What are the topics covered? There’s Taiwan chip revenues, research into using less neodymium for magnets, Imec’s work around High-NA patterning, falling GPU prices and Intel creating silicon qubits…
5. Rare earth magnet uses less neodymium
Grade 42M commercial magnet performance can be achieved with ~30% less neodymium than before, according to the Korea Institute of Materials Science. More of the less costly rare-earth cerium is the answer, but performing this substitution has been proving difficult. “In order to develop a neodymium-reduced permanent magnet, the content of cerium has to be increased,” said KIMS. “Until now, with the increased content of cerium, it was not able to prevent the deterioration of the magnetic properties.”
4. Taiwan has 26% of world chip revenues
Taiwan had a 26% market share of semiconductor revenue in 2021, says TrendForce, second only to the US. The island’s IC design and packaging & testing industries account for a 27% and 20% global market share, ranking second and first in the world, respectively. Taiwan accounts for 64% of the foundry market with TSMC possessing the most advanced process technology. In 2022, Taiwan will account for approximately 48% of global 12-inch equivalent wafer foundry production capacity.
3. Imec ramps up High-NA patterning development
Imec has made significant progress in preparing the High-NA patterning ecosystem for the imec-ASML Joint High-NA Lab, which will be centred around the first 0.55NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography prototype tool. Advances are reported in developing patterning and etch processes, in screening new resist and underlayer materials, in improving metrology and in photomask technology. “Imec is partnering with ASML on High-NA technology as ASML is building its first prototype 0.55NA EUV lithography scanner EXE:5000,” says the CEO of Imec.
2. Falling GPU prices raise expectations of an end to the shortage
GPU prices are down sharply giving rise to expectations that the chip shortage could be coming to an end. 3DCenter says that the price of AMD’s Radeon RX6000 and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX30 gaming GPUs has fallen from 80% to 20% above MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price). Susquehanna reckons GPU prices have falken from 76% to 41% above MSRP.
1. Intel scales up qubit fabrication
Researchers at Intel and QuTech – consisting of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) – have created silicon qubits at scale at Intel’s D1 manufacturing factory in Hillsboro, Oregon. The result is a process that can fabricate more than 10,000 arrays with several silicon-spin qubits on a single wafer with greater than 95% yield
