SIA letter to Biden; TSMC expansion; processor updates; CEA-Leti quantum computing news

As widely reported by the media, the Semiconductor Industry Association has sent a letter to President Biden urging him to include in his recovery and infrastructure plan “substantial funding for incentives for semiconductor manufacturing, in the form of grants and/or tax credits, and for basic and applied semiconductor research.” According to SIA, “bold action is needed to address the challenges we face. The costs of inaction are high.” Speaking of challenges,TSMC Board of Directors has recently approved the issuance of bonds for a total amount of nearly $9 billion to finance TSMC’s capacity expansion and/or pollution prevention related expenditures. The Board has also approved the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary in Japan to expand TSMC’s 3DIC material research, investing $186 million.

Processor updates: Micro Magic, Alibaba, Baidu, NeuReality

Sunnyvale-based Micro Magic claims it has developed an ultra-low power 64-bit Risc-V core consuming only 10mW at 1Ghz, thus achieving a record breaking 250,000 Coremarks/Watt performance. According to the company, the processor – built in a 16nm FinFET process – reaches such an outstanding efficiency when running at a 350mV supply voltage.

Some architecture and performance details about the processors developed by Chinese Internet giants Alibaba and Baidu have recently been made available – along with tons of other interesting content – on the HotChips conference website (HC32 archive). Presentations from the 2020 edition of the event include slides from Alibaba Group describing the Xuantie 910 processor and the Hanguang 800 NPU, as well as slides from Baidu providing some details about the Kunlun processor.

NeuReality, an Israel-based AI hardware startup, has reportedly emerged from stealth mode announcing an $8 million seed round and the addition of Naveen Rao, the GM of Intel’s AI Products Group and former CEO of Nervana System, to the company’s board of directors. NeuReality is reportedly developing a high performance inference platform for datacenters.

CEA-Leti quantum computing initiatives

CEA-Leti has recently announced a number of achievements and initiatives related to quantum computing. The French research institute will coordinate a new four-year European Union project called QLSI (Quantum Large-Scale Integration with Silicon), aimed at laying the foundation for the EU’s industrial-scale implementation of semiconductor quantum processors and position Europe as a global leader in quantum computing. QLSI will pursue four essential results: fabrication and operation of 16-qubit quantum processors based on industry-compatible semiconductor technology; demonstration of high-fidelity (>99 percent) single- and two-qubit gates, read-out and initialization with these devices in a lab environment; demonstration of a quantum computer prototype, with online open-access for the community, integrating this quantum processor in a semi-industrial environment (up to eight qubits available online); and documentation of the requirements to address important issue of scalability towards large systems >1,000 qubits. Besides numerous European universities and research institutes, the QLSI consortium also includes industry members such as Hitachi, STMicroelectronics and Infineon. CEA-Leti contribution to the new EU project will include a solution for the large-scale integration of Si-spin qubits using existing flip-chip processes with die-to-wafer 3D-interconnect technologies developed in-house. Electrical characterizations at cryogenic temperatures of chip assemblies made with 3D interconnects such as SnAg microbumps and direct Cu bonded pads from Cu/SiO2 hybrid bonding process was the subject of a paper presented by CEA-Leti during the 2020 Electronics System-Integration Technology Conference (ESTC). Another contribution from CEA-Leti and its partners will be a prototype interposer that allows integration and testing of both quantum and control chips fabricated from different materials and technologies. Known as QuIC3, which stands for quantum integrated circuits with CryoCMOS, the prototype demonstrator controls quantum chips by embedding control electronics near the quantum chip inside a dilution cryostat at T<1K. The demonstrator is made from an interposer in silicon on which quantum chips and control electronics are integrated by 3D flip-chip processes. The control electronics are fabricated on standard FDSOI 28nm-node technology and manufactured by STMicroelectronics. To support its research in quantum computing, CEA has recently acquired a cryogenic wafer prober manufactured by Finnish company Bluefors Oy.

Advancements towards high-NA EUV lithography

Belgian research institute Imec has reported for the first time the use of a 13.5 nm High Harmonic Generation source for the printing of 20nm pitch line/spaces using interference lithographic imaging of a metal-oxide resist developed by Oregon-based Inpria under high-numerical-aperture (high-NA) conditions. The demonstrated high-NA capability of the EUV interference lithography using this EUV source represents an important milestone for AttoLab, a research facility initiated by Imec and KMLabs to accelerate the development of the high-NA patterning ecosystem on 300 mm wafers. The interference tool will be used to explore the fundamental dynamics of photoresist imaging and provide patterned 300 mm wafers for process development before the first 0.55 high-NA EXE5000 prototype from ASML becomes available.

Events

The 2021 edition of ISSCC started last February 13 and will be running – in a virtual format – until February 22. Here is the conference advance program. Among the papers to be presented at ISSCC, eTopus (San Jose, CA) will describe an innovative ADC/DSP-based 1.25-to-56Gbps/112Gbps SerDes technology with a live demo where the clock and data recovery remains locked at 1% BER when channel insertion loss is pushed to close to 50dB. Early next month, DVcon US 2021 will take place from March 1 through 4, also as a virtual event.

Acquisitions

Renesas has acquired Dialog Semiconductor (UK), adding product lines centered around low-power technologies and connectivity and expanding its global footprint. With this acquisition, Renesas aims to strengthen its position in the IoT, industrial and automotive fields.

Electric mobility in Silicon Valley: Archer going public

Not only cars: Palo Alto-based Archer is developing all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts. Archer has just announced it will become a publicly listed company through a combination with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) called Atlas Crest Investment Corp.

Credit: Archer

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2021 at 6:55 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.