Manufacturing

Today, Samsung announced that it has started initial production of its 3nm process node applying Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architecture. “Multi-Bridge-Channel FET (MBCFET), Samsung’s GAA technology defies the performance limitations of FinFET, improving power efficiency by reducing the supply voltage level, while also enhancing performance by increasing drive current capability,” says a statement from Samsung. Samsung is starting the first application ...

Technology could power innovative robotic applications, but attention needs to be paid to testing component parts, says Khushboo Kalyani of LitePoint. For industrial, automotive and manufacturing robotics applications, 5G technology offers high speed, reliable, dense and low latency connectivity that is suitable for fixed location or mobile use cases. When discussing the exciting applications for 5G, healthcare, autonomous vehicles, drones ...

At Embedded World  today, Raspberry Pi was giving away its Pico development boards to all comers, to emphasise that there is no shortage of its RP2040 microcontroller, which was recently qualified for the industrial -40 to +85°C temperature range – previously it was to -20°C. “We risk-bought quite a lot of wafers, and could sell one to two million per ...

Aerospacelab, the geospatial intelligence startup, is building what it describes as a satellite megafactory at Charleroi, with the goal of achieving a yearly production capacity of 500 satellites. What will be the largest satellite manufacturing plant in Europe follows the launch of its facility in Ottignies-Louvain-La-Neuve (which will eventually produce up to 24 satellites a year, starting in Q3 of ...

Skywater, the US hi-rel foundry, has added FDSOI SRAM on 90nm to its IP portfolio. Mobile Semiconductor will provide two SRAM compilers for SkyWater customers developing products on its RH90 platform. This is the latest step in SkyWater’s RH90 technology roadmap. The company has leveraged the $170 million investment by the Department of Defense (DOD) to broaden onshore production capabilities ...

Saki Corporation has announced a series of high-speed 3D automated optical inspection systems for PCBs with a combination of very small and tall components. Called the 3Di series, its newly-developed camera system can simultaneously inspect parts in 008004 packages (metric 0201, ~200 x 100μm) and 25mm tall parts. The first 3Di machine will debut on 15-17 June at JISSO PROTEC ...

Renesas is putting Y90bn into a 300mm power semiconductor fab in Kai City, Yamanashi Prefecture, citing the rise of electric vehicles as motivation. This is the Kofu Factory, closed in October 2014 when it ran 150mm and 200mm wafer lines in its 18,000m2 cleanroom, now to re-open in 2024 “to enhance production capacity for power semiconductors such as IGBTs”, according to the ...

Bostik has announced a prototype cyanoacrylate (‘superglue’) adhesive “for long-term critical applications such as those required in the automotive and electronics industry”, it said. “It will propel instant adhesives’ use outside of repair and maintenance applications, into a solution that can be relied upon for longer-term, structural engineering use.” It is a two-part n-butyl cyanoacrylate-based adhesive, with the hydrophobic butyl ...

STMicroelectronics and Macom Technology Solutions have announced prototypes on their fledgling RF GaN-on-Si process, which the companies aim to pitch against RF LDMOS (laterally-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor) for RF power amplifiers, and as lower-cost alternative to RF GaN-on-SiC (silicon carbide). “GaN can offer superior RF characteristics and significantly higher output power than LDMOS for these RF PAs,” according to ST. “RF GaN-on-SiC ...

In semiconductor and electronic equipment manufacture, the quality control (QC) process is essential to ensuring defect-free products that meet specifications and comply with international standards. Here, manufacturers rely heavily on industrial microscopes to ensure a thorough and reliable examination. While the visual inspection needed for QC can be costly and time-consuming, advances in microscope software are helping to optimize product ...