Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Profitability of semiconductor manufacturers increased to 21.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2000 when it reached 24.7%, according to new data from iSuppli Corp. Although the rebound is partly due to the recovery in the market, the market research firm believes that the improved profitability is also a condition of reduced capital expenditures and other cost management strategies. Read more >>

As part of the wrapping-up of the former DRAM memory producer, Qimonda an online auction of approximately 100 tools from its 300mm front-end fabrication operations in Dresden is set to start on March 16th, 2010 and to close on Tuesday  March 30th 2010. The majority of the tool set at Qimonda’s 300mm fab in Richmond, Virginia was previously block-sold to Texas Instruments. Read more >>

In the March update to The McClean Report, IC Insights is now forecasting that the worldwide IC market is expected to rebound 27% in 2010 to US$253 billion. At the beginning of the year, the market research firm expected a 15% growth over 2009, though had then suggested that should first quarter sales show any growth over fourth quarter 2009, then a 25% plus growth figure would occur. The first quarter is seasonally the weakest in a given year in the industry. IC Insights believes that preliminary data shows that the first quarter saw revenue grow 3% over fourth quarter figures. Read more >>

By Ernst Richter et al - ABSTRACT - This article follows up on a previously published paper that introduced the 110nm technology transfer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) for the Inotera Memories joint venture at start-up [1]. In this paper, technology transfer and ramp of the 75nm DRAM technology is outlined for Inotera in full production mode. Again, technology transfer was done from Qimonda (previously Infineon Technologies) at Dresden in Germany where the technology was jointly developed with Nanya Technologies. Inotera at Taoyuan in Taiwan was the first receiving site to repeat the technology qualification. Continuous sales price reduction puts pressure on memory firms for fast introduction of technology shrinks to remain cost competitive [2]. Delays as short as a few days in the production ramp can translate into millions of dollars of missed opportunity in revenue. This paper sets forth the steps taken by the two companies to avoid such setbacks in the technology transfer. Read more >>

By Brandon Lee & Susanta Dash, CIMAC, San Jose, California, U.S. - ABSTRACT - Performance testing is carried out on an MES system to identify and eliminate bottlenecks that can potentially cause production outages and lost revenue in a semiconductor production fab. In a distributed system, bottlenecks can occur at the client site, within the server or in the  network. The MES system is the heart of the manufacturing operation and interacts with a number of other systems to support the manufacturing line in a fab. As production increases with ramping up of the production volume, the loads on the various systems that support the production also increase. This paper puts forward the potential benefits in applying the MES system for testing and validation of performance and scalability to measure the various key parameters, thus providing good ROI by early detection of potential problems. Read more >>

Dean W. Freeman, Gartner Dataquest, San Jose, California Read more >>