Published On: August 2021

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash THE FINITE SEMICONDUCTOR GAME The semiconductor industry consists of different players (companies) playing one of the two games: Finite Or Infinite. The technical and business planning laid out by any semiconductor company can enable classification of whether they are playing the long-term infinite game or sticking to a finite game. The reason for this classification is a consolidation of semiconductor companies. It is applicable for both the design and the manufacturing side of the semiconductor. However, comparatively semiconductor manufacturing has seen more players that get classified as finite or infinite players. Primarily reason is the vast investment required to drive the next-gen semiconductor manufacturing, something not all companies can do regularly. Finite Game: Played by semiconductor companies who have settled for a specific semiconductor technology

Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash THE MAJOR BLOCKS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR FOUNDRY ROADMAP RACE Semiconductor foundries across the globe are focused on providing solutions to retain existing customers and attract new customers. To achieve these two goals, semiconductor foundry companies have to keep innovating. Innovations are critical to ensure the solutions offered by foundries will spearhead the growth of new semiconductor products, thus the customers. Semiconductor foundry roadmap plays a vital role in empowering customers with the future of semiconductor foundry technology. These roadmaps require years of research and development and are often in line with where the semiconductor industry is heading. Roadmaps also attract investors, and achieving roadmap milestones without delay is more important than ever. Any slip in achieving the milestones can directly impact customers and can

Photo by L N on Unsplash THE KNOWN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING STRUGGLES The cost of semiconductor manufacturing is doubling every four years. The major driving factor for the rising cost is the product complexity due to the introduction of new technology-node and packaging technologies. Electrical testing also has played a role in increased manufacturing costs due to the demand for advanced automated equipment. All such costs are directly associated with the increase in transistor density with shrinking die area. The increase in transistor density has also lead to several semiconductor manufacturing struggles. These struggles (have been around for decades) are an indispensable part of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Advanced and automated equipment often helps solve the unknown and known struggles. However, the demand to increase the number of lots processed per

Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash THE HURDLES FOR THE SHRINKING SEMICONDUCTOR ROADMAP Several roadmaps get initiated by different semiconductor companies and also semiconductor technical bodies. These roadmaps provided a path of where semiconductor technologies were, where it is today and where it will be tomorrow. In many cases, roadmaps also allow a way to understand how the product development phase will be for any given domain within the semiconductor industry or company. These roadmaps are based on the capabilities of any given company to drive semiconductor technological innovation. These innovations then eventually push the industry towards the next-gen of solutions that set the path for future research and development. For example, the mass production of 2nm is heavily dependent on EUV technology, and when such a solution is used