TC TECH Sweden AB’s Post

Did You Know: Cleanrooms - The Unsung Heroes of Tiny Tech? Ever wondered how those tiny chips in your phone or computer get made? It all starts in a place called a cleanroom! These aren't your typical cleaning havens. Cleanrooms in semiconductor manufacturing are like high-tech bubbles where the air is cleaner than a hospital operating room. Why? Because even a speck of dust can ruin a delicate chip. Here's the science: Cleanrooms use HEPA filters, which trap particles as small as 0.3 microns (that's about 1/30th the width of a human hair!). This meticulous filtration creates a controlled environment for building those super-tiny tech wonders. At Semicon Fab Technologies, we're all about cleanrooms! We're experts in designing and building the most innovative cleanroom solutions for our clients. From cutting-edge filtration to advanced controlled environments, we help shape the future of technology by ensuring the cleanest possible playing field for those tiny titans of tech. Want to learn more? Visit www.semiconfab.com

From digital manufacturing to automated workflows to robots on the shop floor, the last decade has witnessed a seismic shift in the print industry. Meanwhile, the introduction of AI solutions has captured the attention of millions of users. As a result, these technological revolutions have left many print service providers at a crossroads: adapt and thrive or resist and risk obsolescence. Joanne Gore explores the 10 technologies that have reshaped the industry, their impact, adoption patterns, challenges faced by printers, and practical tips to overcome the fear of new tech.

How globalisation and automation impact innovation - US manufacturing excellence was powered by massive investments in manufacturing innovation driven by WW II; the US invented modern machine tooling and built the largest forgeries, and other advances. These immense capital investments modernised US manufacturing infrastructure that led to gains in post war productivity. By the 1970s, globalisation driven outsourcing led to the wholesale export of US precision tooling, and other industrial sectors, including semiconductor manufacturing. In the beginning, the US represented 100% of semiconductor manufacturing, in 2024, it was 8%. The impact of globalisation on US manufacturing came in two waves. The first wave came from the export-oriented manufacturing economies of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea. Then there was the ‘China Shock’ period from 2001 to 2010. In 2017, referring to China, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained; ‘…China from a supply point of view…because of the skill, and the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill it is. The products we do require really advanced tooling…and the tooling skill is very deep here. In the U.S. you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I’m not sure we could fill the room. In China you could fill multiple football fields.’ The US is a minor player in making high-end precision manufacturing equipment. When it comes to factory automation systems, machine tools, robot arms, and other types of production machinery, the most advanced suppliers are in Japan, Germany, and Switzerland - the result of the wholesale departure of firms from many segments of manufacturing. The decline of US manufacturing and the de-skilling of the human capital it employed has implications for innovation capability. The design process and production process generate useful information. The disintegration of these processes undermines innovation. How do engineers work on the design of automation systems if they don’t have exposure to industrial processes? Toyota’s latest strategy is to re-invest in human capability over automation: to ensure that workers understand processes instead of feeding parts into machines and being helpless when one breaks down; and to move human capability from process workers to craftsman and masters able to figure out how to make processes higher quality and more efficient in the long run - automation leads to de-skilling and a loss of innovation capability.

Is there an inflection point in chip design and packaging?   Chip process technology is getting into sub nanometer, and it will be hard to get the similar area scaling and performance/power benefit from one node to another, scaling has been a challenge off late starting from 10nm and below, not to mention the huge cost that one need to incur on fabs and ultimately cost of chip manufacturing itself….   Will it become a norm to do multi-die packaging with few “chiplets” designed using older process, few with new process, stacked horizontally and vertically to get a single packaged part that can meet the performance/power needs. But cost of packaging will go up…so will it still be viable?   What do you think?

The cost of an advanced chip factory can be as high as 20 billion US dollars, of which 70-80% is the cost of ultra-precision production equipment. With the advancement of chip manufacturing processes, equipment prices have also risen. For example, an EUV lithography machine costs US$400 million, which is almost as much as the cost of the entire factory. Chip manufacturing has extremely high requirements on environmental conditions. Tiny dust, vibration and even noise may affect the yield rate. Workers need to wear special dust-proof clothing, and the air in the workshop must be filtered and purified through multiple processes. In order to ensure stable production 24/7, all interference factors must be minimized. The reason why chips are powerful is that they are difficult to manufacture. Engineers repeatedly manipulate materials at the nanometer scale, and all their efforts will be wasted if they are slightly off. This requires extremely precise equipment, an almost clean environment and strict workmanship, and no mistakes can be made in every step. Chip manufacturing is a miracle of modern industry and is the result of the diligent pursuit of countless scientific and technological people.

The current state of manufacturing technology involves rapid advancements and the integration of digital solutions.

This is a great demonstration of how fast lithography is in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

What is Active Alignment? Active alignment refers to the process of precisely aligning components or elements within a system in real-time using feedback mechanisms. Unlike passive alignment methods, which rely on predetermined settings or manual adjustments, active alignment dynamically adjusts parameters such as position, angle, or orientation based on measurements or sensors. This technique is commonly employed in various industries, including electronics, optics, telecommunications, and automotive, to achieve optimal performance, accuracy, and reliability in complex systems. Active alignment enables enhanced functionality, tighter tolerances, and improved manufacturing efficiency, making it indispensable in modern technology development and production processes.

Key technologies in intelligent manufacturing: Smart Workshop Smart workshop can achieve global production control, determining what to produce, monitoring equipment status, conducting production statistics, providing work instructions, and ensuring quality control. It features a mistake-proofing system for production, timely material delivery, and prompt shipment of products. In addition to basic technologies, there are new advancements. For example, Haier has developed a virtual-real integration technology that combines digital 3D space with actual production data. The virtual-real integration system displays real-time data based on the current production orders of the equipment, showing its true status in case of a fault. Previously, we relied on virtual simulations, but now we analyze data collected from real products' sensors in a digital prototype, making it more accurate since the data reflects actual working conditions, including workshop statistics and logistics data.