A long-time evangelist of 3D integration technologies, Herb Reiter puts more than 20 years of experiences in technical and business roles at semiconductor and EDA companies to work, providing a holistic perspective and insight on how to bring 3D integration to the masses.
Asia May Still Be the Hottest Spot for Advanced Packaging
When the United States and Europe looked to re-shore semiconductor technology, the primary focus was restoring leading-edge manufacturing and creating more resilient supply chains throughout the ecosystem. Eventually, it emerged that nearly all of the leading-edge advanced packaging took place in Asia, and there was minimal packaging capability in either...
SEMI ISS 2025: Ready, Set, Ramp!
The semiconductor industry has been discussing breaching the 1 trillion-dollar mark as it was coming out of COVID-19 and amid a boom year in 2022. The slowdown in 2023 had some resetting the dates for when the industry would crest the 1 trillion mark. The AI boom of 2024 has...
3D Integration Themes Become a Reality at IEDM 2024
The Transistor Wars are back, but they look a little different this time. I’ve been attending the IEDM conference off and on for 30ish years. If you are in the semiconductor process side of the world, this is one of the better conferences to attend to get up to speed...
Semiconductor Industry Forecast: Looking Forward to Balanced Growth in 2025
As the semiconductor industry moves into the last month of 2024, industry pundits are looking back and then looking forward to seeing what they missed in 2024 and preparing their assumptions for 2025. This post looks at what they are predicting to bring you the 3D InCites Semiconductor Industry Forecast....
Nuclear is Out. How Do We Solve the High Tech Sustainability Problem?
The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity in high tech sustainability. We’ve moved from using nuclear power for data centers to only some nuclear power for data centers. A change of administration where support for renewables and sustainability will not be as strong as under the previous...
The Funds Keep on Rolling for CHIPS for America R&D
The CHIPS Act continues to issue grants to help advance the United States position in semiconductor and advanced technology. Two CHIPS for America R&D facilities were announced in late October and early November. First announced was an $825 million dollar grant to Albany Nanotech in upstate New York to develop...
My How the Pendulum Swings
Why the AI Energy Crisis is Driving Us back to Coal and Nuclear Energy When I was an undergrad in Eastern Washington, my Physics professor and Geology professor, both had strong links to energy companies. With a strong coal industry in the region and the Hanford Nuclear facilities within field-trip...
TSMC OIP 2024: Strong Partnerships Drive 3D Packaging
I have spent a considerable amount of time covering the technology associated with the front-, and back end of-the-line. So for me, it is remarkable to see the growth in advanced packaging and how the interest in packaging technology seems to be overshadowing the FEOL transition to gate all around...
What is Causing the Semiconductor Workforce Paradox?
One of the challenges for the semiconductor industry over a significant time period has been finding workers who have the right skill set for design, process development, and working in the fab. According to McKinsey, there will be a shortage of between 59,000 and 146,000 workers by 2029. Deloitte predicts...
Now There Are Four
(2nm semiconductor manufacturing foundries) UMC started the semiconductor manufacturing foundry business in 1980, followed a few years later by TSMC. You could say the rest is history. TSMC has come to dominate the foundry industry for wafer processing and advanced packaging. TSMC has a 62% market share in the second...
