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Tim Kent & John Paul McKeown, Reactec, Edinburgh, Scotland

ABSTRACT

The ongoing process of miniaturisation brings the industry into contact with new requirements for vibration management. This article looks at the fundamental changes these issues will have on the industry, and suggests that the effects will be widespread. Not least, vibrations may bring about – and may even lead – new relationships between OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and IDMs (Integrated Device Manufacturers). Vibration solutions will require ever greater understanding of the underlying causes of vibration and effective means of reducing them. Chip process and productivity requirements mixed with ambitions for yield will transform the way fabs address this ‘externality’; vibration will change from an important consideration into a key performance objective.