nanochip fab solutions
December 2015
A Letter from Ali Salehpour—Slimming Down and Scaling Up: How Thin Devices Are Transforming the OSAT Industry
Ali Salehpour
Every so often it happens. Our industry reaches a major inflection point and suddenly everything changes.
Human Factors in Automation Systems
Selim Nahas
When you consider the design of factory automation systems today, you have to ask yourself: Is the system an extension of its users or are the people who use it an extension of the system? The distinction is important, because we often adopt the principles and lessons of previous system deployments, and allow them to shape user behavior.
Qorvo Ramps in Richardson
David Lammers
Driven by fast growth in smartphones, RF supplier Qorvo Inc. has been expanding production of BAW filters at a rapid rate. Howard Witham, vice president of Texas operations, sat down with Nanochip Fab Solutions at the company’s Richardson, Texas, fab to talk about how fab automation tools have helped an experienced workforce deal with rapid capacity expansions.
The Future of Displays is Flexible
Kerry Cunningham
Bendable, foldable and curved displays for a variety of applications, enabled by advanced equipment and materials engineering, will bring new high-margin opportunities to manufacturers.
Automation Helps Overcome Productivity Challenges in Wafer Level Packaging
Shekar Krishnaswamy
Return on investment can be fast, too. One user realized a payback in just a few months from improved throughput and MES transaction automation.
Mobility Drives Thin Packaging
Nanochip Staff
Shaving a fraction of a millimeter from the height of chip packages is a big deal in smartphones. The need for thin devices is dictating the evolution of chip-scale packaging.
Fan-Out is a Game Changer
David Lammers
In one sense, fan-out chip-scale packaging is just an evolutionary step, an advance on the fan-in CSP used in so many relatively low pin count chips. But look a bit deeper, and fan-out is perhaps the biggest thing to hit the semiconductor industry since immersion lithography and high-k dielectrics.
Next-Generation Fault Detection Improves Quality and Reduces Cost
James Moyne, Jimmy Iskandar, and Michael Armacost
The next generation of fault detection will significantly reduce setup times, improve detection with fewer false alarms, and take advantage of big data capabilities to decrease response times and increase depth of analysis.
Surface Textures of Chamber Parts Can Boost Tool Output and Availability
John Mangini
Given the many issues involved in semiconductor manufacturing, it’s easy to overlook the small things that can make a big contribution to operational excellence—things like the surface textures of your chamber process kit parts.
Optimizing Productivity Analysis For Better Factory Performance
Madhav Kidambi, Shekar Krishnaswamy and David Norman
The complexity of semiconductor manufacturing makes it difficult to optimize production for increased efficiency and output while maintaining high product quality and reducing overall costs.
Global Customer Contact Center Now Available in More Regions
Nanochip Staff
Applied Materials has expanded the operations of its new Global Customer Contact (GCC) center to include customers in Taiwan and Europe. The GCC center, first launched in North America in September, offers a streamlined, single point of contact for all Applied equipment service- and parts-related needs.
Subfab Exhaust Management Evolves to Meet New Challenges
Andreas Neuber, John Dickinson, Dustin Ho, and Andrew Herbert
Subfab utilities and systems aren’t glamorous, and they usually aren’t considered as critical to a fab’s success in the same way production tools are. Yet significant economic and reputational penalties may apply if a fab’s emissions violate increasingly strict environmental standards and expectations—so failing to upgrade the subfab is a risk not worth taking.
The Last Word
David Lammers
The semiconductor industry is in a dilemma, well described by Ben Eynon, senior director of engineering development at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, at the Advanced Process Control (APC) conference held in Austin in mid-October.