Emission Microscopy (EMMI) is an optical fault-localization technique used in semiconductor failure analysis to identify electrically active defects inside integrated circuits. Instead of physically opening individual circuit structures and searching for damage, emission microscopy detects extremely weak light generated while a semiconductor device is electrically operating or biased.
Abnormal photon emission ...
What is a Circuit Edit?
A circuit edit is when you need to modify an existing ASIC or integrated circuit for whatever reason. This is usually done with the help of an ion beam that is focused onto the chip to modify it as per the request of the designer. Engineers ...
Scanning Acoustic Microscopy (SAM) is a non-destructive imaging technique widely used in semiconductor failure analysis to inspect structures and interfaces hidden inside IC packages. Unlike optical microscopy, which relies on visible light, or X-ray inspection, which relies primarily on differences in material density and X-ray absorption, SAM uses high-frequency acoustic waves. This ...
Kaiserslautern, Germany – May 21, 2025 – Creonic GmbH, a leading provider of ready-to-use IP cores for ASIC and FPGA applications, announces the release of its new oFEC (Open Forward Error Correction) codec IP core. The solution supports next-generation optical and high-speed communication systems and is now available in both ...
Dr. Morris Chang is not my hero. He might be the most important person in the semiconductor industry in our lifetime, but he is not my hero. I have nothing against him. I’ve never met him and probably will never will. Instead, I meet my heroes usually after tape-out, when ...
Faraday Technology Corporation (TWSE: 3035), a leading ASIC design service and IP provider, today announced that it has won and delivered several factory automation (FA) related ASIC projects, supporting real-time Ethernet, EtherCAT, Profibus, and PLC controllers. In each case, Faraday employs its value-added ASIC and IP customization service for power-performance ...
PHIX B.V. of Enschede, The Netherlands, is a Dutch packaging foundry that assembles their customers’ photonic integrated circuits into complete modules. As these modules evolve from initial prototypes into mature products, the manufacturing volumes become much larger and a higher level of automation is required. This aspect of photonic device ...
The NVM Express (NVMe) specification has been introduced in 2011. Five years later, it is definitely adopted as the new standard storage interface for Solid-State Drives (SSD). Even if SAS and SATA SSDs are still dominating the market (in unit shipment), the PCIe SSD market share is growing fast and ...
When a semiconductor device fails, the visible damage is not necessarily the root cause. A damaged metal line, cracked package, leaking transistor or burned bond wire may be the final result of a sequence of events rather than the original problem. The purpose of the semiconductor failure analysis process is therefore to ...
When an integrated circuit fails, one of the first questions is: How is the device failing electrically?
A chip may exhibit excessive leakage current, a short circuit, an open connection, abnormal supply current, a parametric shift or a complete functional failure. Before engineers physically cut into the device, they usually want to ...
