Year in Review part 2
July 2016
Micron announces job cuts
US-based semiconductor maker Micron Technology Inc. said on 30 June that it would cut an unspecified number of jobs as part of a series of cost-cutting initiatives in the face of challenging conditions in the global memory chip market. Micron said it expects to save about $80 million per quarter in the next fiscal year through a combination of job cuts and other unspecified measures.
Putting a new spin on MRAM
On the 20th anniversary of its invention at IBM Research, fabled nonvolatile "˜universal' magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is getting an upgrade. IBM announced on 7 July that it would collaborate with foundry-giant Samsung in using a spin-transfer torque (STT) design on its MRAM.
FCC paves way for 5G
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously on 14 July to approve a set of rules allocating spectrum for 5G wireless broadband communications in the United States. The FCC's vote makes the US the first country in the world to approve rules for communications operating at frequencies above 24 GHz.
Berkley Lab sees path to increased perovskite efficiency
Berkeley Lab researchers at its Molecular Foundry and Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis used atomic force microscopy images of the surface of perovskite crystals to show a new path to much greater efficiency in the emerging technology. The study revealed that not all crystal facets are high performers, paving the way to increased perovskite efficiency by eliminating under-performing crystal facets.
Chip sales stagnate
Semiconductor sales showed a modest sequential uptick in May, but remained hamstrung by soft demand and global economic malaise, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) trade group. "Most regional markets have struggled to gain traction in 2016, with the Americas falling well behind sales posted through the same point last year," said John Neuffer, SIA's president and CEO, in a statement. "Sales of analog products were a bright spot in May, notching both month-to-month and year-to-year increases."
Imec and ARM to collaborate on 7nm design
Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has signed on to the INSITE collaborative research program on design at nanoelectronics research institute IMEC (Leuven, Belgium). Developers are now faced by a large number of potential design choices at 7 nm including: the required number of lithography exposures, device architecture such as FinFETs or lateral nanowires, the local interconnect scheme, cell architecture and the metallization scheme.
US PC sales show surprising strength
PC shipments increased in the second quarter compared with the second quarter of 2015, the first year-over-year increase for the US PC market after five consecutive quarters of declines, according to market research firms. But the surprise US growth was not enough to offset declines elsewhere, as global shipments contracted for the seventh straight quarter, according to Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp. (IDC).
Leti plans startup accelerator
Philippe Ruffin, who is responsible for startup programs at Leti, disclosed the plan at the Leti Innovation Day on IoT reliability and security, held in Lyon, France, in June. Ruffin said there are more than 150 startup accelerators in Europe but that none are devoted to science and technology and that
Leti wanted the IVA to fill that gap with a plan to support 10 companies in 2017 and for that number to rise to 20 by 2020.
TSMC to adopt EUV at 5nm
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's larges
