Materials Matter — Enabling the Future of IC Fabrication and Packaging

The SEMI Strategic Materials Conference, held September 30–October 1 in Santa Clara, Calif., will examine the drivers for new materials and how they impact material suppliers and the value chain they serve. The theme this year is “Materials Matter — Enabling the Future of IC Fabrication and Packaging,” delving into the market opportunities, scaling challenges, and emerging solutions to meet the sub-20nm technology node production challenges. SMC is the only conference dedicated to exploring the synergies, trends and business opportunities in advanced electronic materials. The agenda includes presentations by market analysts, leading device manufacturers, as well as equipment and material suppliers.

The increasing semiconductor content in mobile, computing, entertainment, and transportation are driving demands for higher performance and lower power consumption. The IC industry today is moving beyond scaling as the primary driver and looking to new materials and architectures.  Candidate materials span the spectrum from fabricating non-planar transistor structures to reducing interconnect RC delays.  3D interconnect and multi-chip bonding are facilitating form factors for use in phones, tablets and devices encompassing the internet of things.   In this “Age of Materials,” SMC will discuss market opportunities, scaling challenges, emerging solutions and more to meet the constantly growing demands.

Matt Nowak, senior director, Global Operations Group at Qualcomm, offers the conference’s keynote with insights on the emergence of the Digital Sixth Sense: Opportunities that will drive consumer demand over the coming decades, and the associated adoption of new IC devices and electronic materials. Tim G. Hendry, VP, Technology & Manufacturing Group at Intel, will kick off the session “Supply Chain Challenges, Interdependence for Future Growth” with his keynote, “Delivering Complexity to Beyond the Leading Edge.”

Other companies presenting include: Air Products & Chemicals, Air Liquide Electronics, Dow Chemical, Edwards Vacuum, Entegris, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Hilltop Economics, IBM, Intel, Linx Consulting, Lux Research, Matheson, Pall Corp, SAFC Hitech, Sandisk, Stanford University, Stifel Nicolaus, TechSearch International, TriQuint Semiconductor, and VLSI Research.

For the “advanced materials”-enabled microelectronics industry, the Strategic Materials Conference is a planning, forecasting, and business development necessity. Organized by the Chemical and Gas Manufacturers Group (CGMG), a SEMI Special Interest Group comprised of leading manufacturers, producers, packagers and distributors of chemicals and gases used in the microelectronics industry, SMC has provided valuable information and networking opportunities to materials and electronics industry professionals since 1995.