Category Archives: Supply Chain

Packaging and Delivery Methodology for: wafer, die and ICs

gel-pack

There are many ways to deliver, package and transport silicon products. Here’s a short primer that provides the basic facts regarding how silicon can be packed and delivered to ensure safe transportation with minimum damages.
 
There are two main options for receiving wafers from your foundry: tested or untested.
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Copper Wire (Cu) Bonding Reduces Package Cost

copper-wire-bonding

Do you know someone that is not eager to reduce their ASIC production costs? I don’t.  Some say that redesign changes can lead to significant cost reduction, for instance – using a more advanced silicon technology node to shrink the die size. True, but this is a really big, painful

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Does size matter? Understanding Wafer Size

Silicon wafers are the most essential element in the realization of ICs. The semiconductor industry had invested heavily to increase the wafer size during the last 30 years, so while foundries used to produce 1 inch wafers, today’s common wafer size is 300mm (11.8 times larger than 1 inch). There

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How to Obtain ASIC Turnkey Services from TSMC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES?

Pure-play foundries are offering vanilla flavor services, meaning one can buy only wafers. ASIC design, testing, packaging and supply chain services are not part of their service offering.
 
Large IDM players, who manage their own supply chain, seek this type of engagement because they prefer to own the supply

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Moisture Sensitivity Level and Popcorn Effect

MSL stands for Moisture Sensitivity Level. It represent the amount of time an IC can be exposed to ambient conditions and still be assembled on a PCB without being damaged.

When the antistatic bag is opened and the ICs are exposed to ambient conditions, the moisture in the air

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5 Easy Steps to Calculate ASIC Unit Cost

It happened to all of us. You come to your office one morning and find a note from your manager “what will be the ASIC’s unit cost?”
Although an ASIC unit cost has a direct impact on revenues, it is typically only visited twice: before the design starts and when

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