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Industrialising 300 mm silicon photonics for bandwidth-hungry AI interconnects Francesco Manegatti, co-founder and CEO of NcodiN, and Eléonore Hardy, Silicon Photonics Partnership Manager, CEA-Leti, discuss the partnership between CEA-Leti and NcodiN, a French deep-tech startup pioneering nanolaser-enabled photonic interconnects, to industrialise NcodiN’s optical interposer technology on a 300 mm integrated photonics process. 0:00 / 0:00

Recent Interviews

Industrialising 300 mm silicon photonics for bandwidth-hungry AI interconnects Francesco Manegatti, co-founder and CEO of NcodiN, and Eléonore Hardy, Silicon Photonics Partnership Manager, CEA-Leti, discuss the partnership between CEA-Leti and NcodiN, a French deep-tech startup pioneering nanolaser-enabled photonic interconnects, to industrialise NcodiN’s optical interposer technology on a 300 mm integrated photonics process.

EU-India trade deal spells semiconductor success Jai Mallick, India Managing Director of Intralink, discusses the recent EU-India trade agreement, sharing his optimism as to the commercial opportunities the FTA unlocks for businesses in Europe and India and the new era of cross-border collaboration it ushers in – with the semiconductor industry set to be a major beneficiary of the closer collaboration as the EU-India nexus joins the current US and East Asia ecosystems.

ICsense Opens New Electronic Wafer Sort Cleanroom Bram De Muer, ICsense’s CEO, explains why ICsense, a TDK Group company and leading fab-independent European design group with world class expertise in analogue, digital, mixed signal and high voltage integrated circuit design, has opened a new Electronic Wafer Sort (EWS) cleanroom as part of its latest strategic investment programme.

FAMES announces 2026 Open-Access Call for chip industry stakeholders Susana Bonnetier, open-access chairperson, explains that the 2026 program adds four new process design kits (PDKs) and research advances in integrated radio frequency filters and switches and components for power-management integrated circuits (PMIC). Design houses, fabless companies, foundries, integrated device manufacturers, material & tool suppliers, universities and research centers can submit User Requests by responding to the two-month-long Open-Access Call, which started earlier in March, or by submitting a Spontaneous User Request throughout the year.

agileSecure safeguards SOCs Chris Morrison, VP Product Marketing at Agile Analog, talks about the importance of tamper detection and prevention, explaining how implementing analog anti-tamper solutions like clock attack monitors, glitch detectors, temperature sensors and electromagnetic sensors can help companies to protect devices and systems.

The increasing need for semiconductor thermal management Dr Yu-Han Chang, Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, explains how the increase in demand for high performance computing is resulting in the need for enhanced semiconductor performance, of which thermal management is a large component. She shares manyh valuable insights from the organisation’s recent report: Thermal Management for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities, covering some of the main materials, technologies and applications relevant to this growing technology sector.

Swansea to lead UK Centre for Doctoral Training in semiconductor skills Professor Owen Guy, Centre of Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM) at Swansea and Director of the Centre for Nanohealth in the College of Engineering at Swansea University, explains that Swansea University is to lead a major national initiative, The UK Semiconductor Industry Future Skills (UK-SIFS) CDT, to address the UK’s semiconductor skills gap. The new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will deliver advanced doctoral-level training in semiconductor skills that are critical to the UK’s ambitions for a resilient and competitive semiconductor manufacturing sector. By combining rigorous academic research with industry-embedded training, UK-SIFS will produce a pipeline of up to 60 highly skilled PhD students over five cohorts, who will be equipped to drive innovation and meet the technical demands of next-generation semiconductor technologies.

DRAM and NAND developments drive memory market Jeongdong Choe, Senior Technical Fellow, SVP at TechInsights discusses the semiconductor information platform’s Memory Outlook Report 2026, which highlights a number of trends, including the major focus on DRAM, high bandwidth memory (HBM) and 3D NAND, alongside innovations such as High Bandwidth Flash, new wordline materials and strairless wordline structure, embedded and emerging memory market developments and the impact of tariffs.

Imec mitigates thermal bottleneck in 3D HBM-on-GPU architectures Julien Ryckaert, Vice President Logic Technologies at imec, explains how a holistic system-technology co-optimization (STCO) approach is key in reducing peak GPU and HBM temperatures under AI workloads while enhancing performance density of future GPU-based architectures. He also outlines imec’s new cross-technology co-optimization (XTCO) program in developing more thermally robust advanced compute systems and holds out the possibility of peak GPU temperatures being reduced from 140.7°C to 70.8°C under realistic AI training workloads.

Delivering world-first capability for orbital semiconductor manufacturing Alastair McGibbon. Head of Semiconductors at Space Forge, explains that the company has successfully generated plasma aboard ForgeStar®-1 - a world-first for commercial in-space manufacturing. This demonstration confirms that the conditions needed for gas-phase crystal growth can now be created and controlled on an autonomous platform in low Earth orbit. Alastair outlines the company’s focus on wide- and ultra-wide bandgap materials that underpin critical technologies, with the aim to help improve efficiency, performance and resilience.

Geopolitical uncertainty could boost the automotive market Asif Anwar, Head of Automotive Data at TechInsights, discusses the semiconductor information platform’s Automotive Outlook Report 2026, highlighting some key trends, including: the uncertainty caused by tariffs, China’s looming presence in the automotive market, the move to a smaller number of more powerful, higher value control units, the growth of 48V and 800V solutions and the impact of both AI and wide bandgap materials.

Silicon Labs builds a future-ready SAP strategy Radhika Chennakeshavula, CIO and Vice President of Silicon Labs, explains the decision to select Rimini Street as its strategic partner to maximize the value of its SAP ECC 6.0 investment. This collaboration provides the US-based semiconductor manufacturer with long-term SAP maintenance and professional services to accelerate modernisation without costly upgrades or business disruption. The project went live ahead of schedule and has delivered significant savings which have enabled ‘frictionless’ investment in AI innovations across the organisation.

Imec advances 2D-material based device technology Gouri Sankar Kar, VP R&D compute and memory device technologies at imec, explains how the research organisation, in collaboration with leading semiconductor manufacturers, has addressed key challenges in advancing 2D-material device technology, which is considered a long-term option for extending the logic technology roadmap. Collaboration with TSMC resulted in record performing WSe2 -based pFETs (with Imax as high as 690µA/µm), using a fab-compatible process flow. Partnership with Intel led to improved fab-compatible modules for source/drain contact formation and gate stack integration (with reduced equivalent oxide thickness (EOT)).

Hot-water cooling addresses the AI power challenge Dr. Peter de Bock, vice president, Data Center Energy and Cooling Technology, Eaton, discusses what the launch of the NVIDIA Rubin platform means for data centre power demand, explaining that it could be a transformative innovation that enables data centres to redirect power to more compute because of hot-water cooling, advanced cold plates and intelligent coolant distribution units (CDUs).

Understanding advanced packaging trends Cameron McKnight-MacNeil, Technical Fellow, TechInsights, discusses the semiconductor information platform’s Advanced Packaging Outlook Report 2026, highlighting five key expectations: co-packed optics are set to go mainstream, the importance of HBM for AI, the scaling up of panels and glass, 3D thermal challenges and chiplets in the smartphone – an area to watch.

AI - smaller models and inferencing key trends to watch Anand Joshi, Technical Fellow, TechInsights, discusses the semiconductor information platform’s AI Outlook Report 2026, which highlights a number of expectations, including: many more smaller LLMs, few extra large models AI model evolutions will help the workload shift to inferencing AI power demand will drive 2nm and photonics a relatively slow move to edge AI and geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.

Data centre demand drives WBG materials adoption and smart power management Cedric Malaquin, Service Director (Power, analog, RF) at TechInsights, discusses the semiconductor information platform’s Power Outlook Report 2026, which highlights a number of trends, including: skyrocketing data centre power demand silicon carbide market consolidation a ‘new set of rules’ for GaN China moving towards WBG self-sufficiency and an increased focus on smart power management.

Cloudberry launches Europe’s first semiconductor venture fund Rene Kromhof, Founding Partner, Cloudberry, a venture capital firm based in Helsinki and London, explains the background to the company’s launch of Europe’s first semiconductor venture fund with an initial close of €30 million. The fund invests in companies advancing the technological frontier with semiconductors, photonics and advanced materials to advance compute, connectivity, sensing and power.

C-PIC promotes silicon photonics as a strategic UK priority Professor Graham Reed, Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre and the CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre (C-PIC), the UK’s dedicated Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) for silicon photonics (SiPh), at the University of Southampton, explains how the recent panel discussion at the Labour Party’s Annual Conference, titled: “How can investment in the photonics industry promote economic growth and sovereign resilience?”, explored the photonics landscape within the UK, underscoring its importance and opportunities for further innovation – with SiPh one of the sector’s fastest-growing areas, with a projected compound annual growth rate as a strategic priority for the UK.

Crescendo turns up the volume on vertical power delivery Tim Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, President and Founder, Empower Semiconductor, discusses the company’s Crescendo chipset, an artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) processor true vertical power delivery platform, available for final sampling, and now going into mass production. With a combination of 20x faster transient response, 2x lower voltage droop and positioning under or near the processor, the Crescendo chipset enables gigawatt-hours (GWh) in energy savings for a typical AI data centre.

Ignite Next launches Europe’s scale-up program for deep tech startups Markus Bohl, CEO and co-founder of Ignite Next, explains how Ignite Next has been launched as Europe’s new scale-up program for deep tech innovation, designed to bridge the gap between early-stage founders and industrial-scale success. Created by the team behind the renowned Intel Ignite program and now independently operated, Ignite Next introduces a new collaborative model - bringing together the global leading technology players, including Infineon and Intel, to support the continent’s most ambitious deep tech founders. Rather than operating as a traditional accelerator, Ignite Next positions itself as the missing link between startups and industry - a hands-on, non-dilutive program helping founders scale IP-heavy breakthrough technologies from Pre-Seed to Series B and beyond.

A breakthrough tool for AI data centre design and optimisation Axel Nackaerts, imec’s System Scaling lead, discusses the launch of imec.kelis, a cutting-edge analytical performance modelling tool designed to revolutionise the design and optimisation of AI data centres. As workloads scale to trillions of parameters and energy demands surge, system architects face mounting pressure to balance performance with sustainability and cost. Traditional simulation methods are often slow, opaque, or too narrow in scope. Imec.kelis addresses this gap by offering a fast, transparent, and validated modelling framework that enables informed decision-making across the full stack - from chip to data centre. It empowers teams to explore architectural trade-offs, optimise resource allocation, make informed decisions, and accelerate innovation in a field where time-to-insight is critical.

Simplifying WBG semiconductor testing for labs and engineers Nick Dajda, Sales and Marketing Director at ipTEST, discusses the launch of the company’s two turnkey platforms for power device characterization: Quasar200and Pulsar600. With a plug-and-play approach, they simplify experimental workflows by eliminating the need for custom equipment and reducing manual operations such as soldering and complex test setups. This enables users to obtain accurate, publication-ready results with traceable precision. Their reliability speeds up datasheet generation, facilitates correlation with production testers, and ensures safe validation of next-generation devices.

AI continues to dominate the semiconductor space David MacQueen, Service Director, Executive Programs at TechInsights, discusses the five key trends, as identified in the Outlook Report 2026, which will impact the semiconductors industry, with AI the main focus. AI inferencing is set to join the AI LLMs, while HBM, co-packaged optics and overall advanced packaging innovations will primarily be aimed at supporting the speed and density of the AI compute engines. David also identifies the transition from FinFETs to Gate All Around (GAA) transistors as well as the ongoing trade and tariff turbulence as other developments of note and has some interesting insights as to how the chip makers are responding to the challenges and opportunities of these various trends.

The secrets behind Screen’s semiconductor success Martin Hollfelder, VP for Service and Installation/Qualification and Technology at SCREEN SPE Germany, discusses the company’s long track record in the semiconductor industry, evolving from its Japanese roots into a global supplier of equipment for lithography coat/develop, wet cleaning/etching, thermal annealing and metrology applications. SCREEN has won a deserved reputation for both technology innovation and equipment reliability and Martin shares his excitement as to the challenges and opportunities facing the semiconductor industry into the future.

Electronics visibility eliminates energy waste at the chip level, and beyond Noam Brousard, Vice President, Solutions Engineering, proteanTecs, explains how semiconductors are straining under GenAI workloads such as model training, inference, and high-performance AI applications, and are quietly bleeding energy across data centres. proteanTecs has invented ML-driven deep data health & performance monitoring, which enables AI chipmakers to reclaim 8 - 14% in power savings without sacrificing performance, by eliminating the energy waste baked into traditional design. This also decreases the amount of water needed to cool down servers. For a data centre like meta’s Hyperion, that would mean savings of up to 700 megawatts or enough power for more than 200,000 homes.

New CEO to lead Wise Integration’s global growth Ghislain Kaiser, the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Wise Integration, explains how his main task is to transition the company from a CEA Leti spinout into a pioneering force in GaN and digital power management innovation with strong growth potential. Thanks to its WiseGan® devices and WiseWare® digital control, Wise Integration has built a strong foundation in consumer markets and is now looking to scale these innovations to tackle the next big challenges - bringing unmatched efficiency and power density to AI servers, data centres, and tomorrow’s automotive systems.

Addressing the AI power challenge in the data centre Maury Wood, Vicor’s VP of Strategic Marketing, discusses the challenges, and the power electronics solutions, when it comes to power distribution to AI/ML data centre racks. With GPU servers drawing more and more power, the challenge is to provide this increased power capacity with minimal loss, noise or downtime. The end goal is enhanced scalability, efficiency and power management for AI supercomputers.

Disruptive chipset platform transforms satellite agility, efficiency and sustainability Paolo Fioravanti, CEO, and Carl McMahon, Chief Commercial Officer, Circuits Integrated Hellas (CIH), share their expectations for the forthcoming SEMICON West event, where they are excited to be sharing details of the company’s recently launched Kythrion™ flagship Ka-band Antenna-in-Package (AiP) platform for SatCom.

sureCore launches suite of silicon services Paul Wells, CEO at sureCore, discusses the company’s launch of a comprehensive suite of silicon services, to help customers developing cutting-edge applications address complex design requirements. Leveraging its extensive experience in low-power and low-voltage design, the sureCore team can provide expert engineering support across every facet of SoC and IP design and characterisation. The sureCore silicon services cover four key areas: Analogue/Mixed Signal Design Service Full Custom Transistor-Level Layout Service Mixed-Signal Verification and Characterisation Service and Test Chip Development and Evaluation Service.

Taking SiC switches to new highs Tom Jory, Vice President, Power Semiconductors at Luminus and Dumitru Sdrulla, CTO at APC Electronics (APC-E), talk silicon carbide – specifically very high power, very high frequency, and very high performance of unique SiC Switches driven by custom designed integrated circuits. They also discuss the partnership between the two organisations, which sees Luminus as the exclusive worldwide sales partner for APC-E, sharing their excitement as to the many applications where SiC solutions have a role to play.

Integrated Voltage Regulators for advanced electronics Noah Sturcken, CEO of Ferric, discusses the power delivery problem as AI workloads surge and chip architectures grow denser – traditional power solutions can’t cope. Step forward Ferric’s proprietary thin-film, magnetic materials technology, representing a breakthrough in integrated power management which has enabled the company to build the world’s smallest, most efficient power converters, including the highest density DC-DC power converter, to power the future of computing and all digital electronics.

GaN provides high power performance Primit Parikh, Vice President of the GaN Business Division at Renesas, discusses the growing momentum behind the combination of GaN MOSFETs, which offers significant performance advantages over both silicon and silicon carbide alternative solutions. Primit also explains how the company has developed a GaN leadership position by focusing on full ecosystem solutions, high power markets, SuperGaN and its vertically integrated supply chain.

Gen IV Plus Platform delivers for the data centre and beyond Primit Parikh, Vice President of the GaN Business Division at Renesas, explains how, built on a die that is 14 percent smaller than the previous Gen IV platform, the new Gen IV Plus products achieve a lower RDS(on) of 30 milliohms (mΩ), reducing on-resistance by 14 percent and delivering a 20 percent improvement in on-resistance output-capacitance-product figure of merit (FOM). The smaller die size reduces system costs and lowers output capacitance, which results in higher efficiency and power density. Primit outlines how these advantages make the Gen IV Plus devices ideal for cost-conscious, thermally demanding applications where high performance, efficiency and small footprint are critical.

SEMI Foundation acts as Coordinating Hub for major US microelectronics initiative Shari Liss, Vice President, Global Workforce Development and Initiatives, SEMI and SEMI Foundation, discusses the National Network for Microelectronics Education (NNME), a nationwide initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce that aims to advance education, training, and employment pathways in the U.S. microelectronics sector. Shari shares her excitement as the SEMI Foundation is serving as the NNME’s Coordinating Hub, which includes development, coordination, and scaling of Regional Node activities nationwide.

GaN can in more and more places Andrew Smith, Power Integrations, discusses why GaN is expanding from low end charge applications to address higher end, even up to EV drivetrains, currently the preserve of SiC and IGBTs – he believes that GaN will soon be able to address all application sectors from the low 10s of watts up to 100s to kilowatts.

Architecture for scaling AI data centres Ben Miller, Product Marketing Manager at Keysight Technologies, discusses the Keysight Artificial Intelligence (KAI) architecture, a portfolio of end-to-end solutions designed to help customers scale artificial intelligence (AI) processing capacity in data centres by validating AI cluster components using real-world AI workload emulation. Providing system-level interoperability, performance, and efficiency insights, KAI helps operators maximise system performance and pinpoint performance issues not found when testing individual components.

New power switch architecture heads Menlo Microsystems’ innovation focus Russell Garcia, Chief Executive Officer, Menlo Microsystems, discusses some of the company’s recent technology launches and news announcements, including a new scalable power switching architecture based on the company’s Ideal Switch technology, with an application, to be deployed in circuit breakers, being designed for the US Navy, an enhanced loopback relay, for testing high speed digital interfaces, along with associated software tools, and the work being doing with Mini Circuits as it develops an absorptive switch.

EU Project ELENA positions Europe as a global leader in photonic chip manufacturing Hamed Sattari, ELENA’s project coordinator and CEO of CCRAFT, explains the outcomes from the recently concluded 42-month EU project, ELENA, sharing his excitement as to the development of the first-ever, European-made lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) substrates for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) - a breakthrough that establishes a fully European supply chain for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology.

Customer focus remains critical as Danisense launches calibration portal and 1-channel system interface unit Loic Moreau Sales & Marketing Director, Danisense, discusses the launch ofk the company’s Online Calibration Portal, offering brand agnostic calibration services for current transducers in a smooth and efficient process designed to address customer pain points around administrative complexity, long lead times and high costs. He also explains the thinking behind the introduction of a 1-channel power supply and interface unit, finishing with a preview of what promises to be an exciting new focus for Danisense over the next two to three years.

iDEAL breaks through semiconductor barriers David Jauregui, Chief Technology Officer of iDEAL Semiconductor, reveals that the company’s SuperQ™ technology has entered full production, with the first products being 150 V MOSFETs. A family of 200 V MOSFETs is sampling. David explains that SuperQ is the first significant advance in silicon MOSFET design in more than a quarter of a century and delivers ‘unmatched’ performance and efficiency in silicon power devices. The architecture breaks through silicon’s fundamental switching and conduction barriers. It almost doubles the n-conduction region (up to 95%) and reduces switching losses by up to 2.1x versus competing devices.

The future of power conversion Darrel Kingham, CEO at Pulsiv, explains how the company is addressing both the problems of electronic product failure and inefficient power conversion with its philosophy of devices ‘doing more, using less’, thanks to the development of the Pulsiv OSMIUM microcontroller, which is already revolutionising the USB-C charging market - with many more applications to come!

New 3D chips could make electronics faster and more energy-efficient Pradyot Yadav, an MIT graduate student and lead author of a paper on this breakthrough, explains how researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed a new fabrication process that integrates high-performance GaN transistors onto standard silicon CMOS chips in a way that is low-cost and scalable, and compatible with existing semiconductor foundries.

Redefining power electronics through digital control Thierry Bouchet, CEO of Wise Integration, a pioneer in digital control for gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN IC-based power supplies, , explains the company’s journey to the launch of its first fully digital controller, WiseWare 1.1 (WIW1101) based on the MCU 32 bits. This milestone innovation enables high-frequency operation up to 2 MHz, unlocking new levels of power density, efficiency, and form factor in compact AC-DC power converters.

SiC successes drive Bosch’s automotive strategy Ralf Bornefeld, Senior VP, General Manager Business Unit Power Semiconductors and Modules at Bosch, discusses the many SiC-based power electronics innovations the company demonstrated at PCIM earlier this year, before sharing valuable insights as to how he sees the software-defined vehicle, EV and overall automotive markets developing over time, as well as outlining Bosch’s priorities over the next 12-18 months in bringing new ideas and solutions to the sector.

Responsiveness as a competitive edge Peter Dijkstra, Chief Commercial Officer at Trymax Semiconductor Equipment, discusses the landmark installation of the company’s 500th process chamber in Asia, marking strong progress toward the goal of 1,000 global installations by the end of 2025. When it comes to plasma- and UV-based solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, where uptime, productivity, and reliability are critical, Trymax has earned a reputation for being highly responsive - from the inquiry stage to post-installation support. Peter also shares his excitement for the company’s future following significant investment from Accuron Technologies.

Power silicon carbide device market to exceed $10 billion by 2030 Poshun Chiu, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Compound Semiconductors at Yole Group, discusses the power silicon carbide device market, outlining the anticipated growth to an anticipated $10.3 billion value by 2030, despite the current automotive sector slowdown. Poshun explains that growth will return to this sector, along with some exciting emerging markets, such as the AI data centre opportunity (for both SiC and GaN), and also outlines the likely development of 300mm SiC wafers for applications beyond electronics.

Automotive advances focus on foundational semiconductors Mark Ng, TI Director of Automotive Systems, talks through several innovations featured by the company at the PCIM event, including the first automative qualified inductor-inductor-capacitor (LLC) controller for light electric vehicle chargers, the 65W dual-port USB PD charger with self-biasing gallium nitride (GaN) flyback, details of a short-circuit detection reference design with Flex, as well as announcements around a single-stage AC/DC converter for micro inverters and small form-factor 4kW motor control. Mark also provides some valuable insights as to how he sees the automotive power electronics market developing over time.

Power and sensing reimagined Shaun Milano, Senior Director Applications Marketing, and Carsten Himmele, Segment Marketing Manager, both at Allegro Microsystems, discuss the company’s recent product innovations, which include new current sensors and fan driver ICs delivering improved performance and energy efficiency for automotive and industrial applications and new TMR current sensors providing stable and lossless current measurements with superior electrical noise immunity in compact designs.

Eumetrys measures up to industry challenges Yannick Bedin, CEO of Eumetrys, discusses the company’s metrology expertise, looking at the ways in which it is helping its customers to address the key challenges and opportunities they face within the semiconductor industry – with advanced packaging, compound semiconductors and the need for faster and more accurate solutions some of the main drivers.

Reversible computing and near zero-energy silicon chips Mike Frank, Senior Scientist and Rodolfo Rosini, CEO, both at Vaire Computing, explain how reversible computing, as an alternative to classic computing, performs calculations without destroying information in the process (i.e., generating heat), reducing energy consumption and the need for cooling. Both are excited by the potential of the technology to meet AI’s ever-increasing computing and energy demands.

Redefining automation in electronics manufacturing Gustavo Sepulveda, Process Automation Business Head for Panasonic Connect, discusses outlines the company’s new NPM-GW Modular Placement Machine - with advanced features, including real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and enhanced versatility in component handling, the NPM-GW ensures seamless operation and maximized overall equipment effectiveness. Highlights include: high-speed precision, enhanced component versatility, Autonomous Factory integration and smart feeder solutions.

Atom-thin semiconductors to tackle AI's surging energy costs Sir Colin Humphreys, Professor of Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, explains that a team of UK scientists at Queen Mary University of London, University of Nottingham and University of Glasgow has received a £6 million EPSRC programme grant, “Enabling Net Zero and the AI Revolution with Ultra-Low Energy 2D Materials and Devices (NEED2D),” to develop energy efficient, atomically-thin semiconductors to dramatically reduce the electricity demand from AI data centres and high-performance computing.

CHIPDIPLO project seeks to strengthen European semiconductor industry Mathieu Duchâtel, Director of international studies at Institut Montaigne and Project Director of the recently launched Chips Diplomacy Support Initiative (CHIPDIPLO), shares his expert insights on the geopolitics of the global semiconductor industry, with particular reference to how the EU, in getting ready to work on a new CHIPS Act, needs to base its industrial policy measures on a reliable understanding of the various risks facing the sector. Mathieu explains the role that the CHIPDIPLO project will play in ensuring a more cohesive and collaborative approach for Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem, vital to strengthen its resilience and competitiveness.

DC-DC power modules help to bridge the 48V/12V transition Maury Wood, VP Strategic Marketing at Vicor, discusses how power delivery networks (PDNs) are making a decisive shift from 12V to 48V architectures to take advantage of higher efficiency, but that seizing this opportunity presents many power system design challenges for legacy systems that have been optimized around 12V architectures for decades. Vicor has addressed this challenge by launching the DCM3717 and DCM3735 DC-DC power modules to enable power system designers to deploy high-performance 48V power delivery networks for legacy 12V loads and achieve significant size, weight and efficiency benefits.

Improving the renewable energy efficiency and optimisation Ivan Llaurado, Chief Revenue Officer at Diamfab, explains how the new collaboration MoWiLife is uniting 10 leading science and industry organizations including Diamfab, synthetic diamond semiconductor wafer producer. The EU-backed project explores the use of power electronics and third generation semiconductors to improve the efficiency and optimization of renewable energy. Its objective is a sustainable, secure, resilient and affordable energy supply for Europe.

Yole Group shares expert insights on the power module packaging industry Shalu Agarwal, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Power Electronics and Battery at Yole Group, shares expert insights on the power module packaging industry, covering the EV market alongside other industrial applications, how SiC-based power modules benefit high-efficiency and high-reliability applications compared to traditional silicon modules and how the recent slowdown in the EV industry is impacting the power module market. Shalu also highlights some of the many power module market technology innovations being developed and also discusses the geography of the power module market.

Wafer handling solutions evolve for new materials and applications Stefan Detterbeck, Director of Sales & Marketing, mechatronic systemtechnik, discusses the company’s recent attendance at SEMICON China, going on to explain the increasing importance of ultra-thin and fragile wafer handling solutions, especially for power electronics and compound semiconductors.

Partnership drives supplier resilience and agility Talal Abu-Issa, CEO and Co-Founder of Beebolt, explains how Beebolt, the AI-led collaboration platform for global trade, is partnering with SEMI to help revolutionise supplier operations in the semiconductor industry. Together, Beebolt and SEMI will share critical insights and resources with SEMI’s over 3,000 member companies via the SEMI Supply Chain Management (SCM) initiative, helping reinforce supplier capabilities for a more robust supply chain.

Crescendo increases power density possibilities Eric Pittana, Senior Director of Global Marketing and EMEA Sales for Empower Semiconductor, discusses the forthcoming OCP EMEA Summit, which serves as a platform where global technical leaders tackle the issues related to data centre sustainability, energy efficiency and heat reuse in the region, offering valuable insights as to how the sector is responding to both the need for more compute power and sustainability objectives. Eric also explains that Empower will be showing the latest advancements to its Crescendo vertical power delivery solution - the platform is now complete, so at OCP EMEA the company will show the full chipset and provide demos of a) thermal performance and b) transient response.

AI data crucial to shaping an agile, robust supply chain strategy Ankur Gupta, Senior Director of Product Management for Model N High Tech products, discusses why supply chain disruptions and uncertainties are the top factors impacting revenue management strategy this year within the semiconductor sector. He explains how manufacturers must maintain control and agility to navigate this volatile landscape, with the focus being on prioritising supply chain transparency, reimagining contract structures, developing contingency-based pricing models and, above all, ensuring access to high quality data (and the subsequent analytics) to help shape a successful supply chain strategy.

STILE technology strengthens US semiconductor packaging advancements Ron Huemoeller, CEO of Saras Micro Devices is bringing its expertise in power delivery solutions to two high-impact semiconductor research projects, each awarded $100 million under the U.S. Department of Commerce CHIPS National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP). By integrating its STILE™ technology, Saras is helping drive advancements in power efficiency and chiplet integration for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI applications.

Terecircuits shares material science innovations for advanced packaging applications Wayne Rickard, Terecircuits CEO, outlines the company’s decision to join the US’s National Semiconductor Technology Center, contributing its considerable expertise in the synthesis, characterization and delivery of polymers, encapsulants and thin film coatings for advanced packaging. Wayne explains that, in working alongside industry leaders across the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem, Terecircuits can accelerate the development of advanced material solutions for heterogeneous integration and, in so doing, is helping to tackle critical challenges in high-density, high-performance chip manufacturing.

NIL and MEMS - a powerful combination Thomas Achleitner, Business Development Manager at EV Group, gives us a preview of the paper he is presenting at the forthcoming AngelTech event: ‘Leveraging NIL for µLED Lens Packaging’, explaining why NIL is particularly suited for this application, and other process steps that NIL could cover. He also explains about the company’s NIL Photonic Competence Center and talks through the recently launched next-generation version of its GEMINI automated production wafer bonding system for 300-mm wafers.

Revolutionising semiconductor design Andy Nightingale, Vice President Product Management & Marketing at Arteris, discusses exciting developments at the company: the launch of FlexGen, smart network-on-chip IP accelerating chip design by up to 10x, enhancing engineering efficiency by 3x and with AI-driven heuristics reducing wire length by up to 30% the immediate availability of the latest generation of Magillem Registers technology for SoC integration automation, featuring significant advancements to performance, capacity, standards support, and usability and the news that Nextchip has licensed Arteris’ FlexNoC 5 interconnect IP with Functional Safety for its EFREET1 project for automotive vision.

Streamlining electronics system development Ted Pawela, VP, Head of Customer Success at Renesas, introduces the Renesas 365, Powered by Altium, platform, which promises to revolutionise embedded system development - too often restricted by manual component searches, fragmented documentation and siloed teams. Ted explains how Renesas 365 integrates hardware, software, and lifecycle data into a single digital environment, to streamline workflows, accelerate time to market, ensure digital traceability and real-time insights, and improve decision-making from concept to deployment.

New SMU helps semiconductor device development Edwin Luijks, Product Manager at Yokogawa Test&Measurement, talks through the company’s new AQ2300 series high-performance, modular, high-speed SMU (Source Measure Unit) offering high-quality pulse generation alongside high-precision voltage/current generation and measurements. Thanks to its inherent productivity and expandability characteristics, the 2-channel SMU module also saves time and space when performing the typically complex measurement functions essential for semiconductor devices.

China, geopolitics and the global semiconductor industry Doug Sparks, CEO of M2N Technologies LLC, a consulting firm specializing in semiconductors, MEMS and sensors, including their supply chains, discusses geopolitics and supply chains, with particular reference to China, AI, sustainability and skills – sharing his considerable knowledge and experience of the global semiconductor industry. Doug has recently published a book on his ‘specialist subject’: ‘A Decade In The Chinese Semiconductor Industry: An American’s Story, which provides insight into the semiconductor and MEMS industry in China – technology, growth, historical background, IP protection strategies, business tips and more.

SemiQ launches 1200 V Third-Generation SiC MOSFET Bruce Dickinson, Director of North America Sales at SemiQ, discusses the company’s newly launched QSiC 1200V MOSFET, a third-generation SiC device that shrinks the die size while improving switching speeds and efficiency. The device is 20% smaller versus QSiC’s second-generation SiC MOSFETs and has been developed to increase performance and cut switching losses in high-voltage applications. SemiQ is targeting a diverse range of markets including EV charging stations, solar inverters, industrial power supplies and induction heating.

SMU optimised for testing emerging nano/2D semiconductor devices Chuck Cimino, Senior Product Manager for Lake Shore Cryotronics, explains the company’s new test instrument optimised for characterizing nanoscale and other low-power semiconductor devices. The new SMU-10 Source Measure Unit expands the module offering of Lake Shore’s MeasureReady M81-SSM Synchronous Source Measure (SSM) System and enables engineers to easily source and measure signals that would otherwise be swamped by electrical noise. Primary applications include I-V characterization of transistors used in specialized sensors, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), quantum computer readout electronics, and emerging specialized and integrated circuit nanoscale semiconductor-based devices.

Optimism overrides any causes for concern Philip Schluter, and Oliver Markl, both Partners at the leading European M&A and Debt Advisory firm, Pava Partners, discuss the state of the semiconductor industry – its size, its geographical and geopolitical strengths and weaknesses across Asia, Europe and North America, some of the key market drivers – the good and the not so good, concluding that there is every reason to be optimistic as to the future.

Imec demonstrates core building blocks of a scalable, CMOS-fab compatible superconducting digital technology Anna Herr, scientific director at imec USA Florida, explains how record-performing NbTiN-based interconnects, Josephson junctions, and MIM capacitors open doors to energy-efficient compute systems for AI and HPC.

The world’s first silicon photonic chip for FHE Nick New, CEO of Optalysys, explains how the company enables the future of secure compute by processing encrypted data at scale, without it being decrypted. It does this by using the power of advanced silicon photonics to enable Fully Homomorphic Encryption, a cryptographic technology to allow organisations to securely commercialise their data, providing several significant advantages to traditional electronic semiconductors.