement. SEMI ContactLaith Altimime, President of SEMI EuropeEmail: [email protected]

Demand for hi-tech manufactured goods is at an all-time high and is expected to grow significantly in our new digital age, COVID-19 economy. This is especially true for semiconductor chips. Chip manufacturers have been working to meet this demand by building new factories and by optimizing processes and equipment in existing fabs. While there is much media coverage about new factories planned by leading-edge chipmakers and government investments in the semiconductor sector, greenfield fabs entail significant capital expenditures and are sometimes fraught with complex political concerns. As a result, they can take several years to complete and reach their planned production capacity. Instead, the semiconductor industry needs to optimize existing factories in order to increase productivity and yield and meet growing demand by implementing smart manufacturing solutions. Smart manufacturing solutions will inherently reduce costs with more efficient and automated processes, and those savings can be reinvested for the next wave of solutions. Chip Industry on the Bleeding Edge Semiconductor manufacturers have always been focused on bleeding-edge technology to outflank strong competition and build the best products – faster and cheaper. Today, pioneering organizations are using data to optimize manufacturing processes and equipment, a practice known as Smart Manufacturing. While there are many definitions of Smart Manufacturing, the essence is maximizing the utility of big data generated in these factories by leveraging three pillars: Sensing, Connecting, and Predicting. It is not just the digitization in manufacturing, but it is also about turning the data into actions that generate value – an effort the SEMI Smart Manufacturing Committee is driving based on the three pillars. Optimizing return on investment is the ultimate goal. SEMI Smart Manufacturing Initiative activity is based on three pillars that support the goal of increasing ROI. Making the Right Decision, Faster Smart manufacturing practices enable organizations to make the right decisions and take action faster based on insights generated from real-time and historical data. This requires data management technologies and applications that can process, analyze, and act on information instantly. It has become ever more difficult to process and discern the relevant data or signal from the vast volume of data, perform analytics or develop new ML or AI analytic tools, and then make the critical decisions to solve problems as close to real-time as possible. Who’s Responsible – IT or OT? In the past IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operations Technology) were separate entities within organizations, with IT focused on storing large amounts of data for enterprise systems and OT concentrated on using data to perform specific functions. Smart Manufacturing often demands combining IT and OT, difficult in rigid organizations that operate the two organizations independently and lack the infrastructure to implement comprehensive solutions. Success requires executive leadership sponsorship, motivated technical personnel and, most importantly, a clear deliverable on the value in implementing Smart Manufacturing. Many organizations have introduced top-level leadership positions such as a Chief Information Officer or Chief Data and Analytics Officer to address this convergence and many of these leaders are embracing Smart Manufacturing practices. The SEMI Smart Manufacturing community includes many of these leaders and therefore has highlighted the importance in the return on investment for Smart Manufacturing solutions. Read more about IT and OT convergence and note that Smart Manufacturing is synonymous with Industry 4.0. The SEMI Smart Manufacturing Initiative covers the entire supply chain. Get Smart in Smart Manufacturing While new technologies and applications are being created to deal with mountains of data, it is the underlying methodologies and practices that are key to a successful Smart Manufacturing deployment. SEMI, the trade association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, is in a perfect position to evangelize Smart Manufacturing experiences and best practices for the entire manufacturing community. The more than 30 member companies participating in the SEMI Smart Manufacturing Initiative bring more than 500 years of collective experience and knowledge to the topic. Many segments of the supply chain participate in the SEMI Smart Manufacturing Initiative including packaging, assembly, SMT and PCB assembly, test, software, data management, sensor and material suppliers. Learn How to Manufacture Smarter SEMI SMART Manufacturing is hosting two great conferences in the coming months – the Global Smart Manufacturing Conference (GSMC) and the SEMICON West Smart Manufacturing Pavilion. As a leader of the organizing committee and chair for the SEMICON West Smart Manufacturing Pavilion, I encourage people who want to learn how to implement Smart Manufacturing or expand their knowledge of Smart Manufacturing to attend these events. The GSMC will feature keynotes highlighting the value of Smart Manufacturing, offer tutorials on the three pillars, and introduce several case studies for each of the pillars. Thirty-two organizations – ranging from global cloud providers, semiconductor factory operators, leading equipment vendors and software application solution companies – will present. See the full agenda here. The SEMICON West Smart Manufacturing Pavilion will compliment GSMC by showcasing a number of use cases that highlight the value of Smart Manufacturing. Panel discussions will deep dive into the challenges of implementing these best practices and the direction smart manufacturing is taking in the coming years. Our goal for these events is for you to take this knowledge back to your companies, implement and improve on the detailed solutions highlighted at the conferences, and return next year to share your success stories with the community. See you soon, in person or virtually! About the Author Bill Pierson is VP of Semiconductors and Manufacturing at KX, leading the growth of streaming data analytics in this vertical. Bill is also a chair for the SEMICON West Smart Manufacturing Conference and an active team member of the SEMI Americas Chapter. He has extensive experience in the semiconductor industry including previous experiences at Samsung, ASML and KLA. Bill specializes in applications, analytics, and control. He lives in Austin, Texas, and when not at work can be found on the rock-climbing cliffs or at his son’s soccer matches.

Advances in areas from materials, packaging and testing to devices, equipment and standards must come together to enable smart factories and new capabilities in the microelectronics manufacturing supply chain. The secure transfer of information between factories is an important part of creating the “digital thread” that will give rise to higher yield, faster cycle times and reduced cost. At SEMICON West 2018, Tom Salmon, Vice President of Collaborative Technology Initiatives at SEMI, discusses his group’s work across the supply chain – including semiconductor front-end, packaging and test, as well as PCB and final product assembly – to accelerate the development of smart manufacturing. Ariana Raftopoulos is a marketing manager at SEMI.

Fueled by heavy government investment, IC packaging and testing in China generated $29 billion in revenue in 2017, making China the world’s largest consumer of packaging equipment and materials, according to SEMI’s recent China Semiconductor Packaging Industry Outlook report. The report, based on research conducted between July 2017 through the end of January 2018, also revealed that China’s IC packaging and testing industry is more mature than its IC manufacturing and design sectors, though IC packaging and testing revenue growth has slowed in recent years. SEMI surveyed 87 semiconductor packaging- and assembly-related companies for the research report, including key semiconductor packaging manufacturers in China. More than 100 companies compete in China’s packaging and assembly market, including leading multinational companies and emerging domestic players. More than half of China’s packaging companies are located in the Yangzi delta region, while midwestern China has emerged as a hotbed for packaging plants.Additional report highlights: Compared to other world regions, China’s investments in IC packaging and testing saw the fastest growth over the past decade, with domestic manufacturers securing strong support from both national and local governments to ramp capacity and technical capabilities. The top three domestic packaging companies – JCET, Huatian, and TFME – all entered the top 10 global OSAT rankings following expansions and acquisitions from 2012 to early 2016. Packaging companies such as SPIL, TFME, NCAP continue to build new plants. As a major manufacturing region for LED products, China has become more prominent within the semiconductor packaging industry. China’s LED product sector grew to $13.4 billion (half of IC packaging) in 2017. In 2017, China accounted for about 26 percent of the global packaging materials market, with China’s packaging materials revenue forecast to exceed $5.2 billion in 2018. In 2017, the China assembly equipment market reached $1.4 billion in revenue, remaining the world’s largest with 37 percent share. In 2017, assembly equipment manufactured in China (including assembly equipment made by foreign-owned companies and JVs) accounted for 17 percent of China’s assembly equipment market. With the fast growth in the semiconductor packaging market, domestic packaging materials suppliers are expanding with the industry and now starting to serve leading international packaging houses. The SEMI report also elucidates the importance of both central and local government support, guidelines and policies on China’s semiconductor industry. The National Fund and local IC funds, created in 2014, and the Made in China 2025 policy provided a second boost to China’s IC industry growth. For packaging and testing enterprises, maintaining strong communications and relations with relevant government bodies and industry associations is essential to securing both political and financial support, in part because China’s semiconductor manufacturers and IC assembly and packaging companies are expected to purchase equipment and materials made in China.To learn more about this new report, click here.