Nanoelectronics E-Book

• Herausgeber: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Nanotechnology Innovation & Applications
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1157

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Offering first-hand insights by top scientists and industry experts at the forefront of R&D into nanoelectronics, this book neatly links the underlying technological principles with present and future applications.

A brief introduction is followed by an overview of present and emerging logic devices, memories and power technologies. Specific chapters are dedicated to the enabling factors, such as new materials, characterization techniques, smart manufacturing and advanced circuit design. The second part of the book provides detailed coverage of the current state and showcases real future applications in a wide range of fields: safety, transport, medicine, environment, manufacturing, and social life, including an analysis of emerging trends in the internet of things and cyber-physical systems. A survey of main economic factors and trends concludes the book.

Highlighting the importance of nanoelectronics in the core fields of communication and information technology, this is essential reading for materials scientists, electronics and electrical engineers, as well as those working in the semiconductor and sensor industries.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Further Volumes of the Series “Nanotechnology Innovation & Applications”

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Series Editor Preface

About the Series Editor

Foreword

Nanoelectronics for Digital Agenda

Electronics on the EU's Political Agenda

Preface

Volume 1

Part One: Fundamentals on Nanoelectronics

Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Semiconductor Industry

1.1 From Microelectronics to Nanoelectronics and Beyond

1.2 The Growth of the Semiconductor Industry: An Eyewitness Report

Acknowledgments

Chapter 2: More-than-Moore Technologies and Applications

2.1 Introduction

2.2 “More Moore” and “More-than-Moore”

2.3 From Applications to Technology

2.4 More-than-Moore Devices

2.5 Application Domains

2.6 Conclusions

Acknowledgement

References

Chapter 3: Logic Devices Challenges and Opportunities in the Nano Era

3.1 Introduction: Dennard's Scaling and Moore's Law Trends and Limits

3.2 Power Performance Trade-Off for 10 nm, 7 nm, and Below

3.3 Device Structures and Materials in Advanced CMOS Nodes

References

Chapter 4: Memory Technologies

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Mainstream Memories (DRAM and NAND): Evolution and Scaling Limits

4.3 Emerging Memories Technologies

4.4 Emerging Memories Architectures

4.5 Opportunities for Emerging Memories

4.6 Conclusions

References

Part Two: Devices in the Nano Era

Chapter 5: Beyond-CMOS Low-Power Devices: Steep-Slope Switches for Computation and Sensing

5.1 Digital Computing in Post-Dennard Nanoelectronics Era

5.2 Beyond CMOS Steep-Slope Switches

5.3 Convergence of Requirements for Energy-Efficient Computing and Sensing Technologies: Enabling Smart Autonomous Systems for IoE

5.4 Conclusions and Perspectives

References

Chapter 6: RF CMOS

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Toward 5G and Beyond

6.3 CMOS @ Millimeter-Wave: Challenges and Opportunities

6.4 Terahertz in CMOS

6.5 Conclusions

References

Chapter 7: Smart Power Devices Nanotechnology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Si Power Devices

7.3 SiC Power Semiconductor Devices

7.4 Power GaN Device Technology

7.5 New Materials and Substrates for WBG Power Devices

References

Chapter 8: Integrated Sensors and Actuators: Their Nano-Enabled Evolution into the Twenty-First Century

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Sensors

8.3 Actuators

8.4 Molecular Motors

8.5 Transducer Integration and Connectivity

8.6 Conclusion

References

Part Three: Advanced Materials and Materials Combinations

Chapter 9: Silicon Wafers as a Foundation for Growth

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Si Availability and Technologies to Produce Hyperpure Silicon in Large Quantities

9.3 The Exceptional Physical and Technological Properties of Monocrystalline Silicon for Device Manufacturing

9.4 Silicon and New Materials

9.5 Example of Actual Advanced 300 mm Wafer Specification for Key Parameters

Acknowledgments

References

Chapter 10: Nanoanalysis

10.1 Three-Dimensional Analysis

10.2 Strain Analysis

10.3 Compositional and Chemical Analysis

10.4 Conclusions

Glossary

Acknowledgments

References

Part Four: Semiconductor Smart Manufacturing

Chapter 11: Front-End Processes

11.1 A Standard MOS FEOL Process Flow

11.2 Cleaning

11.3 Silicon Oxidation

11.4 Doping and Dopant Activation

11.5 Deposition

11.6 Etching

References

Bibliography

Chapter 12: Lithography for Nanoelectronics

12.1 Historical Perspective of Lithography for Nanoelectronics

12.2 Challenges for Lithography in Future Technology Nodes

12.3 Pattern Roughness: The Biggest Challenge for Geometrical Scaling

12.4 Lithography Options in Previous and Future Technology Nodes

References

Chapter 13: Reliability of Nanoelectronic Devices

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Interconnect Reliability Issues

13.3 Transistor Reliability Issues

13.4 Radiation-Induced Soft Errors in Silicon Circuits

13.5 Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

Volume 2

Part Five: Circuit Design in Emerging Nanotechnologies

Chapter 14: Logic Synthesis of CMOS Circuits and Beyond

14.1 Context and Motivation

14.2 The Origin: Area and Delay Optimization

14.3 The Power Wall

14.4 Synthesis in the Nanometer Era: Variation-Aware

14.5 Emerging Trends in Logic Synthesis and Optimization

14.6 Summary

References

Chapter 15: System Design in the Cyber-Physical Era

15.1 From Nanodevices to Cyber-Physical Systems

15.2 Cyber-Physical System Design Challenges

15.3 A Structured Methodology to Address the Design Challenges

15.4 Platform-Based Design with Contracts and Related Tools

15.5 Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

Chapter 16: Heterogeneous Systems

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Heterogeneous Systems Design

16.3 Heterogeneous Systems Integration

16.4 Testing the Performance and Reliability of Heterogeneous Systems

16.5 Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

Chapter 17: Nanotechnologies Testing

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Background

17.3 Current Challenges

17.4 Testing Advanced Technologies

17.5 Conclusions

References

Part Six: Nanoelectronics-Enabled Sectors and Societal Challenges

Chapter 18: Industrial Applications

18.1 Introduction

18.2 Health, Demographic Change, and Well-being

18.3 Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine and Maritime and Inland Water Research, and the Bioeconomy

18.4 Secure, Clean, and Efficient Energy

18.5 Smart, Green, and Integrated Transport

18.6 Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency, and Raw Materials

18.7 Europe in a Changing World – Inclusive, Innovative, and Reflective Societies

18.8 Secure Societies – Protecting Freedom and Security of Europe and Its Citizens

Chapter 19: Health

19.1 Introduction

19.2 The Worldwide Context

19.3 Requirements and Use Cases for Emerging Wearables

19.4 Conclusions

References

Chapter 20: Smart Energy

20.1 Energy Revolution – Why Energy Does Have to Become Smart?

20.2 Applications of Smart Energy Systems and their Societal Challenges

20.3 Nanoelectronics as Key Enabler for Smart Energy Systems

20.4 Summary and Outlook

References

Chapter 21: Validation of Highly Automated Safe and Secure Vehicles

21.1 Introduction

21.2 Societal Challenges

21.3 Automated Vehicles

21.4 Key Requirements to Automated Driving Systems

21.5 Validation Challenges

21.6 Validation Concepts

21.7 Challenges to Electronics Platform for Automated Driving Systems

21.8 Conclusion

References

Chapter 22: Nanotechnology for Consumer Electronics

22.1 Introduction

22.2 Communications

22.3 Energy Storage

22.4 Sensors

22.5 Internet-of-Things Applications

22.6 Display Technologies

22.7 Conclusions

References

Part Seven: From Device to Systems

Chapter 23: Nanoelectronics for Smart Cities

23.1 Why “Smart Cities”?

23.2 Infrastructure: All You Need Is Information

23.3 Nothing Will Work Without Energy

23.4 Application: What Can Be Done with Information

23.5 Trusted Hardware: Not Only for Data Security

23.6 Closing Remarks

Acknowledgement

Part Eight: Industrialization: Economics/Markets – Business Values – European Visions – Technology Renewal and Extended Functionality

Chapter 24: Europe Positioning in Nanoelectronics

24.1 What is the “European” Industry

24.2 European Strategic Initiatives

24.3 Policy Implementation Instruments

24.4 Europe's Market Position

24.5 European Perspectives

Chapter 25: Thirty Years of Cooperative Research and Innovation in Europe: The Case for Micro- and Nanoelectronics and Smart Systems Integration

25.1 Introduction

25.2 Nanoelectronics and Micro-Nanotechnology in the European Research Programs

25.3 A Bit of History Seen from an ICT: Nanoelectronics Integrated Hardware Perspective

25.4 ESPRIT I, II, III, and IV

25.5 The 5th Framework (1998–2002)

25.6 The 6th Framework (2002–2006)

25.7 The 7th Framework (2007–2013)

25.8 H2020 (2014–2020)

25.9 Some Results of FP7 and H2020

25.10 Results of the JTI ENIAC and ARTEMIS

25.11 An Analysis of Beyond CMOS in FP7 and H2020

25.12 MEMS, Smart Sensors, and Devices Related to Internet of Things

25.13 From FP6 to FP7: An integrated approach for micro-nanoelectronics and micro-nanosystems

25.14 Enabling the EU 2050+ Future: Superintelligence, Humanity, and the “Singularity”

25.15 EU 2050±: Driven by a Superintelligence Ambient

25.16 Conclusion

Chapter 26: The Education Challenge in Nanoelectronics

26.1 Introduction

26.2 Traditional Programs in Nanoelectronics Education

26.3 Challenges in Nanoelectronics Education

26.4 New Cross-Discipline Applications

26.5 Future Education Programs

Acknowledgments

References

Chapter 27: Conclusions

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Table 2.1

Table 2.2

Table 2.3

Table 2.4

Table 3.1

Table 3.2

Table 3.3

Table 7.1

Table 7.2

Table 7.3

Table 8.1

Table 10.1

Table 10.2

Table 10.3

Table 12.1

Table 15.1

Table 20.1

Table 22.1

Table 22.2

Table 22.3

Table 26.1

List of Illustrations

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.4

Figure 1.5

Figure 1.6

Figure 1.7

Figure 1.8

Figure 1.9

Figure 1.10

Figure 1.11

Figure 1.12

Figure 1.13

Figure 1.14

Figure 1.15

Figure 1.16

Figure 1.17

Figure 1.18

Figure 1.19

Figure 1.20

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Figure 2.4

Figure 2.5

Figure 2.6

Figure 2.7

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4

Figure 3.5

Figure 3.6

Figure 3.7

Figure 3.8

Figure 3.9

Figure 3.10

Figure 3.11

Figure 3.12

Figure 3.13

Figure 3.14

Figure 3.15

Figure 3.16

Figure 3.17

Figure 3.18

Figure 3.19

Figure 3.20

Figure 3.21

Figure 3.22

Figure 3.23

Figure 3.24

Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2

Figure 4.3

Figure 4.4

Figure 4.5

Figure 4.6

Figure 4.7

Figure 4.8

Figure 4.9

Figure 4.10

Figure 4.11

Figure 4.12

Figure 4.13

Figure 4.14

Figure 4.15

Figure 5.1

Figure 5.2

Figure 5.3

Figure 5.4

Figure 5.5

Figure 5.6

Figure 6.1

Figure 6.2

Figure 6.3

Figure 6.4

Figure 6.5

Figure 6.6

Figure 6.7

Figure 6.8

Figure 6.9

Figure 7.1

Figure 7.2

Figure 7.3

Figure 7.4

Figure 7.5

Figure 7.6

Figure 7.7

Figure 7.8

Figure 7.9

Figure 7.10

Figure 7.11

Figure 7.12

Figure 7.13

Figure 7.14

Figure 7.15

Figure 7.16

Figure 8.1

Figure 8.2

Figure 8.3

Figure 8.4

Figure 8.5

Figure 8.6

Figure 9.1

Figure 9.2

Figure 9.3

Figure 9.4

Figure 9.5

Figure 9.6

Figure 9.7

Figure 10.1

Figure 10.2

Figure 10.3

Figure 10.4

Figure 10.5

Figure 10.6

Figure 10.7

Figure 10.8

Figure 10.9

Figure 10.10

Figure 11.1

Figure 11.2

Figure 11.3

Figure 11.4

Figure 11.5

Figure 11.6

Figure 11.7

Figure 12.1

Figure 12.2

Figure 12.3

Figure 12.4

Figure 12.5

Figure 12.6

Figure 12.7

Figure 12.8

Figure 12.9

Figure 12.10

Figure 12.11

Figure 12.12

Figure 12.13

Figure 12.14

Figure 12.15

Figure 12.16

Figure 12.17

Figure 12.18

Figure 12.19

Figure 12.20

Figure 12.21

Figure 12.22

Figure 12.23

Figure 12.24

Figure 12.25

Figure 12.26

Figure 12.27

Figure 12.28

Figure 12.29

Figure 12.30

Figure 12.31

Figure 12.32

Figure 13.1

Figure 13.2

Figure 13.3

Figure 13.4

Figure 13.6

Figure 13.5

Figure 13.7

Figure 13.8

Figure 14.1

Figure 14.2

Figure 14.3

Figure 14.4

Figure 14.5

Figure 14.6

Figure 14.7

Figure 14.8

Figure 14.9

Figure 14.10

Figure 14.11

Figure 14.12

Figure 14.13

Figure 14.14

Figure 14.15

Figure 15.1

Figure 15.2

Figure 15.3

Figure 15.4

Figure 16.1

Figure 16.2

Figure 16.3

Figure 16.4

Figure 16.5

Figure 16.6

Figure 16.7

Figure 16.8

Figure 16.9

Figure 16.10

Figure 16.11

Figure 16.12

Figure 16.13

Figure 16.14

Figure 16.15

Figure 16.16

Figure 16.17

Figure 16.18

Figure 16.19

Figure 16.20

Figure 16.21

Figure 16.22

Figure 16.23

Figure 16.24

Figure 16.25

Figure 16.26

Figure 17.1

Figure 17.2

Figure 17.3

Figure 17.4

Figure 19.1

Figure 19.2

Figure 19.3

Figure 19.4

Figure 19.5

Figure 19.6

Figure 19.7

Figure 19.8

Figure 19.9

Figure 19.10

Figure 19.11

Figure 20.1

Figure 20.2

Figure 20.3

Figure 20.4

Figure 20.5

Figure 20.6

Figure 20.7

Figure 21.1

Figure 21.2

Figure 21.3

Figure 21.4

Figure 21.5

Figure 22.1

Figure 22.2

Figure 22.3

Figure 22.4

Figure 23.1

Figure 23.2

Figure 23.3

Figure 23.4

Figure 23.5

Figure 23.6

Figure 23.7

Figure 23.8

Figure 23.9

Figure 23.10

Figure 24.1

Figure 24.2

Figure 24.3

Figure 24.4

Figure 25.1

Figure 25.2

Figure 25.3

Figure 25.4

Figure 25.5

Figure 25.6

Figure 25.7

Figure 25.8

Figure 25.9

Figure 25.10

Figure 25.11

Figure 26.1

Figure 26.2

Figure 26.3

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

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Part 1

Chapter 1

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Further Volumes of the Series “Nanotechnology Innovation & Applications”

Axelos, M. A. V. and Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Science

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527339891

Cornier, J., Kwade, A., Owen, A., Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology

Innovation and Production

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527340545

Fermon, C. and Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Nanomagnetism

Applications and Perspectives

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527339853

Mansfield, E., Kaiser, D. L:, Fujita, D., Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Metrology and Standardization for Nanotechnology

Protocols and Industrial Innovations

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527340392

Meyrueis, P., Sakoda, K., Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Micro- and Nanophotonic Technologies

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527340378

Müller, B. and Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology for Human Health

2017

Print ISBN: 978-3-27-33860-3

Raj, B., Van de Voorde, M., Mahajan, Y. (eds.)

Nanotechnology for Energy Sustainability

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527340149

Sels, B. and Van de Voorde, M. (eds.)

Nanotechnology in Catalysis

Applications in the Chemical Industry, Energy Development, and Environment Protection

2017

Print ISBN: 9783527339143

Edited by Robert Puers, Livio Baldi, Marcel Van de Voorde, and Sebastiaan E. van Nooten

Nanoelectronics

Materials, Devices, Applications

All books published by Wiley-VCH are carefully produced. Nevertheless, authors, editors, and publisher do not warrant the information contained in these books, including this book, to be free of errors. Readers are advised to keep in mind that statements, data, illustrations, procedural details or other items may inadvertently be inaccurate.

Library of Congress Card No.: applied for

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche NationalbibliothekThe Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany

All rights reserved (including those of translation into other languages). No part of this book may be reproduced in any form – by photoprinting, microfilm, or any other means – nor transmitted or translated into a machine language without written permission from the publishers. Registered names, trademarks, etc. used in this book, even when not specifically marked as such, are not to be considered unprotected by law.

Print ISBN: 978-3-527-34053-8ePDF ISBN: 978-3-527-80071-1ePub ISBN: 978-3-527-80073-5Mobi ISBN: 978-3-527-80074-2oBook ISBN: 978-3-527-80072-8

Thanks to my wife for her patience with me spending many hours working on the book series through the nights and over weekends.

The assistance of my son Marc Philip related to the complex and large computer files with many sophisticated scientific figures is also greatly appreciated.

Marcel Van de Voorde

Series Editor Preface

Since years, nanoscience and nanotechnology have become particularly an important technology areas worldwide. As a result, there are many universities that offer courses as well as degrees in nanotechnology. Many governments including European institutions and research agencies have vast nanotechnology programmes and many companies file nanotechnology-related patents to protect their innovations. In short, nanoscience is a hot topic!

Nanoscience started in the physics field with electronics as a forerunner, quickly followed by the chemical and pharmacy industries. Today, nanotechnology finds interests in all branches of research and industry worldwide. In addition, governments and consumers are also keen to follow the developments, particularly from a safety and security point of view.

This books series fills the gap between books that are available on various specific topics and the encyclopedias on nanoscience. This well-selected series of books consists of volumes that are all edited by experts in the field from all over the world and assemble top-class contributions. The topical scope of the book is broad, ranging from nanoelectronics and nanocatalysis to nanometrology. Common to all the books in the series is that they represent top-notch research and are highly application-oriented, innovative, and relevant for industry. Finally they collect a valuable source of information on safety aspects for governments, consumer agencies and the society.

The titles of the volumes in the series are as follows:

Human-related nanoscience and nanotechnology

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology for Human Health

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Science

Nanoscience and nanotechnology in information and communication

Nanoelectronics

Micro- and Nanophotonic Technologies

Nanomagnetism: Perspectives and Applications

Nanoscience and nanotechnology in industry

Nanotechnology for Energy Sustainability

Metrology and Standardization of Nanomaterials

Nanotechnology in Catalysis: Applications in the Chemical Industry, Energy Development, and Environmental Protection

The book series appeals to a wide range of readers with backgrounds in physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine, from students at universities to scientists at institutes, in industrial companies and government agencies and ministries.

Ever since nanoscience was introduced many years ago, it has greatly changed our lives – and will continue to do so!

March 2016 Marcel Van de Voorde

About the Series Editor

Marcel Van de Voorde, Prof. Dr. ir. Ing. Dr. h.c., has 40 years' experience in European Research Organisations, including CERN-Geneva and the European Commission, with 10 years at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Stuttgart. For many years, he was involved in research and research strategies, policy, and management, especially in European research institutions.

He has been a member of many Research Councils and Governing Boards of research institutions across Europe, the United States, and Japan. In addition to his Professorship at the University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands, he holds multiple visiting professorships in Europe and worldwide. He holds a doctor honoris causa and various honorary professorships.

He is a senator of the European Academy for Sciences and Arts, Salzburg, and Fellow of the World Academy for Sciences. He is a member of the Science Council of the French Senate/National Assembly in Paris. He has also provided executive advisory services to presidents, ministers of science policy, rectors of Universities, and CEOs of technology institutions, for example, to the president and CEO of IMEC, Technology Centre in Leuven, Belgium. He is also a Fellow of various scientific societies. He has been honored by the Belgian King and European authorities, for example, he received an award for European merits in Luxemburg given by the former President of the European Commission. He is author of multiple scientific and technical publications and has coedited multiple books, especially in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Foreword

Motto: The future of integrated electronics is the future of electronics itself.

G.E.Moore1

1 The Nanoelectronics Industry

The electronic components industry, generically described as “nanoelectronics,” is an industry with specificities that set it apart from almost all other industries. Its perimeter is expanding continuously; it started by relying on chemists and physicists handling semiconductor crystals; then added electrical engineers to build circuits and functional blocks; now it also employs considerable numbers of software and system engineers. Its customers achieve increased economic efficiency by allowing functionality to be integrated in components; this way, they allow their vendors to expand their competence and move up the value chain.

The nanoelectronics positioning in the global economy is often depicted as the reversed pyramid shown in Figure 1. At the tip of the pyramid, there is the nanoelectronics industry producing components – popularly known as “computer chips.” At the next level, “original equipment manufacturers” (OEMs) use the components to build electronic products with a market value roughly five times higher than that of the components. The electronic equipment industry enables information and communications services with a market value about five times higher than that of the equipment they use. This way, it can be estimated that nanoelectronics enable economic activities with a total value around 25 times higher than its own market value: in 2014, they approached $9000 billions, or 11% of the approximately $80,000 billions gross domestic product of the world. Their weight continues increasing year after year.

Figure 1 Nanoelectronics enabling products and services.

The electronic components are used in almost any artifact produced by the industry: they can be found everywhere, from the lock on a hotel door to the space shuttle. They are manufactured under extreme cleanliness conditions on slices of monocrystalline silicon called “wafers” in dedicated facilities called “wafer fabs.” A wafer fab operates highly sophisticated equipment using specialty materials to build hundreds or thousands of structures on each wafer. A structure can contain billions of devices, essentially transistors, but also resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so on; it is so complex that it can only be conceived using “electronic design automation” (EDA) tools, in fact computer programs that assemble predefined functionalities from a library containing blocks capable to perform arithmetic and logic calculations, memory blocks to store software and data, connectivity blocks, and so on. Before delivering them to the users, the structures are diced from the wafer, put in packages foreseen with electrical contacts, tested, and marked; these operations are performed in specialized “assembly lines.”

The nanoelectronics industry consists essentially of all the entities that contribute toward delivering electronic components to the OEMs: they are primarily “integrated devices manufacturers” (IDM) and their suppliers, although the IDM denomination is not exactly correct. First, not all component providers build “integrated” devices; in fact, the “discrete” components (such as individual transistors, diodes, etc.) continue being an important part of the total production, with specific components showing significant growth, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used as lamps, power devices, or micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Second, not all component providers are also “manufacturers”; an increasing part is represented by an “emerging” value chain consisting of “fabless” companies using contract manufacturing executed by third parties called “foundries.” This trend started in 1987 with the establishment of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the first “pure play” foundry, but became highly significant in the last 5 years since two fabless companies rank among the top 10 sales leaders. Third, a number of specialties (like equipment, materials, design automation or assembly and test) split off from the IDMs forming branches of a dedicated supply chain that must be also given proper consideration. Figure 2 illustrates the segmentation of the industry in different specialties and business models.

Figure 2 The segmentation of the nanoelectronics industry.

This overview of the nanoelectronics industry takes into account all types of discrete and/or integrated electronic components suppliers, together with their dedicated supply chains.

2 The Nanoelectronics Ecosystem

The nanoelectronics industry has one of the highest innovation rates in the economy, often ranking number 1 in terms of R&D expenditures as a percentage of sales. The industry capitalizes upon ingenuity from everywhere in the world, and from any sources, including commercial companies of all sizes, academic and institutional research, and individual investigators. It succeeded sustaining over more than half a century an unparalleled flux of innovation.

The extreme precision and cleanliness necessary to achieve reasonable manufacturing yields at nanometric scale results in unusually high fixed costs of the research and manufacturing infrastructure. It is actually quite impossible to confirm the value of an innovation at low technology readiness levels (TRLs)2: positive laboratory results are no more than a hope; successful implementations in realistic environments are no more than a possibility; any novel idea must be taken all the way to an operational environment before concluding on its viability. Since the operational environments are extremely costly, typically in the multibillion dollar range, the industry uses “lab–fabs,” that is, facilities used both for research and for manufacturing of commercial products that can absorb the majority of the fixed costs. This approach is practically adopted across the board.

Around each company operating lab–fabs, there is a considerable number of small- and medium-sized companies, of research institutes, and university laboratories collaborating to maintain a technology pipeline filled with new ideas that are continuously scrutinized and moved toward higher TRLs to narrow the selection to the ones that can be included in future recipes. The metaphor of the industry is an ecosystem, relying on the large sequoia trees to withstand fires and tempests in the forest, on medium-sized trees and small bushes to provide a habitat bringing creative ideas to life, and on grass root innovation from university and institutional research to maintain a soil reach in nutrients.

The industry makes effective use of project-oriented collaborative research; it is natural to find it well represented in programs carried out by alliances or consortia that naturally cross boundaries between geographic areas and between disciplines.

Also, its systemic and strategic significance attracts the attention of public entities; some of them get involved in setting directions and priorities, some other simply provide financial incentives to facilitate the progress or promote a particular location.

3 Miniaturization

The primary engine of progress in the industry is the “miniaturization.” Unparalleled advances in equipment, materials, and manufacturing techniques enable a continuous reduction in size of the elementary function, the transistor. The peculiarity of the semiconductor technology consists in the fact that this improves simultaneously not only all performances parameter but also the unit costs. This trend was recognized already in 1965 (see footnote 1), being known as the “Moore's law”; it initially stated that the number of components per integrated function will double every year. Today, it is usually formulated in terms of the number of components per unit area doubling every (so many) month. In fact, the number of months is of secondary importance as long as this quasi-exponential progression continues, as it did since half a century, in spite of periodical warnings about insurmountable barriers – always overcome by the ingenuity of the researchers in the field. This is described as the “More Moore” progression.

Nanoelectronics follows since 1994 the “International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors”3 (ITRS) generated by hundreds of specialists from all around the world. It identifies the challenges to overcome and the timing of the industrial deployment of the successive technology generation called “nodes.” Each node is characterized by a “feature size” expressed in nanometers, a rather generic identifier for a whole new set of technology capabilities that obviously depend on many more parameters than just one geometric dimension. Each feature size is smaller by the square root of 2 than the previous one, so that every new node appears to cut in half the silicon real estate needed for a function, in reference to the Moore's law. Companies try to beat the ITRS schedule and be first to market with the next node; in fact, the differences in time are small, and industry moves more or less in lockstep. This quasi-synchronization induced by ITRS guarantees the demand for the equipment and materials suppliers that could therefore invest in R&D at least 5 years before a new node was expected, enabling in due time the subsequent development of new manufacturing processes. Nowadays the industry is considerably widening its markets, serving numerous applications with technology needs that do not always evolve in synchronicity. It becomes increasingly difficult to define a unique, all-encompassing roadmap. ITRS is currently in a restructuring process. It remains to be seen to which extent its success in providing guidance for the industry will continue.

Making the devices smaller require high capital investments in advanced wafer fabs in order to keep the manufacturing yield close to 100%; today, a viable fab costs in excess of $10 billions. Surprisingly, the more expensive the fab, the lower the unit costs of the products it builds, thanks to an overproportional increase in productivity and the beneficial effects of the economy of scale. The decision whether to operate or not own fabs is essential for each company: If the business volume is not commensurate with the capacity of a commercially viable fab, it is preferable to rely on contract manufacturing that can aggregate the demand from several users to reach the needed economy of scale. In this case, the business model may be “fab-lite” when outsourcing most standard but maintaining some proprietary manufacturing generating market differentiation, or entirely “fabless” when relying on system and circuit design to compete. This drives down the number of the companies that participate in the miniaturization race.

As the number of devices per unit area increases, complex functions that were realized before by OEMs can now be integrated on a chip by the components suppliers. Advanced components enable electronic equipment with increased capabilities, better performance, lower power consumption, and smaller form factors. Applications can move from being stationary to becoming mobile, then portable, and eventually even wearable by a person – or go even further enabling autonomous functionality incorporated in communicating objects building the “Internet of Things.”

New applications can be addressed at every stage on the road, fueling a continuous increase in demand that is yet far from saturation. Modern applications as high-performance computing, data centers, Internet routers, cloud computing, or big data primarily rely on the newest technology nodes. There is no doubt that nanoelectronics will continue on the miniaturization path that will fuel growth in the foreseeable future.

4 Functional Diversification

Although a new technology node is ready every 2 years or so, each node will be used in manufacturing for 10 or 20 years after introduction. As a technology generation matures, the cost diminishes and it becomes affordable to add new features in the manufacturing recipe to address specific application requirements. They usually include specific device architectures for nonvolatile memories, power, radio frequency, sensing, actuating using either electronic effects or micromachined structures. These enrichments prolong the life expectancy of a technology generation; increase the volume of the commercial production it enables; and improve the overall return on investments. Since they create value through diversification rather than through miniaturization, they are referred to as the “More than Moore” progression.

The “More Moore” and “More than Moore” directions have been for some time depicted as orthogonal. In fact, diversification builds upon processing capabilities introduced in the miniaturization progress.

In market surveys, diversification products are partially reported together with the integrated circuits (ICs) and partially separated under the title optoelectronics – sensors/actuators – discretes (O–S–D). However, the distinction is not always sharp, for example, camera chips are classified together with the LED lamps among the optoelectronics, although they may be closer to the ICs and surely benefit from miniaturization. ITRS 2013 recognizes that there are more innovation streams in the industry, but represents them running on three parallel paths, highlighting the synergy between the “More Moore” mainstream evolution, the “More than Moore” enrichment of existing technologies on one side, and the “Beyond CMOS” exploration of new avenues on the other side.

The diversification has an essential role in enabling nanoelectronics to penetrate additional application areas. Over the last 5 years, the O–S–D products grew only marginally faster that the ICs, benefitting in the first place the progress in optoelectronics, and to some extent in sensors/actuators, while discretes grew as fast as the ICs (Figure 3). Nonetheless, the O–S–D TAM represented a business opportunity of about $65 billions in 2014. This is large enough to entice even companies ranking in the top 25 sales leaders to participate, or even to specialize in this segment.

Figure 3 Semiconductor market split; in 2014: integrated circuits 82%; optoelectronics 9%; sensors/actuators 3%; discretes 6%.

5 Embedding Software

At the beginning of the digital revolution, hardware and software used to be often interrelated and therefore codeveloped; for example, it was desirable to design computer instructions that could be executed during a single turn of the hard disk. Today, complex computing structures are manufactured as an integrated circuit, and it is mandatory to colocate on the same chip the software defining its functionality and thereby build a system on chip (SoC).

For clarification, not all software encountered in the industry matters here; design software tools, either generated in-house or purchased from outside vendors, software systems for manufacturing control, scheduling, logistics, HR, and so on are not of interest for this overview. Likewise, operating systems, Internet-based businesses, or the plethora of applications (“apps”) are usually considered as belonging to a separate industry.

Embedded software is a constitutive element of the products delivered to the customers of the industry and a major contributor to the value created in nanoelectronics. There is a commercial market for “embedded systems,” consisting typically of subassemblies of hardware and software providing well-defined functionality that can be assembled by the OEMs in their end products. It is currently estimated at about $150 billions per year, the value being attributed to both hardware (88%) and software (12%). These numbers are quoted here only as an example. In fact, most embedded systems are captive, being generated inside the nanoelectronic companies and/or by their customers. The value of the embedded systems in the captive production surely exceeds by far the commercial market, being estimated in the range of billion dollars per year; the share between hardware and software may differ considerably from the quoted values.

Absent reliable quantitative data, it shall be noted here that software became an essential competence of the nanoelectronics industry, an essential enabler for the usability of the nanoelectronic products, and for sure one of the elements with an increasing significance and weight in the future.

6 Restructuring the Value Chain

The nanoelectronics value chain has continuously evolved since its beginning in 1956 with the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory (a division of Beckman Instruments, Inc.), quickly followed next year by the split off of Fairchild Semiconductor (as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation), and then by further 65 start-ups launched in the following 20 years. The technology also diffused through numerous licenses, both for captive production and commercial activities.

6.1 Value Chain Fragmentation

The products of the industry evolved from individual diodes and transistors, to integrated circuits, and then to entire systems on a chip or in a package including embedded software. A growing number of disciplines got involved in the process, demanding frequent “make or buy” decisions and creating opportunities for externalization. Long ago, the components manufacturers stopped building equipment for processing, packaging, or testing; it is now a separate branch with yearly sales around $50 billions. The semiconductor materials are another separate branch with yearly sales around $30 billions since the chip makers decided to purchase high-purity fluids, slurries, and further special chemicals from outside suppliers, and stopped pulling silicon monocrystals, purifying, slicing, and polishing them to wafers. Although many IDMs operate own assembly lines, they use outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) for the vast majority of their volume production, another separate branch approaching $30 billions per year. Some of the IDMs still develop in-house specialty design automation tools, but the industry relies by and large on commercially available systems summing up yearly to about $3 billions. Many other activities are subcontracted, like building lithography masks, cleaning wafer fab gear, reclaiming nonyielding wafers or those used in trial runs, and so on.

This fragmentation of the value chain was taking place naturally when a specialist vendor could find numerous potential customers, that is, semiconductor companies with similar needs. This may not be the case in the future. Under the pressure of the economy of scale, the industry evolves toward a smaller number of increasingly larger fabs. This evolution is further accelerated by the foundry model: one company (the foundry) operates fabs, many other use it and go fabless reducing the number of companies running fabs.

Under these circumstances, the trend toward fragmentation may be reversed, at least in some cases. Wafer fabs operators may have to develop special relationships with their suppliers, or even to reintegrate some activities previously outsourced when the shrinking customer base would force some specialized suppliers out of business. In fact, Intel, Samsung, and TSMC coinvested billions of dollars and acquired some ownership in ASML to ensure the progress to the next lithography generations. This trend reversal will surely affect the European equipment and materials suppliers that currently have a higher market share than the European components suppliers. They will have to cope with the challenge posed by a shrinking customer basis.

6.2 Vertical Integration

Long ago, many semiconductor sales leaders used to be a segment of an OEM organization. In the meantime, many vertically integrated companies spun off their component departments, following the general belief that winning in the future economy requires moving up the value chain and closer to the end user, shifting the center of gravity from manufacturing to software to services. In Europe, Philips externalized NXP 9 years ago, Siemens separated Infineon 16 years ago. Thomson contributed its semiconductor department to the creation of STMicroelectronics 29 years ago.

Not all companies followed this path. Even now, some of the top-ranking positions have been taken up by the semiconductor divisions of vertically integrated companies. Even if some of them show profitable growth, they are rather in minority.

Recent evolutions seem to indicate that in some cases there may be a trend opposite to this conventional wisdom. Vertical integration may become on occasion attractive again for the same old reasons: exclusive access to a specific technology (including system on chip architecture) creating a competitive advantage; unrestricted availability of manufacturing capacity; security, better protection against hardware/software hacks by controlling the critical steps in the supply chain. This trend is illustrated by a fabless company like Qualcomm acquiring an IDM like NXP, a software specialist such as Microsoft building smartphones or by a software/equipment specialist such as Apple designing its own components and engaging directly the foundries. Apple already ranks among top 50 semiconductor suppliers, even if its production is captive.

The future evolution of the electronics industry is no more a one-way street. Some companies reconsider vertical integration or other types of privileged relations with their suppliers, similar to some extent to the convergence observed between chip manufacturers and some of their suppliers.

If such trends seem to appear on a global basis, they did not manifest yet in Europe. No European electronic system leader indicated at this time an interest in vertical integration or in a special relationship with its component suppliers beyond the conventional commercial interactions.

6.3 Emerging Value Chain

The strategy to move up the value chain was also embraced by component suppliers, in particular considering the natural evolution of integrated components that kept absorbing competencies previously exercised by their customers. This requires however caution, taking steps only in “win-win” situations to avoid entering into competition with the own customers. In this context, manufacturing was perceived as commodity, low-value, and low-profit – a rather unattractive – business. The fab-lite and even fabless strategies represent a valid approach that has been successfully demonstrated in all regions.

In fact, semiconductor manufacturing turned out to be a very good business when it could fully exploit the economy of scale. Indeed, the leading foundry manufactures chips that generate higher sales numbers at its fabless customers (combined) than those of the largest IDM; it became the pace setter for miniaturization; it operates with healthy profit margins; and the foundry business continues growing faster than the market, as indicated in Figure 2. The share of the contract manufacturing in the digital IC is already dominant, considering that memories are not build in foundries.

7 Opportunities and Perspectives

7.1 Emerging Market Opportunities

Often, the applications that created big surges in demand fueling nanoelectronics growth have been either underestimated or not foreseen at all. The last example is the explosion of smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices that blurred the boundaries between the computing, communication, and consumer market segments. It is therefore risky to state what the next big opportunity will be. Nonetheless, even if the details of the future products are yet to be defined, there are areas in which the growth is likely to accelerate.

A quick overview of the electronic systems market and the component consumption per market segment shown in Figure 4 indicates that in most markets the component penetration is in the range of 25%, except for the segment Industrial/Medical/Other for which it is less than 18% (government applications also show low penetration, but they are a segment too small to matter in this context). The last years have experienced an acceleration of the component consumption in automotive, and this trend is likely to continue under the impact of new technologies enabling various types of electric vehicles, highly automated or even autonomous driving, and on-board infotainment. The “Industrial/Medical/Other” sector however seems to present the biggest opportunity: It can increase its consumption of components by 50% only to be at a par with the other segments. This could well happen within the “Industry 4.0” concept put forward by a European initiative, paralleled by the "Industrial Internet" concept put forward in the Unites States of America. It is based on the observation that the industry historically moved from mechanization to electrification and to information technology, and now has reasons to expect that the next significant boost in productivity and capabilities will occur by merging Internet technologies in the industrial processes. There is almost a unanimous expectation that industry will strongly move in this direction, even if particular implementation examples are still in the process of taking shape.

Figure 4 The electronics systems market and the component weight in the market value in different market segments.

Likewise, computers were initially intended for about 100 governments, then they became business machines addressing about 50 k corporation, and then they eventually became personal and could interest a billion people. The next step in growing consumption is foreseeable: It will consist in embedding computing capabilities in objects. The “Internet of Things” (IoT) will further increase the number of “users” by one or two orders of magnitude, boosting demand. The concrete implementation cases are still in the process of being defined, but there is quasi-unanimity that the IoT will occur, taking the industry to the next level.

Of course, the unforeseen products and services idea should not be forgotten. The nanoelectronic industry creates opportunities for anybody, located anywhere in the world, to change the world with the force of a good idea.

Independent consultant, former executive director of ECSEL and ENIAC Joint UndertakingsMunich, Germany

Dr. Andreas Wild

Notes

1.

G.E. Moore (1965) Cramming more components onto integrated circuits.

Electronics

,

19

, 114; reprinted in

Proceedings of the IEEE

,

86

(1), 82, 1998.

2.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2014_2015/annexes/h2020-wp1415-annex-g-trl_en.pdf

3.

www.itrs.net/

Nanoelectronics for Digital Agenda

Paul Rübig and Livio Baldi

The digital economy is developing rapidly worldwide. It permeates now countless aspects of the world economy, impacting sectors as varied as banking, retail, energy, transportation, education, publishing, media, and health. Information and communication technologies are transforming the ways social interactions and personal relationships are conducted, with fixed, mobile, and broadcast networks converging, and devices and objects increasingly connected to form the Internet of Things. The volume of data traffic on Internet has grown by a factor of 20 between 2005 and 2013, reaching the astonishing amount of more than 51 exabytes per month in 2013.1 The digital economy will reach EUR 3.2 trillion in the G-20 economies and already contributes up to 8% of GDP, powering growth and creating jobs. In addition, over 75% of the value-added created by the Internet is in traditional industries, due to higher productivity gains.2 It is the single most important driver of innovation, competitiveness, and growth, and it holds huge potential for European entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This evolutionary trend was recognized by Europe already in year 2000, when the Lisbon Agenda set the ambitious target to make the European Union “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”, by 2010.

Unfortunately, the huge potential of the digital economy is still underexploited in Europe, with 41% of enterprises being nondigital, and only 2% taking full advantage of digital opportunities.

However, Europe is well positioned to succeed in the global digital economy, thanks to its world-class research organizations and regional ecosystems. Also, the European industry also has a strong position in several critical sectors, such as embedded digital system, with 30% world market share, and in building complex systems such as cars, trains, and planes. It is estimated that digital technologies “inside the car” determine more than 50% of the key selling features and represents the key differentiator, and European companies are leaders in the market of automotive electronics. All product, services, and market sectors can profit by the digital revolution. The digitization of manufacturing can transform the entire industry, offering prospects for the relocation of industry in Europe. To capture these advantages, Europe needs both to establish a strong digital sector and to facilitate the adoption of digital technologies in all sectors in Europe. It has been estimated that if all EU countries mirrored the performance of the United States or the best-performing EU countries, 400 000 to 1.5 million new jobs could be created in the EU Internet economy.

To this purpose, the Commission has launched in the frame of the Horizon 2020 Programme the Digital Agenda as one of the seven pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy. It aims at improving the environment and infrastructure in Europe for the digital economy, providing the right regulatory and legal frameworks in place, removing national restrictions toward a real single market, building a digital economy, and promoting the e-society.

However, these actions would only make Europe into a more appetizing market for the ICT industry of other regions, if the strength of European industry is not properly reinforced, investing in world-class ICT research and innovation to boost growth and jobs.

In order to define a strategy to help Europe reap the advantages of the Digital Revolution, the Commission supported the formation of an Electronics Leaders Group (ELG) bringing together the leaders of Europe's 10 largest semiconductor and design companies, equipment and materials suppliers, and the three largest research technology organizations, with the task of establishing a strategy to reverse the downward trend of electronic industry in Europe.

The ELG proposed to the Commission to focus efforts in three areas for a stronger ICT industry:

First, the ELG identified the emerging markets of smart connected objects and the Internet of Things where a leading position and growth can be captured. There is a lot of opportunity if Europe leads on the platforms on which IoT will develop.

The ELG proposed a second line of action on vertical markets, such as the automotive, energy, and security sectors, where Europe is strong and where disruptions will probably occur much faster than expected due to the increasing importance of electronic content.

The third area is the changing landscape of mobile convergence. Europe is to gain a leading capability in the future communication networks and devices. 5G offers opportunities in the years to come.

In the new Horizon 2020 Programme, instruments have been introduced to support innovations and prepare European industry to be at the forefront. In this programme, about €12 billion will be invested by the Union between 2014 and 2020 in ICT research and innovation. It is breaking new ground for delivering innovation and will mean that good ideas make the jump from the laboratory to the marketplace.

If ICT will be the engine of the economic growth of Europe, nanoelectronics will have to provide the fuel. Ms. Kroes, the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda in the second Barroso Commission, put forward the challenge “to double the economic value of the semiconductor component production in Europe by 2020–2025” and create an “Airbus of Chips” since the technology development, design, and manufacturing of electronic components and systems is of strategic importance for Europe. In order to ensure that Europe will be a key player in this area in the future, there is a need to put the sector on a steep growth path. This is essential for the electronics industry itself and for the whole of the industrial fabric in Europe.

In this sector, the main initiative has been the establishment of the Joint Undertaking ECSEL in 2014, a unique industry-led public–private partnership for “Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership” to fund research and innovation actions on Nanoelectronics, Cyber-Physical, and Smart Systems. The Union contributes to it about €1.2 billions, to be matched by contributions from participating Member States and industry, in order to reach a total investment level of some €5 billions by 2020. Building on the successes of its predecessors ENIAC (a public–private partnership focusing on nanoelectronics) and ARTEMIS (a technology platform bringing together key players in the embedded computing arena), it aims at supporting the full industrial development chain, down to large-scale actions to close the gap to the market, including pilot lines preparing for first-time production and further production capacity increase in Europe.

ECSEL is a structuring instrument, aiming at helping the industry to coordinate itself across value chains, integrating the most advanced technologies of components, software, and architectures into highly innovative smart embedded cyber–physical systems. And this is driven to create growth and jobs and to address pressing societal needs for Europe in domains such as transport, energy, or health.

Of course, more basic research will continue to be funded in the regular Horizon 2020 calls of the Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (LEIT) section, and in the Excellent Science section, under the Future & Emerging Technologies (FET) actions and the continuation of FET Flagships initiative.

Investments will not only be delivered via Horizon 2020. Regions will also be active in mobilizing funds to scale up competence centers and infrastructures and further support industry, under the Smart Specialization Program.

In addition, President Juncker recently announced an investment plan of €315 billions to inject public and private funds into the economy over the next 3 years, which could contribute to cover the €35 billions investment that ELG identified as required in order to double the value of production in Europe.

Several actions are also needed to accelerate the demand and improve the regulatory environment and infrastructure in Europe. To this purpose, the industry is working very hard on an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in the area of electronics, building on the pilot lines sustained by ECSEL. It will bring together competences in Europe and will have a leverage effect on an extensive supply network throughout Europe and the economy. This discussion is taking place at a moment when the business scene in electronics is changing, as we can see from the recent acquisitions of US companies, International Rectifier and FREESCALE, by Infineon and NXP. This is probably not the end – the industrial landscape is expected to continue to change drastically.

Member of the European Parliament Strasbourg/Brussel

Dr. Paul Rübig

Micron Semiconductor, Agrate Brianza, Italy

Dr. Livio Baldi

Notes

1.

OECD data. 1 exabyte = 10

18

byte.

2.

http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/digital-economy/importance/index_en.htm