The purpose of this book is to illustrate the magnificence of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem, and to give credit where credit is due. We trace the history of the semiconductor industry from both a technical and business perspective. We argue that the development of the fabless business model was a key enabler of the growth in semiconductors since the mid-1980s. Because business models, as much as the technology, are what keep us thrilled with new gadgets year after year, we focus on the evolution of the electronics business. We also invited key players in the industry to contribute chapters. These "In Their Own Words" chapters allow the heavyweights of the industry to tell their corporate history for themselves, focusing on the industry developments (both in technology and business models) that made them successful, and how they in turn drive the further evolution of the semiconductor industry.

Discover How to Launch and Succeed as a Fabless Semiconductor Firm Fabless Semiconductor Implementation takes you step-by-step through the challenges faced by fabless firms in the development of integrated circuits. This expert guide examines the potential pitfalls of IC implementation in the rapidly growing fabless segment of the semiconductor industry and elaborates how to overcome these difficulties. It provides a comprehensive overview of the issues that executives and technical professionals encounter at fabless companies. Filled with over 150 on-target illustrations, this business-building tool presents a clear picture of the entire lifecycle of a fabless enterprise, describing how to envision and execute fabless IC implementation. Inside This Comprehensive Guide to Fabless IC Design - Define and specify the product Understand the customer requirements, the value chain, and the supply chain Select the right implementation approach, including “make” vs. “buy” Choose the best technologies and supply chain Implement IC design, fabrication, and manufacturing Build the operations infrastructure to meet cost and quality requirements Program-manage the distributed supply chain

Fabless (no fabrication) IC (integrated circuit) techniques are growing rapidly and promise to become the standard method of IC manufacturing in the near future, this book will provide readers with what will soon be required knowledge of the subject. Other books on IC fabrication deal with the strictly physical process aspects of the topic and assume all factors in IC fabrication are under the control of the IC designing company. By contrast, this title recognizing that fabless IC design is often as much about managing business relationships as it is about physical processes. "Fabless ICs are those designed and marketed by one company but actually manufactured by another.*Written by board members of the Fabless Semiconductor Association, an industry consortium that include Xilinx, Intersil, Micro Linear, and many other members*Approriate for a wide range of integrated circuit (IC) designers and users who need to understand the fabless process and its advantages/limitations*Discusses important topics such as negotiating with outside fabrication companies, choosing the right electronic design tools, protection of intellectual property and business plans, and maintaining quality control

This book deals with 3D nanodevices such as nanowire and nanosheet transistors at 7 nm and smaller technology nodes. It discusses technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations of stress- and strain-engineered advanced semiconductor devices, including III-nitride and RF FDSOI CMOS, for flexible and stretchable electronics. The book focuses on how to set up 3D TCAD simulation tools, from mask layout to process and device simulation, including fabless intelligent manufacturing. The simulation examples chosen are from the most popular devices in use today and provide useful technology and device physics insights. In order to extend the role of TCAD in the More-than-Moore era, the design issues related to strain engineering for flexible and stretchable electronics have been introduced for the first time.

A practical guide to semiconductor manufacturing from processcontrol to yield modeling and experimental design Fundamentals of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Process Controlcovers all issues involved in manufacturing microelectronic devicesand circuits, including fabrication sequences, process control,experimental design, process modeling, yield modeling, and CIM/CAMsystems. Readers are introduced to both the theory and practice ofall basic manufacturing concepts. Following an overview of manufacturing and technology, the textexplores process monitoring methods, including those that focus onproduct wafers and those that focus on the equipment used toproduce wafers. Next, the text sets forth some fundamentals ofstatistics and yield modeling, which set the foundation for adetailed discussion of how statistical process control is used toanalyze quality and improve yields. The discussion of statistical experimental design offers readers apowerful approach for systematically varying controllable processconditions and determining their impact on output parameters thatmeasure quality. The authors introduce process modeling concepts,including several advanced process control topics such asrun-by-run, supervisory control, and process and equipmentdiagnosis. Critical coverage includes the following: * Combines process control and semiconductor manufacturing * Unique treatment of system and software technology and managementof overall manufacturing systems * Chapters include case studies, sample problems, and suggestedexercises * Instructor support includes electronic copies of the figures andan instructor's manual Graduate-level students and industrial practitioners will benefitfrom the detailed exami?nation of how electronic materials andsupplies are converted into finished integrated circuits andelectronic products in a high-volume manufacturingenvironment. An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all theproblems in the book is available from the Wiley editorialdepartment. An Instructor Support FTP site is also available.

How the chip industry has responded to a series of crises over the past twenty-five years, often reinventing itself and shifting the basis for global competitive advantage. For decades the semiconductor industry has been a driver of global economic growth and social change. Semiconductors, particularly the microchips essential to most electronic devices, have transformed computing, communications, entertainment, and industry. In Chips and Change, Clair Brown and Greg Linden trace the industry over more than twenty years through eight technical and competitive crises that forced it to adapt in order to continue its exponential rate of improved chip performance. The industry's changes have in turn shifted the basis on which firms hold or gain global competitive advantage. These eight interrelated crises do not have tidy beginnings and ends. Most, in fact, are still ongoing, often in altered form. The U.S. semiconductor industry's fear that it would be overtaken by Japan in the 1980s, for example, foreshadows current concerns over the new global competitors China and India. The intersecting crises of rising costs for both design and manufacturing are compounded by consumer pressure for lower prices. Other crises discussed in the book include the industry's steady march toward the limits of physics, the fierce competition that keeps its profits modest even as development costs soar, and the global search for engineering talent. Other high-tech industries face crises of their own, and the semiconductor industry has much to teach about how industries are transformed in response to such powerful forces as technological change, shifting product markets, and globalization. Chips and Change also offers insights into how chip firms have developed, defended, and, in some cases, lost global competitive advantage.

This book provides a unique account of the history of integrated circuit, the microelectronics industry and the people involved in the development of transistor and integrated circuit. In this richly illustrated account the author argues that the group of inventors was much larger than originally thought. This is a personal recollection providing the first comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of the history of the integrated circuit.