Recap: Semiconductor edition of our popular Future Days event

It will come as no surprise that many of us at Malvern Panalytical are fans of the latest gadgets – we love technology! Much of the most exciting new tech being developed today relies on semiconductors to support processing or memory functions, and all this innovation is one reason we’re so enthusiastic about our key semiconductor segment.

We highlighted this recently by dedicating one of our popular Future Days sessions to an exploration of the semiconductor industry (alongside an edition focusing on academia). On March 22, we heard from a great panel of expert speakers on the sector’s latest developments, and where they think this dynamic field might be heading in the future.

Our in-house semiconductor specialists were joined by some amazing guest speakers with a wealth of industry experience to discuss everything from the most advanced silicon applications to mainstream uses of GaN chips and the best ways to implement X-ray fluorescence (XRF) metrology.

Couldn’t make the event itself? Or keen to refresh your memory?

Here’s our recap for you:

Having opened with a warm welcome from our very own Gjalt Kuiperes (Sector Director Advanced Materials) and Lars Grieger (Segment Manager, Semiconductor), the presentations kicked off with guest speaker Vesa Lempinen from Okmetic Oy, Finland. Vesa’s talk focused on Advanced Silicon Solutions for MEMS, RF and Power Electronics Applications, covering a wide range of next-generation silicon applications. It was fascinating to hear how this established technology maintains its place at the cutting edge of innovation across many different fields!

Our next presentation came from Dilder Chowdhury, of Nexperia in the Netherlands, who explored Power GaN technology for mainstream applications. In recent years, gallium nitride (GaN) has surged in popularity as a semiconductor material in device chargers and other applications in which less heat losses is beneficial – although GaN has been used in the sector for many years already.

Next up was Vincent Kip, an XRF Application Specialist at Malvern Panalytical, with his talk Beyond Toolmatching – How to optimize XRF wafer metrology on system and fab levels. As an XRF specialist, Vincent spends a lot of time thinking about how to get the most out of XRF analysis – and the semiconductor industry is a major focus area. As a non-destructive method for characterizing elemental composition, XRF is particularly well-suited to measuring wafers and thin films, and the accuracy of modern XRF instruments provides a lot of value at system- and fab-level.

Johannes Zettler, from LayTec AG, Germany, followed up with his session on Connected metrology – Characterizing complex layer stacks along the manufacturing chain. It was great to hear him speak about the importance of a holistic and connected analytical strategy – we couldn’t agree more! It was fascinating to get such an expert viewpoint from the industry on this approach to metrology, especially in the context of the sector’s development and future.

Last but certainly not least, we heard from Malvern Panalytical Segment Manager Lars Grieger, who complemented Vincent’s earlier talk on XRF with his presentation on New XRD solutions from lab to fab. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is another analytical mainstay of semiconductor development and production, providing a non-destructive way to analyze crystalline microstructures including lattice parameters, preferred orientation, and phase. Lars laid out some of the latest and greatest applications of XRD technology – and how it will contribute to the future of semiconductors, from the lab to the fab.

Expert interactions

In between our presentations, there was an engaging discussion with each of our speakers – Vesa, Dilder, Vincent, Johannes, and Lars – on the same topic as their session. Finally, they all sat down together for a general roundtable conversation to share their insights and paint an inspiring picture of the future!

We really enjoyed the semiconductor edition of Future Days – we hope you did too! It was great to hear from so many expert speakers and get a glimpse of what tomorrow might hold for this exciting industry. Stay tuned for more from us – and see you next time!

To stay up-to-date on the latest from our semiconductor experts, join our Advanced Materials community on LinkedIn.

Looking forward to the next event? Check out our calendar and past recordings here.