Semiconductor And Beyond Newsletter - #197

Author

Chetan Arvind Patil
March 10, 2024

In 2020, I wrote an article titled “The Status Of Semiconductor Manufacturing In India,” focusing on the status of India’s semiconductor ecosystem at the time. Since then, India has seen substantial developments and strategic shifts toward establishing a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem.

India’s journey towards becoming a key player in the global semiconductor manufacturing space has accelerated by significant government support, strategic international partnerships, and a focus on building a comprehensive ecosystem that includes fabrication, assembly, and testing, as well as research and development, including the support ecosystem (equipment, tools, and so on).

THREAD

India's ambition for end-to-end semiconductor productisation marks a pivotal shift towards becoming a key player in the global semiconductor industry. Initiatives like Micron's ATMP, Tata-PSMC Fab, and other OSAT ventures set the foundation for this transition. The roadmap to achieve this, as highlighted, involves short-term policy development, medium-term manufacturing scale-up, and long-term global leadership aspirations. This strategy emphasizes the importance of a collaborative approach across policy-making, investments, R&D, and global partnerships, aiming to transform India into a semiconductor hub that not only produces technically proficient but also commercially viable semiconductor products, catering to both local and global market demands.

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For students eyeing a career in the semiconductor industry, embracing assistive AI technologies is crucial. Assistive AI enhances human abilities in decision-making and efficiency, pivotal in evolving sectors like semiconductors. With the industry moving towards integrating AI to boost productivity and mitigate intellectual property concerns, a background in assistive AI becomes essential for electrical and computer engineering students. This shift indicates a departure from traditional learning paths and underscores the importance of staying abreast with technological advancements. Starting with resources from leading EDA companies like Cadence and Synopsys offers a solid foundation. Ultimately, adaptability to change is key in staying relevant and competitive in the fast-evolving semiconductor industry.

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The Semiconductor Education Alliance, initiated by Arm and various industry leaders, targets the semiconductor industry's skill shortage by promoting cooperation among industry, academia, and government. This alliance focuses on improving talent acquisition and workforce development through comprehensive educational frameworks, pathways, and training resources. It's gaining traction with the addition of key industry players and the potential for significant growth and innovation opportunities. Beneficiaries include students, hobbyists, teachers, professionals, and children, essentially everyone with an interest in semiconductor technology. While not the first of its kind, with organizations like SEMI and IMPAS providing similar resources, the Semiconductor Education Alliance is a valuable addition, potentially offering access to expensive and essential tools for students and researchers, thereby fostering a more skilled workforce for the future of semiconductor technology.

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The Semiconductor Education Alliance, spearheaded by Arm and leading industry figures, is a strategic response to the semiconductor sector's skill gap, promoting synergy among industry, academia, and government to upgrade talent acquisition and workforce skills. This alliance is gaining momentum, attracting key players and unlocking growth and innovation opportunities, highlighting the critical need for skilled personnel in advancing semiconductor technology. Beneficiaries range widely from students to professionals, emphasizing inclusive growth. While not unique, with precedents like SEMI University and IMPAS offering similar upskilling resources, the Semiconductor Education Alliance is noteworthy for its potential to democratize access to essential tools for students and researchers, further enriching the ecosystem.

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The distinction between quality and reliability in the semiconductor industry is crucial, evolving from interchangeable use to clear differentiation. Quality refers to a product's conformance to set standards at production, ensuring defect-free and expected performance. Reliability, however, measures the product's long-term performance without failure under specified conditions. This distinction underlines that while high quality can suggest reliability, the latter also hinges on design, use, and maintenance. Balancing these aspects is challenging due to manufacturing complexities, but achieving both high quality and reliability is non-negotiable for successful semiconductor products.

VLOG

In this week’s vlog, I spotlight the indispensable role of testing in the semiconductor industry, a cornerstone process that ensures the reliability, safety, and performance of semiconductor devices.

From consumer electronics to critical medical devices, rigorous testing under various conditions is key to verifying each chip's functionality. I delve into reliability testing, which identifies potential failures by simulating operational life conditions, and safety testing, crucial for devices in automotive and medical applications to meet international standards.

Performance testing, vital for maintaining competitive edge, alongside quality control, ensures products meet stringent company standards. Beyond defect detection, testing drives innovation, informing next-generation semiconductor design for enhanced performance and efficiency.

As the industry progresses, testing's role in delivering high-quality, reliable products remains central. Discover how testing is shaping the future of semiconductor manufacturing by clicking the link to watch my in-depth vlog.

GOVERNMENT

India's Gujarat state government has allotted 188 acres of land to Tata Group and CG Power as part of its ambition to make the state India's semiconductor hub. The state government has earmarked around 160 acres in Dholera for Tata Group to set up the country's first mega semiconductor fabrication plant at an estimated investment of Rs 91,000 crore. CG Power, which is embarking on a Rs 7,600-crore ATMP plant, has been offered 28 acres in Sanand, according to a Business Standard report. The ground-breaking ceremony for both projects is scheduled for March 13 and will attract senior politicians and government officials.

INDUSTRY

The Dutch government is scrambling to ensure that the country’s largest company, the semiconductor equipment maker ASML, does not move operations or expand abroad after the tech firm voiced concerns over the country’s hardening stance on migrants. For months, ASML, which sources parts from around the world but assembles its machines in Veldhoven in the the south of the Netherlands, has been warning against any moves that could hinder its ability to attract skilled foreign labour.

ACADEMIA

Top U.S. official visited Arizona State University to activate a new agreement in which ASU will help boost America’s semiconductor capacity overseas. Ramin Toloui, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, toured ASU’s MacroTechnology Works and met with university leadership and local semiconductor industry leaders during his daylong visit. The goals are to bring more of semiconductor fabrication to the U.S., and also to make the global semiconductor supply chain more resilient to disruption like the shortages seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESEARCH

India to announce Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre soon. A ‘Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre’ will be announced soon, said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Information Technology. The centre will be created initially co-located with Semiconductor Complex Ltd as an institution and, down the road, with the ability to be spun off into an independent semiconductor research organisation. It will compete with and cooperate with IMEC, MIT Microelectronics, US, ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), Taiwan, and establish itself in the coming years as one of the principal poles of semiconductor research in the coming decade, the Minister said.

TOOLS

 KLayout is a highly versatile and efficient viewer and editor for mask layouts used in chip manufacturing. It supports a wide range of formats including GDS2, OASIS, DXF, CIF, and Gerber, as well as LEF/DEF among others. This makes it suitable for various fabrication processes such as photolithography and electron beam lithography. KLayout is known for its ability to handle very large files, even on the scale of multi-gigabytes containing billions of polygons, without compromising on speed or accuracy.

Additionally, KLayout provides a robust Ruby-based scripting environment named "RBA", which allows users to automate tasks related to layout visualization and generation. It also features a macro development environment complete with a debugger and an editor that offers syntax highlighting, enhancing its utility for more advanced operations.

The software is designed to be both intuitive and powerful, catering to the needs of chip design engineers by offering fast, accurate, and extendable capabilities through its integrated development environment. This environment supports extensions in both Ruby and Python, with user-created extensions shareable via an integrated package manager

JOBS

Oregon employment officials are forecasting a wave of new semiconductor-related jobs to come online in the coming years, including more than 6,000 permanent jobs in the tech sector and 1,000 construction jobs to support the anticipated expansion. But finding the people to fill those jobs is still a problem business leaders, higher education officials and lawmakers are trying to solve. And it’s something they’ll have to figure out quickly if Oregon wants to be a viable contender for the billions of federal dollars available to build up the nation’s semiconductor industry.

CONNECT

Whether you are a student with the goal to enter semiconductor industry (or even academia) or a semiconductor professional or someone looking to learn more about the ins and outs of the semiconductor industry, please do reach out to me.

Let us together explore the world of semiconductor and the endless opportunities:

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