Aug

7

Turning Silicon Trash into Gold

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Solar_Panel

As the world goes green and the solar panel industry heats up, it is threatening the semiconductor industry. Both industries rely heavily on sand to build their substrates. A shortage of sand supply would threaten both industries and generate tension between them. Furthermore, both industries hire highly skilled knowledge workers from a limited pool of human resource. Fresh graduates and engineers, wannabe entrepreneurs and new startups may find the budding solar panel industry much more attractive than the matured semiconductor industry. However, semiconductor chip makers soon find a smart way to turn one company’s trash into another’s treasure - recycling scrapped wafers for solar panel. Some analysts even claim the the “silicon recycling for solar panel” business has exploded into a $750 million worth market last year (Ref). Not bad for a new business. For those aspiring entrepreneurs in Singapore, this could be a golden business opportunity, considering the facts there are more than 20 fabs (including the small fabs and labs) in Singapore and Singapore’s strong push for clean technology industry (Ref). MSNBC has an interesting video on this topic. Click here to watch.

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Jul

17

Top 10 Hot Topics in SEMICON WEST 2007

Filed Under Market Research, Semiconductor Industry, Video Gallery, Yield Mgt and DFM | Leave a Comment

SEMICON WEST, the world’s most comprehensive event dedicated to the global semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains, where numerous semiconductor vendors and suppliers will showcase their latest and most advanced products, equipment and material, is now taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from July 16-20 . One major draw for participants is the generous goodies offered by most vendors. According to Ref, the top 10 hot topics in this event are:

  1. High-K Metal Gate - This is certainly a next near-term growth segment for equipment and material suppliers
  2. Test Summit - Testing cost is escalating and becoming the Achilles heel of most chip companies. Many ATE companies are gathering in this event to discuss the testing strategy
  3. Next Generation Fab
  4. Photovoltaic Manufacturing - Solar energy market is booming and poised for long-term high growth rates
  5. Technology Innovation Showcase
  6. Semiconductor Packaging
  7. New Companies and New Ideas - a good place to meet up with all the movers and shakers in this inudstry
  8. Bulls and Bears Investor Session
  9. Design for Manufacturing - DFM is the buzzword these days. Chip companies are desparate for an effective DFM solution to bridge the gap between design and process, and shorten product time to market.
  10. Nanotechnology - Nanotechnology like carbon nanotube is fast becoming an important aspect in semiconductor manufacturing (Ref).

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