Are you ready for the new supercycle?

By  Pradeep Chakraborty

At the ongoing SEMI Technology Unites Summit, Akihisa Sekiguchi, VP and GM of Advanced Semiconductor Technology Division at Tokyo Electron, presented on Present and Future of Technology in the Age of Paradigm Shift. The new normal has changed our daily lives. We have also been enhancing isolated healthcare. Today, a whole range of information can be sent over the Internet.

We are also enhancing the learning experience. Successful transition is possible with high-speed Internet. We also need to enhance the remote working experience. Things are not so easy in manufacturing, unless the processes are automated. AR/VR is accelerating development. There was also the acceleration of 5G in 2020. Wi-Fi 6 is also expected to help further and faster connectivity.

The next 10 years will see more of Moore’s Law, driving logic, DRAM and NAND. There will be more customization, as well as hyper mass production. The market will decide the optimum allocation of resources. Small, portable devices will continue to evolve. There will be the Internet of People.

Device scaling outlook will also evolve. DRAM process flow will get better. Higher aspect ratio structures require advanced patterning to deliver next-generation technologies. In 3D NAND, the actual stack is much higher. Device footprint reduction by forming logic devices under the memory array. Nanosheet structure is complicated. TEL’s highly selective process comes in here. BEOL wiring limits are leading to backside PDN. 3D system integration and bonding are also moving ahead.

Today, ML is an effective tool. There is also the importance of advanced data analysis. More efficient computation pull is now need. Eg., for quantum computing. The future is the seamless integration of computing. Semiconductors need to evolve further. We need to innovate together.

New supercycle
Next, Kevin Crofton, CEO, Comet Group, presented on: Are you ready for the new supercycle? Covid-19 has accelerated the desire for digitization. This has happened due to AI, 5G, etc. The WFH strategy has accelerated the experience of the new shift of the industry.

AI can do, and does do, is that it trains machines. We can have AI for entertainment. We can select the movie we want to see, along with the actors, we want to see. There can be AI in cybersecurity. It can also get involved in transportation. It is coming across the world very quickly. Autonomy will get built on the AI platform.

There is also the use of AI for vaccine. Today, almost 200 different vaccines are being tested. AI can solve many different problems of the world in the future. Google is using AI protocols to develop advanced chips.