COVID-19

COVID-19 has had an impact on the entire healthcare market. During the peak of the first wave, companies from the industrial and automotive sectors worked on repurposing their sensors and production lines to provide pressure sensors for respirators and temperature sensors for thermometers. At the same time, companies making sensors for wearables and other mobile devices used for remote monitoring of patients experienced saw increased demand, caused in part by the surge in telemedicine worldwide. In addition, strong demand for COVID-19 tests pushed diagnostic players to repurpose existing systems to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus or associated antibodies. Over the past six months in particular, numerous microfluidic technologies have enabled either rapid point-of-care tests or high-throughput solutions for central labs. The demand for these tests is incredibly high (millions of tests per month are needed), which has contributed to boosting the revenue of many companies in the respiratory-testing area.These respiratory-testing companies have placed many testing machines at existing and new customer sites, and have sold an impressive number of test kits resulting in an initial revenue spike in Q1 2020, and even higher spikes in Q2 and Q3. This growth seems on track to last into early 2021 and beyond as the pandemic continues, the flu season arrives, and health organizations test increasingly higher numbers of people than they were several months ago. The winners in respiratory testing include Abbott, bioMérieux, Cepheid, GenMark and Luminex, among many others. In this context, Yole expects the point-of-care segment of the microfluidic product market to enjoy an impressive jump from US$4.5 billion in 2019 to US$6.3 billion in 2020, growing at 15.1% CAGR between 2019 and 2025 to reach $10.4 billion in 2025. This represents 40% of the total microfluidic product market in 2019.In its research on microfluidics, Yole tracks a wide range of COVID-19 tests from different companies. The tests are used to meet different needs. Evolution of COVID-19 TestingNo doubt this increased production of tests will be especially useful for the upcoming flu season. But what will happen next year, if (we hope) reliable COVID-19 vaccines are validated and marketed, and the new coronavirus eventually disappears? Will diagnostic companies’ sales fall to pre-pandemic levels, and all these investments in production lines be wasted? Don’t worry. This is not a one-shot deal: Once the pandemic is over, most testing machines will remain in place, and customers will use them to run other tests the companies offer – usually for other kind of infectious diseases – driving sales of single-use disposables in coming years. The pandemic has shown us that more efficient diagnostic tools are required. Rapid, inexpensive, widely accessible testing for infectious diseases is crucial if we are to face such challenging situations. The real struggle for diagnostic companies, especially in the field of microfluidics where recent platforms have a small assay menu, is placing instruments (i.e., the test machines that run the disposable cartridges and read the results) at customers’ locations, from hospital settings and urgent care to field testing sites, and this has now been achieved. This will drive consumables sales in the future, even beyond the pandemic, and take the microfluidic-based point-of-care testing market to the next level. Rapid point-of-care testing is driving growth in microfluidics and will continue to do so for years to come. In the meantime, new significant opportunities are opening for point-of-care diagnostic test-makers, and rapid, miniaturized microfluidic technologies may be the winners here. Rapid passenger screening in airports, and rapid employee or visitor screening at the workplace will become essential for preventing the virus’ spread. In total, this could represent billions of rapid tests needed per year. COVID-19 has slowed down business growth in many areas but has really helped microfluidic-based point-of-care diagnostics take it to the next level, and this is only the beginning.For more information on Yole’s microfluidics activities, please view Yole’s reports, Point of Need 2020 – Including PCR-Based Testing or Status of Microfluidics Industry 2020 or visit i-Micronews.comYole Développement is a member of SEMI and the MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that connects the MEMS and sensors supply network in established and emerging markets enabling members to grow and prosper. Visit us today. Sébastien Clerc is a technology and market analyst in Microfluidics, Sensing Actuating at Yole Développement (Yole). As part of the Photonics Sensing team, Clerc has authored a collection of market and technology reports dedicated to microfluidics and other micro-devices for major market segments: medical (including diagnostics, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, drug delivery, medical devices) and industrial (including environment, agro-food). At the same time, he is involved in custom projects such as strategic marketing, technology scouting, and technology evaluation to help academic and industrial players in their innovation processes. Thanks to his technology and market expertise, Clerc has spoken in more than 20 industry conferences worldwide over the last four years. Clerc holds a master’s degree in Biomedical Technologies and a master’s degree in Innovation and Technology Management, both from Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP - Grenoble, France).

Semiconductor equipment spending is mounting a strong recovery on the strength of explosive chip demand for work-at-home and study-at-home electronics fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the growth, the 2017-2018 memory boon that triggered a critical subsystems shortage is still fresh on the minds of equipment suppliers as they worry whether critical subsystem providers can keep pace with the rebounding chip industry while managing the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.Hideyuki Koishi, president of HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd., a leading supplier of mass flow controllers (MFCs), one subsystem critical to semiconductor production, recently spoke with SEMI about the company’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic’s impact on the global supply chain and the company’s ability to meet the demand for MFCs. SEMI: What COVID-19 countermeasures has HORIBA STEC taken?Koishi: To ensure employee safety and security while maintaining a stable supply of products to our customers, we started to deploy company-wide countermeasures when the Japan government declared a nationwide state of emergency to curb COVID-19 infections on April 16.HORIBA STEC and the entire HORIBA group formed a global COVID-19 task force and centralized all local outbreak decision-making to drive a rapid and effective global response. We quickly implemented work-at-home practices for our office staff and provided a safe environment for our factory workers, who are essential to maintaining product supplies, by establishing social distancing protocols and restricting site visits to essential workers. We also distributed face masks to all employees and placed disinfectant dispensers near the door of every room so employees could wash their hands before entering.To help on-site employees follow our social distancing guidelines, we reduced seating at cafeterias and converted meeting rooms to offices to give employees ample work space. We also established invisible walls in manufacturing facilities with multiple collocated divisions to restrict workers to their assigned areas, a containment measure that helps with social distancing while minimizing the risk of an entire factory shutdown if a worker contracts the virus. SEMI: Have you experienced supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 outbreak?Koishi: Even though our supply chain extends overseas and includes China, fortunately we have not experienced any significant disruptions thanks to the broad geographic distribution of our supply chain. In addition, because many of our critical components are sourced in Japan, pandemic-related impacts to our business have been limited.Long before the COVID-19 outbreak, we organized a community called Rakuraku-kai with our suppliers in Japan to build and maintain close relationships. Although the community name suggests it is exclusive to Kyoto-based suppliers, its reach is a nationwide. After the declaration of state of emergency in June, the supplier community gathered for an ad hoc meeting to exchange information and share perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis.SEMI: Did you have any pandemic protocols in place before the COVID-19 outbreak?Koishi: In 2014, HORIBA group launched Stained Glass, a project designed to increase workforce diversity at HORIBA group companies through initiatives such as placing more women in decision-making roles and encouraging working at home to help employees better balance job demands with their family lives. As part of Good Place, the project’s program to increase the work-at-home rate, HORIBA group deployed a web-based meeting system and encouraged workers to transition from physical to online meetings. Good Place has helped our IT team and workers smoothly implement our work-at-home practices.Working at home is a beneficial practice regardless of its effectiveness in curbing infections. Employees can reduce commute time, increasing their quality. And it’s much easier and more affordable for international participants to join meetings since they’re spared the time and cost of travel. This year HORIBA group also moved its three-day bi-annual global meeting online to make them safer and more economical. The meeting is attended by about 100 leaders of group companies and business units.SEMI: Do you have any concerns about meeting demand for mass flow controllers?Koishi: We doubled the capacity of our main mass flow controller factory in Kumamoto prefecture in 2018 and with more floor space available for further expansion, we see no major barriers to meeting the growing demand from international customers in 2021 and beyond. Nonetheless, we must sustain the best possible COVID-19 countermeasures to maintain production while ensuring the safety of our employees.SEMI: Are you make any social contributions to combat the virus?Koishi: Semiconductors are not only indispensable for the electronics behind remote work, education and healthcare but they also play a critical role in developing COVID-19 therapies and vaccines. Thus, at HORIBA STEC, we believe our most important contribution is to maintain steady a supply of our mass flow controllers and other key semiconductor equipment components.HORIBA group also participates in two important pandemic initiatives. The Open COVID-19 Declaration program calls on intellectual property owners to make their patent rights, utility model rights, design rights and copyrights freely available in the fight against COVID-19. The program’s sole purpose is to stop the spread of COVID-19. HORIBA is among the 20 founders1 of this initiative.In June, HORIBA joined a push by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to develop a simple and rapid COVID-19 antibody test chip system. We’re contributing our expertise in immunoassay analysis and clinical laboratory equipment to help develop the system. SEMI: What have you learned from the COVID-19 outbreak?Koishi: The COVID-19 crisis has posed unprecedented challenges. Everyone hopes to return to normal soon but in reality things will never be exactly the same as before the crisis.Japan might have lagged other countries in its use of IT to improve business efficiency, but as we deal with the new coronavirus, both companies and their employees have been tirelessly considering reforms to the way we work through digitalization. I believe it will be difficult for companies to survive in the new normal unless they can incorporate these types of changes into their operations.On the other hand, I've also been reminded of the importance of traditional, analog communication. While we conducted all of our hiring interviews online this year, face-to-face meetings are a much richer experience that gives the prospective employee and the hiring company a much better sense of each other. In addition, as a company we need to continue to improve our ability to supply products so we can overcome challenges like the pandemic. COVID-19 has taught us our change needs to be more robust. We also need to evolve our business continuity plan to extend well beyond countermeasures to natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. What matters most is that we apply the lessons of COVID-19 to make our business more resilient.[1] Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Canon Inc., Chanel G.K., GenoConcierge Kyoto, Inc., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Horiba, Ltd., Konica Minolta Inc., Kyoto University, LSI Medience Corporation, Mitsui Knoledge Industry Co., Ltd., NEC Solution Innovators, Ltd., Nikon Corporation, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Rohm Co., Ltd., SRL, Inc., Shimadzu Corporation, Teijin Limited., Toyota Motor Corporation, Tsubakimoto Chain Co., and Yahoo Japan Corporation.Yoichiro Ando is a marketing staff member at SEMI Japan.

MEMS sensors have come a long way over the past few decades. The late 1990’s brought us the mass production of both MEMS accelerometers for automotive air bag crash sensors and MEMS gyros for rollover detection and anti-locking braking systems (ABS). In the early 2000’s, MEMS sensors made the jump from automotive to mobile and consumer electronics, first with a MEMS microphone in the wildly successful Motorola RAZR phone and then with a MEMS accelerometer in the first Nintendo Wii remote.Following this initial period of MEMS’ commercialization, the timetable for the mass proliferation of both MEMS and non-MEMS sensors accelerated dramatically. Just take Apple iPhone. Released in 2007, the first iPhone had one MEMS accelerometer and one proximity sensor. Released 10 years later, iPhone X included four MEMS microphones, a barometer, three-axis gyro, MEMS accelerometer and proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor and an infrared (IR) sensor, a magnetometer, and multiple image sensors. For perspective’s sake, well over two billion iPhones have been sold since 2007, making iPhone a major growth-driver in MEMS. According to Yole Développement[i] (Yole), MEMS will generate $10.9 billion in revenue in 2020 alone (non-MEMS sensor revenue will be even higher), spanning automotive, consumer and mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), medical and healthcare, aerospace, industrial and other markets.With so much growth behind us, what’s ahead? Jens Fabrowsky, executive vice president of Automotive Electronics at Robert Bosch GmbH, will share his insights on the future of MEMS during his MSEC 2020 keynote, The Next 10 Years of MEMS: An Outlook on Opportunities and Challenges. I recently spoke with Fabrowsky to preview his October 15 presentation at SEMI’s first virtual MEMS Sensors Executive Congress, October 6-8 and 13-15, 2020. Register now for MSEC 2020 and explore this topic with Fabrowsky by participating in the Q A segment of his presentation.SEMI: What are some of the primary challenges facing the MEMS industry?Fabrowsky: Development costs for new generations of MEMS sensors are increasing, leading to several major shifts. To compensate for rising development costs and reduce risk, MEMS sensors suppliers are pursuing wider, diverse markets instead of just targeting high-volume applications. At the same time, end-device manufacturers are demanding greater product differentiation, but they don’t want to pay a premium for it or wait for new hardware iterations. To stay competitive, sensor suppliers are providing software solutions that support new features and functionality. That approach is more cost-effective and speeds design-to-production cycles. SEMI: What factors are increasing development costs for new MEMS sensors, and what can companies do to mitigate their R D risk? Fabrowsky: As with most electronic components, MEMS’ costs are driven by development and capital expenditures. The increasing complexity of the content, especially in interface ASICs and software, makes MEMS development a multidisciplinary feat, requiring several competencies across multiple design centers to meet ever-demanding timelines.Manufacturing also plays a role. We often see dedicated manufacturing lines built for new MEMS products, which stresses both investments and capacity planning. Working together as an industry, we can reduce risk and costs by applying the same manufacturing process to more than one generation of product, which will speed time to market, increase volumes and improve ROI. SEMI: To what degree will the COVID-19 pandemic continue to affect sensors suppliers?Fabrowsky: MEMS manufacturing flows have been affected by disruptions in the supply chain. While the benefits of multiple sourcing and more direct ownership of the flow itself (on-shoring, vertical integration) have helped us, no one in the industry can claim they are out of danger, especially if a new wave of contagion occurs. Our industry relies heavily on just-in-time manufacturing and logistics, and we are all watching for influences that could alter flow. The pandemic has reminded us all that an important competitive advantage is a predictable, secure supply — which also comes at a cost that the end customer must value. SEMI: Why and how are traditional hardware companies like Robert Bosch differentiating their platforms for end-device manufacturers? Fabrowsky: On-shoring was already a trend before the pandemic. We’ve always believed in and are still investing in our own manufacturing facilities. That includes the 12-inch ASIC fab in Dresden, Germany, where we expect to manufacture future generations of power and control electronics to satisfy the growing appetite for silicon that vehicle electrification demands.We think that one of our biggest differentiators is that our portfolio includes more than just components: Close collaboration with our internal partner divisions gives us comprehensive system know-how across the automotive supply chain. On the consumer-electronics side, we have extensive partnerships with makers of application processors, wireless systems, and sensor processing software. With this expertise behind us, we can provide flexible system-integration options to our end customers — who also benefit from a mature supply chain that supports high volumes and field-tested quality.SEMI: What does customer demand for software solutions mean for sensor suppliers and how will suppliers evolve to meet this need? Fabrowsky: In some silicon product business units, the R D effort to develop software is higher than the effort to design the hardware! Software is not only what’s needed on the application layer. It also runs the interface to the processors – the drivers. In addition, increasingly complex testing software ensures high yield and minimizes defects. On the application layer, we are increasingly using and promoting open-source platforms to encourage better collaboration throughout the ecosystem. In contrast, companies that charge fees to access their own proprietary software environments are missing the opportunity to remain competitive in the long run. SEMI: Why are end-device manufacturers looking for plug-and-play solutions instead of standalone devices? Fabrowsky: Consumers of electronic devices always want products with more features and lower prices. Their requirements produce a trickle-down effect that reaches all the way to component suppliers such as ourselves. This requires us to manage a healthy innovation pipeline, and to choose products and technologies that promise growth and high volumes. This isn’t always simple, however, and many times the component itself is not enough. Think of our Light Drive projector for Bosch Smartglasses. The only way we can hope to win designs in this market is by realizing a fully integrated module, with our own scanning mirrors and driver chips, as well as our integration of laser modules and the display system. This lets us offer an individually tested and calibrated end product ready for assembly.SEMI: What would you like MSEC 2020 attendees to take away from your presentation?Fabrowsky: We’ll be looking at what’s driving the next decade of MEMS applications. For example, the embedded computing inside the sensors, together with enhancements in integration, materials and packaging, will increase the pervasiveness of MEMS sensors and actuators as touchpoints between electronics and the physical world. This will create a new form of intimacy between us and the machines, which we call Artificial Empathy.To learn more about Bosch Smartglasses Light Drive and other MEMS advancements, register now for MSEC 2020.Robert Bosch GmbH is a longtime member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group® (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that connects the MEMS and sensors supply network in established and emerging markets, enabling members to grow and prosper. Visit us today.Jens Fabrowsky began his more than 20-year career at Bosch Group as department head responsible for hydraulic units in the Blaichach plant, Germany Chassis Systems division, in 1999. He soon moved onto technical plant manager and later to plant manager within the company’s Germany Gasoline systems division. He has held the role of executive vice president, Automotive Electronics at Robert Bosch GmbH, since April 2012. Fabrowsky studied mechanical engineering and industrial engineering at the University of Stuttgart (Germany) and the Technical University of Munich (Germany). [i] Status of the MEMS Industry report, Yole Développement, 2020.Nishita Rao is product marketing manager at SEMI.

The costs of production are typically based on labor and materials and define manufacturing expenses. But is this approach accurate enough? What about the cost of poor quality and lack of efficiency in production? How is the pandemic impacting semiconductor manufacturing and what can we expect from the future?SEMI recently spoke with Dr. Eyal Kaufman, founder and CEO of QualityLine, a Kiryat Gat, Israel-based provider of smart manufacturing analytics solution, about manufacturing controls and how to select the best data source to improve product quality and yield. Kaufmann provided a snapshot of current best practices used by the company to improve manufacturing efficiencies and product quality while reducing costs. He also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on semiconductor smart manufacturing and how artificial intelligence (AI) can help keep factory workers safe.For additional insights on smart manufacturing, join the virtual SEMI Global Smart Manufacturing Conference, October 20 - 22, 2020. Registration is open.SEMI: Real manufacturing costs are calculated based on different aspects such as failures in production, repairs, products returned, scrap of components or late deliveries. Lack of quality and efficiency in manufacturing can undermine a business. How are you helping businesses overcome these challenges?Kaufman: To increase profit margins, it is essential to identify inefficiencies and what improvements to prioritize. Once manufacturing quality and efficiency deficiencies have been measured, the next step is to continuously collect manufacturing data in order to run the final cost analysis and use the analytics to improve the manufacturing process.Smart manufacturing makes it possible to detect anomalies in automated factories, improve production performance and increase profitability. Today, automated data are collected from every machine and piece of test equipment in the factory. Still, manufacturing data collection in many industries remains manual and expensive because of the time and human resources involved. A real-time analytics system can automatically collect all data sources and select the relevant data for analysis, which today is the most accurate and effective way of measuring and resolving quality and efficiency deficiencies.Data-driven decisions made by smart manufacturing reduce costs and improve manufacturing strategies, enabling factory operators to increase product quality, drive higher production capacity and enhance product design for manufacturability. Analytics solutions monitor shop floor operations accessing vendors and subcontractors’ products criterion to run root cause analysis. All those data will reduce the return rate of faulty products and accelerate return on investment. This is why we definitely need smart manufacturing technologies!SEMI: Data accumulated during the manufacturing process includes vital information about failures, anomalies and machine usability. What data are necessary to create the best analytics solution?Kaufman: Many companies today run data mapping and automatic creation of data capture. They often wonder if they need to use testing data, sensors data or product design data, or whether they should collect feedback from their customers and vendors. The best way to create an effective manufacturing analytics system is to use data sources such as: Feedback from customers (returned units, customers complaints, etc..) Testing data from automated test equipment and manual test activities Feedback from technicians repairing faulty units Analysis of testing processes done by vendors Sensors data Data from our ERP/MES systems Artificial intelligence enables any type and size of data structure, even accumulated data, to be automatically integrated and interpreted. AI-based analytics can also establish correlations between each manufacturing stage to help factory operators quickly conduct deep diagnostic and root cause analysis for problem solving and prevention – all while leaving intact a factory’s existing process, machinery and data output. Machine learning evaluates how a factory runs its database and puts all the information generated into an analytics solution that provides the know-how to continuously improve factory efficiency.SEMI: How do you select the best data source to improve manufacturing quality and yield? Kaufman: The accuracy and integrity of data accumulated in our manufacturing process is key to controlling and improving yield and quality while reducing manufacturing costs. Smart manufacturing is a technology-driven approach that uses digital and remote connected machinery to monitor the production process. The goal is to identify anomalies in manufacturing processes and leverage analytics to improve process yield and product quality.To select the relevant data, we collect each type and source of data that can improve the efficiency of a real manufacturing cell: Test data from Automated Testing Equipment Test data from Manual Testing Processes Analyses of repairing processes (failed units during the manufacturing process and units that were returned from customers) Once the data structure is collected, the next step is to turn it into actionable information in the manufacturing process. QualityLine smart manufacturing solutions provide a complete one-stop solution to interpret any manufacturing data structure. Our advanced manufacturing analytics solution detects quality and yield anomalies to reveal production line inefficiencies and opportunities to improve manufacturing quality and efficiency.SEMI: How would you describe your approach?Kaufman: Industry 4.0 in manufacturing claims to be the fourth generation of the industrial revolution. Advanced technologies like manufacturing intelligence and machine learning can efficiently achieve zero defects on manufacturing lines. Digital factories leverage technologies and methodologies including: Big data Self-optimization Self-configuration Self-diagnosis Cognitive and machine learning Smart manufacturing technologies enhance the manufacturing process by continuously collecting and analyzing data in real-time to achieve and maintain high quality performance. The goal is to achieve a significant increase in efficiency and yield while reducing waste and inefficiency.Until now, there has been no viable way to integrate all saved manufacturing data into a unified database. QualityLine advanced manufacturing analytics make it possible for any factory to become digital without installing new hardware, which can be expensive and require not only the extensive integration of existing data but investments in training. Our user-friendly solution integrates manufacturing data for industries with zero automation by first collecting and analyzing data from any type of manual test procedure and then integrated it into manufacturing analytics to improve efficiency.SEMI: Why are Pass/Fail criteria insufficient for controlling manufacturing yield and quality?Kaufman: Managing a mass manufacturing process is always a challenge because hundreds of tasks must be successfully completed before products can ship to customers. At QualityLine, we establish a test process for each stage of the production flow, from the incoming raw material to the final stage prior to the delivery of finished goods to the client. To prevent unexpected downtime incidents, waste and defective products, we collect and interpret every type of relevant data and turn it into meaningful information, setting up the following capabilities: Collection and interpretation of test and process data of each single unit and from each process and plant Automatic detection of quality and yield problems Accurate and quick root cause analysis process Automatic alerts to abnormal issues Prediction process potential and level of failures Measurement of key performance indicators Many manufacturers base their test criteria of each parameter on one key indicator – Pass or Fail. If the test result shows a Pass, then the unit is ready to move on to the next manufacturing stage. If the test result shows Fail, then the unit is sent to a technician for further analysis.A simple Pass or Fail criteria for product quality is far from sufficient since it provides little or no information about edge cases, where one or more of the technical parameters of the unit under test is only within its allowed tolerance. Edge cases may lead to unit failure during operation such as in extreme environments (cold, heat, humidity, electrical overload, impact, etc.). In fact, when running a mass manufacturing line, it is impossible to continuously digest all the detailed information collected from testing stations. Data is analyzed in detail only when a critical quality problem emerges and further analysis is required to understand the root cause.Information overload and the disregard of important parameters makes it hard to control the process and improve quality and yield. New technologies make fast and scalable data integration possible so data can be collected in real time to detect quality issues early, identify complex process disruptions to avoid delivery delays and ensure the best possible product for customers. Only by accurately analyzing data as actionable information can factory operators control the manufacturing quality process.SEMI: How has COVID-19 impacted the smart manufacturing market? How has your technology helped factories remain online?Kaufman: Smart manufacturing is playing a significant role by helping manufacturers overcome COVID-19 challenges such as workforce reductions, social distancing, drops in sales for some specific products and extreme pressure to cut operational costs.Manufacturing leaders turned to us for a solution to the challenges of maintaining efficient factory operations with a limited workforce and reduced number of operating hours. Filling factory orders with fewer people on the floor is a struggle. Digital factory technologies enable remote monitoring of operations to increase efficiency and capacity. We are helping our clients improve efficiency while reducing costs. Our remote monitoring technology can provide the operational visibility to floor managers and engineering teams who cannot go physically to the factories due to safety restrictions. With our advanced manufacturing analytics, they have full end-to-end visibility and can remotely diagnose and solve production line issues. During this critical time, we are proud to be improving remote monitoring solutions to help the industry withstand the pandemic. Some of our clients would have closed their factories otherwise. We’ve been working to integrate manufacturing data in factories that were previously unautomated to drive high automation levels. Integrating processes with existing factory data, regardless of customer’s protocols or automation level, is our great technology advantage.SEMI: How will manufacturing and its supply chains look after COVID-19?Kaufman: Smart manufacturing is currently a necessity. We collect and analyze data not only to improve quality but to reduce client returns of faulty products by 50% and reduce waste by 22%, both critical points. Manufacturing challenges will continue to accelerate advancements in technology and improve efficiency, safety and productivity as more factory operators incorporate real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). SEMI: Will suppliers continue to explore new avenues for smart manufacturing technologies and what are their growth opportunities?Kaufman: Yes, definitely. The sector has already changed, with COVID-19 bringing both opportunities and challenges. Industry leaders are facing new pressure, with sudden materials shortages, drops in demand and worker unavailability. The growth opportunities for manufacturing are likely to be digital, as already evident in the immediate response to the crisis. Industry 4.0 solutions will be crucial to increase end-to-end supply-chain transparency, automation and data integration. QualityLine manufacturing analytics have improved key manufacturing performance metrics. For example, based on customer feedback, we’ve increased production yield by 30%, saving some of our customers millions of dollars. Improvements like this can help suppliers withstand pandemics.Dr. Eyal Kaufman, Founder and CEO at QualityLine, has senior management experience and over 25 years of expertise in business development, marketing, finance, operations, engineering and quality management at leading industrial companies. Prior to QualityLine, he served as VP of Mobileye, Cardo Systems, and Medisim Ltd., as well as CEO of OnTheGo Systems. Eyal holds a Ph.D. from California Intercontinental University, an MBA from City University of New York and a BSc. from the Technion in Israel.The SEMI SMART Manufacturing Initiative is a global effort to promote awareness and interest about smart manufacturing with focus on delivering industry-recognized best-in-class programs and services to enable members to maximize product quality, productivity and cost improvements through smart manufacturing. Activities are focused on building out core capabilities to enable smart manufacturing across the microelectronics supply chain.MADEin4 is a consortium of 47 partners from 10 countries connecting the full range of supply chain: from semiconductor equipment manufacturers and system-integrating metrology companies to RTOS and key applications such as the automotive industry. The MADEin4 Project develops next generation metrology tools, machine learning methods and applications in support of Industry 4.0 high volume manufacturing in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.Serena Brischetto is a senior manager of marketing and communications at SEMI Europe.

Earlier this year when the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, began sprinting around the world, public health officials told us that social distancing was the most effective way to slow its spread. We’re now many months into the pandemic, and social distancing, combined with mask-wearing, is still the best way to prevent new cases of the disease.On March 20, 2020, governors on opposite coasts, Gavin Newsom in California and Andrew Cuomo in New York, shut down their states, and other states soon followed. Only essential businesses, such as select retailers – grocery and hardware stores as well as pharmacies, for example – were allowed to remain open. Depending on location, however, it was days or weeks before strict social distancing measures were in place. Tape stuck six feet apart on store floors has helped shoppers keep their distance. But shouldn’t there be a more exact and reliable way to gauge social distances in retail stores, gyms, workplaces and other settings?David Horsley, founder and CTO of Chirp Microsystems, a TDK Group company, believes so, and the company is developing technology that does just that. Horsley will share the details in his keynote A Wearable Social Distancing Solution Based on Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Sensors October 14 at MSEC 2020, SEMI’s first virtual MEMS Sensors Executive. The event is October 6-8 and 13-15, 2020. Register now for MSEC 2020.I spoke with Horsley to learn more about the sensors.SEMI: What was the inspiration for providing Chirp’s ultrasonic Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors for social distancing?Horsley: Companies actually started contacting Chirp about six months ago to inquire about social distance tags to measure distance between people. They already knew about us because we’ve been supplying MEMS ultrasonic ToF sensors for virtual reality and robotics for several years, so they knew we could provide the same kind of low-power range-finding accuracy for resource-constrained devices. SEMI: How are your customers using Chirp-based social distance tags?Horsley: They’re designing Chirp’s ultrasonic ToF sensors into wearable tags worn by workers in distribution centers, in factories, and in oil and gas production, to name a few areas. The tags alert workers when they’re closer than two meters from another worker to ensure social distancing. Chirp’s ToF sensors also support contact tracing without recording any personal information, which is a major advantage over contact-tracing applications from companies like Google and Apple. Because those apps use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which is already in your smartphone, the user has to enable location services. This records your GPS location, a privacy concern.BLE is problematic on some other levels as well. It only provides one-meter accuracy while Chirp’s ToF solution for social distancing delivers one-centimeter accuracy. Because BLE is only accurate within one meter, it can’t alert you in real-time that you’ve crossed that two-meter boundary to another person. Imagine you’re in the checkout line at the supermarket. BLE can tell you that other people are in your general vicinity, but it doesn’t have enough resolution to tell you whether the next shopper is two meters away from you or only one-and-a-half meters away. And because it doesn’t use the air as a medium, it registers a lot of false positives. If, for example, you’re separated from a person by a partition or a wall, and you’re within two or three meters of each other, your phone’s social-distance app will register a false positive.SEMI: Are you talking with customers in other environments, such as college campuses and theme parks?Horsley: There’s great deal of potential in those markets. For example, Professor Prabal Dutta’s group at UC Berkeley is working on a system that uses our sensors. His work also made us aware of some of the privacy concerns around contact tracing because universities are much more uneasy about student privacy than some private-sector companies are today. SEMI: What would you like MSEC attendees to take away from your presentation?Horsley: From the beginning, we believed that MEMS ultrasound was very versatile. We expected it to find a home in different types of applications because of its low power, small size and ease of use, particularly since we provide the enabling software that makes it all work. With design wins in four to five vertical markets, we’re experiencing significant marketplace validation. We’re all hoping that COVID-19 will wind down in the first half of 2021. As the focus on social distancing begins to fade, we’re looking forward to building out our customer base in the markets we’re in today as well as gearing up to explore new markets.Chirp Microsystems and TDK InvenSense are longtime members of MEMS Sensors Industry Group® (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that connects the MEMS and sensors supply network in established and emerging markets, enabling members to grow and prosper. Visit us today to learn how MSIG membership can make a difference in your business.David A. Horsley, Ph.D., is co-founder and CTO of Chirp Microsystems Inc., a TDK Group company. Horsley is also a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Davis, and is adjunct professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2004, he has been co-director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC), the National Science Foundation’s Industrial/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC) focused on MEMS research. Horsley is also a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award, and has authored or co-authored over 150 scientific papers and holds over 20 patents.Maria Vetrano is a public relations consultant for MSIG, a SEMI technology community.

While the world awaits a working vaccine to protect us from COVID-19, we need to employ all available tools to help curb the spread of this novel virus. On the one hand, it’s remarkable that we’re relying on the same low-tech tools that our forebears used to moderate the pandemic of 1918 — social isolation, mask-wearing and hand-washing. On the other, we have access to numerous technologies that hadn’t even been invented a century ago. Among the most important is molecular diagnostics for advanced testing.While we continue to face a scarcity of test kits in the U.S., the majority of commercially available genetic tests for COVID-19 are reliable, so accuracy is rarely the problem. We’re hampered instead by the timeliness of getting the results and by the level of detail the tests provide.To save more lives and reduce the burden on our healthcare system, we need point-of-care genetic tests that deliver accurate results rapidly, telling us right away who’s positive and who’s negative. We also need pertinent test data shared as quickly as possible via secure networks to improve our ability to track surges in infections. These are two of the challenges that emerging biotech companies are pivoting to embrace. RT-PCR: The Gold Standard in Accuracy, Not SpeedWhen I read about some of the high-quality COVID-19 tests on the market – such as Abbott’s, which detects positive results in as little as five minutes — I am awed by how far we’ve come since the last global pandemic. The core enabling technology in test platforms such as Abbott’s uses the molecular genetics technique real-time reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The vast majority of rapid tests administered today in hospitals and other clinical settings use RT-PCR.While accuracy is high for RT-PCR tests, getting tests results to patients is slow because test samples are sent to the lab for analysis. That lab could be located in a hospital, in a doctor’s office, or in an urgent care facility run by a large company such as Quest Diagnostics. Regardless of location, each lab must have an RT-PCR machine to read the test results. Plus each RT-PCR machine costs thousands of dollars, and requires a technician to read the results, , factors that have limited the proliferation of these machines.New COVID-19 cases are still surging in parts of the U.S., India and Brazil, and in some areas, we’re seeing instances of inundated labs, with test results coming back in one to two weeks. That’s not fast enough for a virus this contagious. We need to get accurate tests results to healthcare providers, public officials, and patients as close to real-time as possible. To meet this goal, we need to apply molecular-diagnostic techniques to new types of biosensors that deliver test results at the point of care in minutes through platforms that send that data in near real-time to the cloud. This essential information will allow public health institutions, states, cities and other key stakeholders to identify and mitigate emerging hot spots of disease.Over the past seven months, we’ve had the privilege of working with a handful of biotech companies that have pivoted to develop rapid point-of-care molecular diagnostics that target COVID-19. One of these, HEMEMICS, is developing a handheld molecular diagnostic test platform that could be administered by healthcare workers in triage settings such as ambulances, emergency rooms, community clinics and makeshift hospitals. As a true point-of-care test platform, it would deliver results onsite, without requiring the transfer of test samples to a lab. “We’re aiming to redefine point-of-care testing for COVID-19,” said John Lehman Warden, Jr., CEO and co-founder, HEMEMICS. “Unlike the most common type of on-site test — the lateral flow monitor — our test isn’t waiting for osmotic reactions to occur. We place the sample from a quick nasal swab or a drop of blood right on-chip, and binding takes place within a standing drop of fluid. That makes our platform fast, delivering results in about 60 seconds. Plus it simplifies sharing test results with other communities of interest, such as public health departments and municipalities, because it’s Bluetooth-enabled and supports cloud-based management networks.”As its foundry partner, we’re collaborating with HEMEMICS as it continues to refine its biochip’s sensitivity for both antibody and antigen testing of SARS-CoV-2. Once HEMEMICS is satisfied, it will move forward with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) emergency use authorization (EUA), which it hopes will bring the HEMEMICS platform into the hands of the millions of people who stand to benefit.As we head into the fall and winter months, we’ll need both rapid, connected point-of-care biosensor test platforms such as HEMEMICS’ and high-accuracy RT-PCR tests to fight COVID-19 effectively. And at their root, we’ll have MEMS and biosensors to thank. For more information on Rogue Valley Microdevices’ biosensor solutions, please contact the company at [email protected] or visit its website. As founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices, Jessica Gomez has created a world-class precision MEMS foundry in the heart of Southern Oregon. Integral to her role as CEO, Gomez practices a business philosophy of offering best-in-class process technology and R D expertise to customers to help them achieve the highest quality and reliability in their products. Gomez plays an active leadership role within and beyond the technology industry. She is a board member of the prestigious SEMI Board of Industry Leaders, she was the first executive selected for Spotlight on SEMI Women, and she is chairman of the Oregon Institute of Technology Board of Trustees.Rogue Valley Microdevices is a longtime member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that enables the MEMS and sensor industry to address common challenges, innovate and accelerate business results.

MEMS and image sensors are shining stars in the chip industry as technology companies worldwide accelerate innovation in the fight against COVID-19. The tiny devices are behind advances in areas of electronics ranging from thermal imaging and faster point-of-care testing to microfluidics-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tools and techniques to detect SARS-CoV-2.SEMI recently spoke with Yole Développement analysts Dimitrios Damianos and Chenmeijing Liang about MEMS and imaging sensors market trends and how microelectronics-enhanced technologies are supporting the worldwide push to contain the spread of COVID-19.For additional insights on the technologies, join the SEMI MEMS Imaging Sensors Summit, held for the first time at SEMICON Europa, 12-13 November 2020 in Munich, Germany. Registration is open.SEMI: Despite the global pandemic, the MEMS and sensors market is still growing and is one of the healthiest industries, not only in Europe, but globally. What is driving this growth?Damianos: MEMS have been continuously evolving from the first sensors that were measuring pressure and acceleration to rotation sensing and visible light management followed by light sensing beyond visible and the expansion to ultrasound and multi-spectral. Now we are heading towards an era where we want to sense every aspect of our environment, with more processing and eventually analytics bringing more quality to the data.COVID-19 has impacted various global markets in very different ways. While automotive, mobility and civil aviation have suffered, the impact on telecommunications and medical has been positive. The effects on the consumer, mobile and industrial markets have been moderate. Moreover, COVID-19 is changing the perception of the current global supply chain in manufacturing, potentially leading to more localized value chains and further regionalization in order to minimize similar risks posed by the pandemic and the first lockdown.SEMI: Who are the main MEMS players based on your research? Damianos: For MEMS players, the picture in 2019 was not the same as 10 years ago, when Texas Instruments (TI) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) were leading the scene, with Bosch and ST Microelectronics following, all at comparable revenue levels. Now, Broadcom and Bosch lead with almost $1.4 billion in revenue each, and the rest of the MEMS key stakeholders compete in the $400 million to $600 million league. Microphone players profited from the voice interface adoption trend, while players active in MEMS for mobility and smartphones suffered slightly due to weak end-system demand.SEMI: What scenarios can we expect for each market with regard to the impact of COVID-19 on MEMS for 2020? Damianos: For 2020, at Yole Développement we expect the consumer market to contract slightly by 2.6%, with the automotive market to dip by 27.5%, and defense and aerospace by 20.5%. For the defense market, no major effect is expected, as all major programs still run for the year. The market may experience some slight delays in deliveries due to supply chain and logistics problems. However, sensors integrated in commercial/civil aerospace applications will suffer due to the general paralysis of the air travel industry. On the positive side, telecommunications could increase by 4.7%, medical applications by 10.6%, and industrial by 11.5%.Due to the global pandemic, some types of MEMS have spiked in demand this year. For example, demand for thermopiles and microbolometers used in temperature guns and thermal cameras has increased because of the need for contactless monitoring of people’s temperatures. Moreover, microfluidics for DNA sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests for detecting COVID-19 are gaining market relevance, with the latter serving as a premier method of detecting a bacteria or virus on the molecular level with high degrees of accuracy. Furthermore, pressure and flowmeters in ventilators will grow because of huge demand by hospital intensive care units (ICUs).SEMI: What growth trends do you predict for the long haul?Damianos: In the longer term, we expect global MEMS volumes to almost double, from 24.4 billion units in 2019 to 50.8 billion units in 2025, with a 13% CAGR during the same period. The global MEMS market could reach $17.7 billion in revenue by 2025.We see a trend to more wearable devices integrating a lot of sensors but also a move to a more consumer-oriented healthcare. Moreover, everything related to voice interfaces and voice/virtual-personal assistants (VPAs) will continue to see strong growth, increasing demand for MEMS mics with better quality and high-fidelity voice capture. MEMS devices are shifting to higher accuracy, ultra-low power, embedded intelligence and possibly some bio-compatibility for medical applications.MEMS players will try to escape the commoditization cycle and deliver more value by increasing the value of the data, either grouping many sensors to create sensor hubs or by adding processing, algorithms and software. Industry players are employing strategies such as adding extra processing close to the sensor (e.g. Knowles) or ameliorating the use cases of their applications of their clients (e.g. Bosch or ST). AI on the edge seems very alluring for extra value acquisition, with many startups already working on it. Some examples include always-on-sensing (Aspinity in collaboration with Infineon, Syntiant), echolocation (IMERAI) and predictive maintenance using inertial sensors (Cartesiam). This will be the next pit stop for MEMS technology for sure. SEMI: The CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) is a cornerstone technology in the development of devices powered by machine sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) for applications such as advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). CIS powers many of the ongoing revolutions in new technical products and use cases. What is the status of the image sensors industry? Liang: Last year was exceptional with a combination of high demand and high prices due to capacity limitations. Q4 2019 went way above the forecast, and, in the end, the CIS industry reached $19.3 billion for the full year. This year, we think it will return to normal, and, despite the pandemic impact, we expect significant growth in the range of 7% to 12%. Last year’s 25% year-over-year (YOY) growth was the highest we’ve seen over the past decade. Mobile still dominates the marketplace for CIS with 69% market share. Two markets, computing (8%) and consumer (5%), are adjacent to the mobile market but progressively losing ground due to the smartphone disruption.Security, at 6% market share, will probably be the second largest CIS market in the future. Although this is an area of excellence for the emerging Chinese players, unfortunately, they could be hit by the current trade war. The automotive market did very well from 2018 to 2019 because of the numerous applications recently developed for ADAS, viewing, and in-cabin applications. Lastly, the industrial camera applications benefited from large investments in automation, especially in the semiconductor and automotive industries, but here again many uncertainties remain as these markets will reshuffle in the post COVID-19 world. SEMI: Which CIS markets are most susceptible to seasonality and the impact of COVID-19?Liang: According to our quarterly CIS monitor, automotive and security were both negatively impacted by the pandemic beyond what we expected in terms of seasonality. For computing, the situation improved just prior the lockdown. Q1 got a positive impact with high sales results for laptops and tablets, but no significant impact was seen for security equipment. For automotive, the demand for cameras was very high in Q1, which is seasonally normal, despite the decrease of car shipments that followed later. The automotive CIS market in 2020 should remain relatively flat compared to 2019 due to the higher attachment rates of cameras despite the lower number of cars produced. Consumer and industrial segments dropped in Q1, which is typical early in the year.The next five years might be a bit slow, and although we forecast growth for the next year, in the future the market share will be lower in mobile. In fact, mobile CIS growth will fall below the CIS growth average, but we will see an increase of market share for the security, automotive and industrial segments. The CIS market could reach $28 billion in 2025.At first, COVID-19 had a limited impact on the production side, as factories in China are usually closed for the New Year holiday, when the pandemic started. While supply is currently recovering, we still consider the limited impact on demand. Smartphone production for 2020 will be down 6%, but camera shipments for mobile should increase about 10% this year. Another positive trend for the mobile market is optical fingerprint implementation. Currently, high-end Android phones use this kind of technology. For 2023, we estimate optical fingerprint technology revenue to be over $1 billion.The roadmap for the automotive market is driven by camera proliferation. We’ll see 10 cameras per car and more for some high-end vehicles. Increasing demand for safety and convenience will mean more cameras per car in the future. With a strong attachment rate, the market average in automotive is around 2.0 cameras per car nowadays, and we expect the market average to reach 3.5 cameras per car in 2025. In security, Charge Coupled Device (CCD)-based cameras are nearly out of the market, as CMOS-based IP cameras are most important now.SEMI: What are current key technology trends?Liang: 3D semiconductor technology is the hot topic. CIS wafer staking technology is indeed at the center of the CIS technology race. Future applications could be AI analytics or recently developed applications on new types of CIS. So far, we have seen the introduction of variants of the CIS pixel. Global shutter (GS) and indirect Time of Flight (iToF) were recently introduced, and now direct time-of-flight (dTOF) pixels are being used in high volume. 3D semiconductor technology is a bonanza for the industry, as it allows to pack more value in a single chip. While the surface of silicon is still increasing, additional silicon is added through stacking.With COVID-19 still a problem, the endpoint for smartphones in 2020 remains uncertain. The short-term impact for CIS will be slower growth with respect to the 25% YoY of last year. The downturn in car production will be mitigated by an increased attachment rate for automotive cameras. The security market will also help maintain CIS growth.For more insights, see the following reports: Status of the MEMS Industry 2020 3D Imaging and Sensing 2020 CIS Market Monitor Q2 2020 Dimitrios Damianos is a technology and market analysts at Yole Développement covering MEMS, Sensors, Photonics and Imaging. Chenmeijing Liang is a technology and market analysts at Yole Développement covering Imaging. Serena Brischetto is senior manager of Marketing and Communications at SEMI Europe.

At UES, Inc., our 300 employees faced a myriad of productivity, logistics, and communication challenges as we responded to COVID-19 yet we continued our work uninterrupted to deliver scientific research and technical expertise to the Department of Defense (DoD). We focus on several disciplines including materials science, aerospace power and propulsion, bio and nanoscale technologies, surface engineering, photonic and electronic technologies, additive manufacturing, and product development.UES is also an active member of SEMI Nano-Bio Material Consortium (NBMC), a public-private partnership with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and has been a part of the organization since its inception in 2013. Dr. Stephaney Shanks, Director of our newest division, Integrative Health and Performance Sciences (IHPS), is currently acting as the NBMC Governing Council Chairperson. IHPS is setting the standard for high-level research in the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th (711 Human Performance Wing) and beyond.Its areas of focus include advancing marker discovery in air and biofluids, sensor development, evaluating microbiomes for health and performance, toxicology, industrial hygiene, and high-throughput screening for genetic and chemical exposure. Most of our employees work at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is offsite of our corporate headquarters and product development labs.Here are some examples of how our COVID-19 response efforts have not only worked, but helped us thrive during this difficult period, enabling us to continue our vital research for the Air Force and our product innovation work in our corporate labs.1. Pursuing Research Projects to Support COVID-19 SolutionsStaffed primarily by scientists and engineers, UES holds a distinct position in supporting the fight against COVID-19. Our entire organization strongly supports finding solutions to the problems brought on by the pandemic to make life safer for everyone.With our AFRL partners and in our UES labs, we pursued new proposals and began projects to combat the pandemic’s problems. We’re developing rapid devices for detection of breath biomarkers that may indicate COVID-19 infection status to provide non-invasive testing capabilities. We are also pursuing point-of-care devices for real-time assessment of COVID-19 outside of the clinical environment, and we are developing models of the protein spikes of SARS-CoV-2 that could be used to further improve detection capabilities.UES also extended active research toward COVID-19 patient transport on cargo aircraft. We have been working with the 711 HPW to develop computational models to evaluate biological agent dispersal in cargo aircraft.UES is conducting research into the biological agent dispersal patterns in cargo aircraft. 2. Enacting an Effective Work-from-Home Policy and FormatBefore the pandemic, most of our employees did not have the option to regularly work remotely. However, by the end of March 2020, UES needed to respond to both DoD and Ohio government orders to stay at home. This presented new challenges. How do we keep laboratory/bench-based staff working? How do we keep all staff mentally engaged while teleworking?As luck would have it, we moved to Office 365 in February. That technology rollout proved to be a significant advantage in our COVID-19 response. Employees maximized their use of Microsoft Teams by sharing files, collaborating, using chat functions, and hosting video meetings. UES also utilized GoToMeeting for larger group meetings and real-time group file sharing/editing.By late March, our management team provided a tracker file in Excel format for all employees to document daily technical progress. This proved to be an excellent method to track projects, monitor staff COVID-19 symptoms or exposure, and record work location as the AFRL and UES labs began to allow small teams to return. This also kept managers in touch with employees on a weekly basis about ongoing work. It not only created extra layers of accountability, but also demonstrated progress and achievements week to week.Microsoft Office 365 has proved its usefulness to UES during the pandemic. 3. Offering Support to Employees and the CommunityThe overall wellness of our employees and the Dayton region is part of our mission at UES. As we resolved logistical issues and reshaped how we collaborated and delivered results, our leadership team began to focus on how to best support employees and our local community. A few activities supported this effort: We provided masks to all employees, along with an informational visual guide for best practices in wearing and caring for a mask. Safety has been a top priority for all employees. We started offering virtual Coffee Talks and Happy Hours. These company-wide online meetings gave employees a chance to reconnect and share concerns. We also shifted our Fitness Classes to an online format. We utilized our social media channels to engage with employees and share resources. We allocated community support to vulnerable populations (food banks and a domestic violence center). UES gave corporate donations, as well as shared non-financial ways to support the community with employees. This pandemic has brought plenty of challenges, but we're impressed by everyone's innovation and resilience. Every UES team member played an active role in adapting, not just to continue their daily work, but to be a part of the solution and support the community.UES used social media to share remote working tips with employees. Dr. Nina Joshi is president and CEO of UES, an award-winning innovative science and technology company based in Dayton, Ohio that provides its government and industry customers with superior research and development expertise, world-class technical support and value-added management services. A unique philosophy emphasizes passion for advancing science, dedication to superior service and commitment to enhancing careers. Contact the company here.

Japan’s semiconductor industry has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic to post robust growth. Far from a temporary setback, COVID-19 will lead to enduring change in how we work and live. And just as automation has been a bulwark against the devastating business impacts of the virus outbreak, increasing digitization will lead to new efficiencies in our industry.These were some of the key takeaways from three SEMI Japan Members Day webinars in June and July that offered the latest updates on COVID-19 impacts to the semiconductor industry and restart strategies for SEMI members. More than 2,000 SEMI members across Japan’s islands attended the webinars featuring the following five speakers: Hideki Kanewaka, Marketing Director, Consulting Lead, Japan, Accenture Japan Ltd. Takayuki Komori, Manager, Marketing Engineering Dept, SUMCO Corporation Taketoshi Hamaguchi, Director, Manufacturing Industry, Microsoft Corporation Akira Minamikawa, Senior Consulting Director, OMDIA (Informa Intelligence LCC) Yuichi Koshiba, Managing Director Partner, Boston Consulting Group COVID-19 Impact on Japan Semiconductor Industry is ModestThe consensus view of the five speakers from various quarters of the industry – consultant, IT service provider, materials supplier, market analyst – was that the Japan semiconductor industry withstood the heavy blows COVID-19 dealt to other industries thanks to strong demand for chips. Shelter-in-place policies and lockdowns spawned by COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation rippling around the world as electronics sales have soared to support everything from remote work and education to healthcare and home entertainment including gaming.The rapid growth of cloud usage for video streaming, gaming and remote work is taxing communications network capacity and placing more bandwidth demands on servers, said Akira Minamikawa of OMDIA. According to a recent report by Nokia, communications network traffic has skyrocketed 300 percent for online meetings and 400 percent for gaming, bringing the networks closer to their capacity limits. Minamikawa sees server shipments increasing at 8 percent CAGR through 2024. For the broader chip market, he expects demand for notebooks, solid state and hard disk drives, and gaming to remain strong in 2020. He also predicts rapid 5G penetration for smartphones will boost semiconductor chip industry growth.Still, not all semiconductor segments are expanding, said Yuichi Koshiba of Boston Consulting Group. Chip shipments for end products in markets such as automotive, industrial equipment and aircrafts are on the decline. Slowing demand for chips that power automotive applications in particular could pare sales for some chip companies and distributors since the segment accounts for a high proportion of their overall revenue.State of the Semiconductor IndustryFrom SUMCO’s vantagepoint as a major silicon wafer supplier, the company’s Takayuki Komori sees a number of changes unfolding in the semiconductor industry: Smartphones are driving growing demand for process technology (smaller nodes) and 300mm wafers. Komori estimates the typical high-end smartphone sports 1,700 square millimeters of silicon. 300mm wafers account for 80 percent of that total while more than 50 percent of the devices use leading edge multi-patterning technologies. Smartphones will need more RF chips to support 5G’s high-speed communications and added frequency ranges. Substrates for RF switches and tuners have been shifting from gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other compound semiconductors to silicon. 5G smartphone penetration will accelerate as the cost of integrating CPUs and modem functions into a single chip sees a swift decline. While the sensitivity and resolution of CMOS image sensors have evolved to incorporate innovative backside illumination and stacking technologies, future advances will focus more on products for machine vision applications capable of sensing invisible light bands. Rising adoption of electric vehicles and robotics applications will drive growing demand for power semiconductors that control their motors such as IGBTs and MOSFETs as the production capacity for the devices expands and shifts to 300mm wafer lines. For memory fabs, Minamikawa said utilization remains high as a result of a spending slowdown by major chip manufacturers and will stay elevated even once additional capacity ramps to support robust demand. Foundry fab utilization also remains high despite the pandemic-driven cancellation of smartphone chip orders in March. Minamikawa also sees the utilization rate of micro rising with the surge in demand for notebooks, PCs and servers in the second half of 2020.Transition to New NormalAs people around the world start to settle into new ways of living and working, there’s a growing acceptance that the transformation will be long-lasting. And no area of people’s lives is changing more than their work. Boosted by government subsidies, many small and midsize companies in Japan have started to implement work-from-home policies, an area where major electronics and IT businesses had already instituted reforms, said Hideki Kanewaka of Accenture. A few examples: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced that half of its employees will continue to work from home in the future. A five-year plan Toshiba launched in 2019 to allow all employees to work from home will likely accelerate. Hitachi plans to allow all employees to work from home starting in April 2021. dwango, a major internet-based entertainment company in Japan, announced it will allow in principle any employees to work remotely. In the critical area of remote sales, Kanewaka pointed to the importance of going beyond online business meetings, paperless transactions and virtual events to devise new ways to attract customers and close deals. Creating online communities and providing rich digital content are also important measures to consider, he said.Manufacturing's Digital TransformationTravel restrictions by most countries to curb the COVID-19 outbreak have also raised barriers to chip companies sending engineers overseas sites to service state-of-art equipment and provide other technical support. Microsoft’s remote assist system deployed by ASML is one tool semiconductor makers can use to overcome this challenge, said Taketoshi Hamaguchi of Microsoft.The system connects a remote equipment service expert with an onsite worker through the internet, allowing the technical expert to provide support through a goggle display with a camera worn by the worker. Guided by the expert, the worker can perform complex services. A Natural User Interface (NUI) helps give the factory worker a clear understanding of the often highly technical instructions.Using artificial intelligence (AI) to increase automation will also help reduce the reliance of semiconductor factories on onsite workers. For example, AI deep learning can be deployed to calibrate equipment autonomously and reduce downtime after scheduled maintenances, Hamaguchi said.Corporate Restart Strategies Beyond factory considerations tied to COVID-19, semiconductor companies will need to adapt their business strategies to new ways of operating. For example, global supply chains will shift to domestic sources and increase redundancy to ensure a steady supply, a change leading to higher overall costs, Koshiba said. Trade routes among regions will also be redrawn as the trade rift between the United States and China and other geopolitical tensions intensify. The total value of those routes is expected to recover by 2023.Koshiba advised companies to evaluate the supply chain trade-offs between stability and cost and factor in potential risks to improve their short-term resilience and drive mid- to long-term supply chain restructuring.After past recessions, 14 percent of companies restored sales growth, Koshiba said. He recommended investing aggressively in growth and seizing M A opportunities during the downturn. Chip companies must also adapt to supply chain changes faster than competitors.Become a SEMI MemberWebinars like the recent SEMI Japan Members Day series have become increasingly important in the mix of programs and services SEMI offers members to help them connect, collaborate and innovate in the microelectronics community. To become a SEMI member, please visit the SEMI website or contact your nearest SEMI office.Jim Hamajima is president of SEMI Japan.

Why do we need environmental air pollution sensors?Today we need environmental air pollution sensors more than ever to ensure that we have clean and safe outdoor and indoor air. Although federal rules have improved air pollution over the past several decades, more than 110 million Americans still live in counties where air quality is below national standards. An estimated 100,000 Americans die prematurely each year of illnesses caused or exacerbated by polluted air.“Cars and trucks are much cleaner than they were, power plants are cleaner, industrial operations are cleaner,” said Paul Billings, Senior Vice President Advocacy for the American Lung Association. But cleaner air is not clean air.”While scientists have long known that air pollution may exacerbate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, new data suggests polluted air leads to higher COVID-19 higher death rates and brain inflammation that can contribute to dementia and autism.To understand the importance of air quality and how we can apply existing sensors and develop new ones, we look both outdoors and indoors (see Figure 1). Outdoor air quality relates to gaseous and particulate pollutants, defined by the Air Quality Index (AQI). The AQI became a standard based on regional thresholds for a set of key outdoor pollutants: four gaseous pollutants (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone) and particulates (PMs) of different sizes such as 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5). At present, the AQI is measured using traditional analytical instruments. Despite their high acquisition and maintenance costs, these instruments are the only solution to accurately measure these pollutants in the presence of variable environmental background.Figure 1. Examples of outdoor and indoor air quality markers Indoor air quality (IAQ) is also of growing concern. Formaldehyde, benzene, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide are some of the key pollutants with restricted concentration levels in residential, office and industrial buildings. Sources of these and other gaseous pollutants include building materials and equipment, workplace cleansers, and building occupants. Regulatory agencies and building occupants use different methodologies to estimate IAQ using gaseous and particulate pollutant analyzers. These estimates also consider air humidity and temperature that affect indoor air quality. Where are we today with environmental sensors?The top three requirements for modern gas sensors include: the sensor reliability to provide accurate readings in diverse environmental conditions over desired period of use low power, to extend battery life or to eliminate its need, and low cost, to facilitate their ubiquitous deployments. Advances in electronics, microfabrication, and packaging have delivered recent important developments in reducing the power consumption and miniature packaged solutions. Recent R D efforts are also increasing the number of successful gas sensor field deployments for outdoor and indoor air quality monitoring. Figure 2 illustrates three examples of recent developments in gas sensors that meet requirements of diverse customers.Electrochemical sensors from SPEC Sensors were collocated with EPA instruments for monitoring of NO2 and O3 in Chicago’s Array of Things Project. Figure 2A shows that these new cost-effective sensors track well the EPA instruments. Advancements in circuit quality, sampling, enclosure design, and initial calibration/compensation were all essential in achieving these results. While this example clearly demonstrates the usability of these sensors in this particular application, the expectations that low-cost, off-the-shelf sensors will match the performance of EPA reference systems that cost 50x-100x more must be adjusted. A micropackaged sensor suite from Bosch Sensortec includes sensors for total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), temperature, humidity, and pressure. TVOC measurements are needed according to the guidelines by the German Federal Environmental Agency. To report TVOC, the sensor algorithm tracks the TVOC-related resistance of the metal oxide sensor, corrects sensor resistance for ambient temperature and humidity, and outputs the TVOCs Index of Air Quality between 0 (clean air) and 500 (heavily polluted air) as shown in Figure 2B. A recent GE-developed dielectric excitation scheme of metal oxide sensing materials provided a highly desired and long-awaited calibration stability of sensors for monitoring of fugitive methane gas emissions in all-weather conditions. These sensors were used in several field validation campaigns in Oklahoma, North Dakota, Arkansas, and British Columbia and had stable performance after more than 400 days, as compared to an initial calibration (see Figure 2C). Such stable sensor performance has become possible by switching from the conventional resistive mode of operation of metal oxide sensing elements to the dielectric excitation scheme. Figure 2. Examples of applications of contemporary gas sensors based on different detection principles.(A) Outdoor performance of NO2 and O3 electrochemical sensors versus EPA-validated instruments.(B) Calibration results of a BME680 metal oxide gas chemiresistor upon exposures to TVOCs (blue stair-profile) and its ± 15% confidence interval band as the Index of Air Quality.(C) Calibration stability of a sensor with an innovative dielectric excitation scheme implemented for monitoring of fugitive methane gas emissions after multiple uses in diverse field validation campaigns. Key challenges and solutions toward realizing new applicationsIn this era of data-on-demand, environmental sensors could enable countless new applications. Imagine you have a gas sensor conveniently integrated into a smartphone or a watch. You are commuting to work, and your sensor alerts you that the subway station through which you are traveling has very poor air quality. How might this alert affect your behavior? Would you put on a mask, change your commuting route to a twice-longer one, or petition the city? What if you are attending a parade downtown with your asthmatic child, and your device informs you that the air is clean? Would you skip the parade if you knew that your sensor was only 10% accurate? How would you avoid a risk of ending with your asthmatic child in a hospital?Design principles of modern sensors originate in the 20th century for detection of high gas levels from leaks, but they did not anticipate the applications proposed now. By design, existing sensors have only a single output – e.g. resistance, voltage, current, light intensity – that mathematically cannot correct for the sensor instabilities caused by the complex chemical background and variable temperature and humidity conditions. Thus, often these simple sensors perform best when pollution levels are high and when the compound of interest swamps others. As a practical example, there are dozens of gaseous pollutants in ambient air with their toxicity that differ 1,000-10,000 fold. Often, the insufficient reliability and accuracy of existing sensors in the field conditions is a significant bottleneck toward the broad adoption of gas sensors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the correlation between readings of low-cost sensors versus reference monitors varies widely from 1% to 80%. The EPA also states that no low-cost sensors meet Regulatory Monitoring requirements, and the World Meteorological Organization emphasizes that “low-cost sensors are not currently a direct substitute for reference instruments, especially for mandatory purposes.” However, we now have the increasing number of examples of reliable operation in complex environments (Figure 2) in addition to important advances in reduced power and size of contemporary sensors. Still, the key challenges to realize new applications are often the lack of required accuracy and reliability of available sensors for new contemplated applications.Is it possible to offer low-cost sensors for at least some applications and some gases with the degree of accuracy approaching more expensive specialized instruments? We, the SEMI-MSIG Device Working Group, are saying: Yes. To deliver on this bold statement, our SEMI community brings new technological solutions to the 100-year old general design of gas sensors.Our next blog What is in the Air will provide details on our activities of SEMI-MSIG Device Working Group to establish standards and new measurement schemes to reduce effects from uncontrolled ambient conditions and to improve stability, limit of detection, and dynamic range of environmental sensors. Also learn how new MSIG members can impact this important working 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.Radislav A. Potyrailo is Principal Scientist, Micro Optoelectronics Gas-Chem-Bio Sensors Systems, at GE Research; Ed Stetter is General Manager at SPEC Sensors, LLC; Ryotaro Sakauchi, is Senior Manager of Business Development at Bosch Sensortec; Merry Smith is a Product Manager and Senior Scientist at C2Sense, Inc.; and Sreeni D. Rao is Senior Director of the MEMS Business Group at TDK Corporation.