r/Semiconductors

My question doesn’t go against the rules I reviewed, so pretty please can you just allow this to just sit here for a little bit.

My husband is going to Semicon West, it falls on the week of our anniversary so the plan was to fly out with him and spend the weekend before and after doing things. However he’s telling me he will be completely unavailable during the week and that there will be evening things going on so we would only spend time on the weekend. I get that after hours things happen, but he’s a stay out till 2 AM kind of person. How do events generally go at Semicon West? Is there truly a large amount of carousing expected after hours late into the night? Do you really all do those late night parties to make connections, what kind of information am I being given here? I just want clarity and plan to make no issue with him regardless, I just want to know for the sake of knowledge and accuracy. I’m asking in this sub because people in here specifically are of the subset that may have attended this event and would know exactly how that event runs and what expectations are. I’m asking this with an open mind, no judging on my husband but a healthy dose of skepticism as alcohol tends to be a relationship problem at times. No harm will come to any husbands as a result of your answers lol. I’ll handle the relationship processing part of it and what it signifies if I have just been given a load of BS, I just am asking how these events tend to run and wanted outside sources giving their take on how it works. Perhaps the answers could also help people attending this event for the first time.

There's a whole lot of hype about quantum computing, but that is something else entirely. Why is there so little hype about photonic based computing? There's a handful of startups but they are very low key. Even in academia, there's a whole lot of hype about quantum computing but relatively little hype about optics based computation.

Can anyone with any insight into optics/photonics clue me in?

Title: How one engineer single-handedly altered the TSMC, Samsung, and SMIC 7nm timeline

Most semiconductor news focuses on trade bans, state subsidies, and multi-billion-dollar fabs. But the trajectory of the modern chip race was heavily shaped by a single individual: Liang Mong-song (梁孟松).

Here is a quick breakdown of how one R&D leader impacted three global chip giants over two decades:

• TSMC Era: As one of the core R&D directors, Liang helped steer TSMC toward copper lithography over IBM's approach, laying the foundation for TSMC's manufacturing dominance. After being bypassed for a promotion in 2009, he left the company.
• The Samsung Leap: Moving to South Korea, Liang spearheaded Samsung's shift straight to 14nm FinFET, allowing Samsung to temporarily beat TSMC to market and capture major orders for Apple and Qualcomm. This resulted in a landmark trade-secrets lawsuit in Taiwan.
• SMIC & The 7nm DUV Workaround: Joining SMIC in 2017, Liang rapidly raised 14nm yield rates. When US export controls blocked access to ASML's EUV machinery, Liang leveraged multi-patterning techniques on existing Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) equipment to achieve commercial 7nm production.

I put together a deep-dive visual documentary covering his career, the FinFET physics transition, and how SMIC pushed past EUV limitations:

Watch here:https://youtu.be/jHE3OetNf2U

Would love to hear your thoughts on how viable DUV multi-patterning remains for SMIC moving forward, or if the yield costs make it unsustainable long-term.

I'm an EE graduate from a good engineering university in Asia and currently work as a communications engineer. During undergrad I spent ~2.5 years in a hardware research lab.

Recently I got approached by a government organization that's trying to build a small Fabless IC design team. They apparently have a decent amount of funding and want a project that can show real results fairly quickly. They've tried a few things before, but apparently nothing really worked out.

Here's the funny part: they asked me to come up with project ideas.

I'm interested in IC design, but I'm honestly still pretty junior in the field. I have some relevant research experience, but I've never taped out a chip and have never taken a design through a complete ASIC flow. So I'm honestly not sure how qualified I am to decide what a new team should build.

Some ideas I've been thinking about are an LDPC/DSP accelerator, RISC-V SoC, hardware security IP, ADC/DAC, or some kind of communication accelerator. But I am such a rookie to take on these tasks.

So I'd really like some advice from people who've actually done this:

If you were in my position, what would you do?

Would you try to come up with a relatively simple project and help them get started? Or would you tell them they need experienced IC designers first? I don't think they would accept the latter, because they're so desperate to break into the IC industry.

There's also another possibility I'm considering: asking them to support me in getting proper graduate-level IC design/research experience, and then coming back with that experience to help build the team.

And for those who've done a first tapeout: what would you consider a realistic first project for a small team with funding but very little IC design experience?

I'm looking for honest advice, including if you think this whole situation is unrealistic.

I did my B.Tech in CSE and currently working. I am interested and want to do a M.Tech/M.S in semiconductors or something related to that. How should I proceed.

Thoughts on this meeting that’s happening that caused MU to drop?

Is the whole semi sector looking bearish?

We have openings for candidates with 2+ years of experience in PnP, functional validation, or PM management roles within the CPU/SoC Server team.
PNW relocation is required.
If you’re genuinely interested and have hands-on SoC/CPU validation and performance experience, ping me and I can share more details.

Unfortunately, our team is finding it challenging to identify the right candidates for these openings.

I recently accepted a field service engineering position, I am about a year out of college (ME grad) and have been working as a CAD grinder until a “real” engineering offer came my way. I am happy as the compensation is nice and such but I have worries that I will be pigeon holed as far as my career path is concerned. I left college with a great interest in thermal engineering, and was wondering if there is any hope still

Like I saw news but all articles mainly talk that they have expertise in ceramics so they are a good choice for semiconductors but a detailed technical explanation was given by no one

If anyone is involved in semiconductors or knows about this please do answer

I study micro and nanotechnology in germany. And ive been working as a research assistant role( fabrication and metrology in the cleanroom) for 18 months now. Im yet to take up my thesis. Looks like the funding has dried up , so im getting booted out. I’ve been having trouble finding interns or a student job outside my uni to get into the industry. But sadly no luck yet.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions to get actually land sumn.

Hello everyone! I'm a highschool graduate and im thinking of getting into this field, the problem is the universities im considering have this field as its own major instead of it being a field in a specific major.

for example: instead of majoring in EE and then getting into semiconductors, you just straight up get a degree in semiconductors engineering.

Please note that in my country, majoring in semiconductors engineering costs more than majoring EE or any other engineering that could get me in the semiconductors industry, and in some cases it can be more than double the cost

There's not a 100% chance that i will get into this major, and the same thing with other majors too as its not upto my hand. In this case, what should i do?

For PhDs in this industry.

Do you have 1 or 2 page resumes?

Hi guys,

Wanted to know by when google usually calls for loop round interviews after having 1st technical screening.

This post if for silicon validation (google)

I recently accepted a position as an Equipment Maintenance Technician at Samsung Semiconductor in Austin

I’m trying to get an idea of what I should realistically expect during my first month and how career progression works.

For anyone currently working at Samsung or who has worked there as an Equipment Maintenance Technician:
Do they ever cut your scheduled hours, especially when you’re new?

Is it common to get your full scheduled hours during the first few months?

1. How likely is it to get overtime?
2. Is OT usually available to new technicians, or do you have to be fully trained/qualified first?
3. How much OT do technicians typically get when it’s available?
4. What should I expect during my first month—training, shadowing, working on equipment, etc.?
5. How long does it usually take before you’re trusted to work more independently?
6. How does progression from Tier 1 to Tier 2 work?
7. Is Tier 2 typically something that takes 2-3 years, or can you move up faster if you perform well and become qualified on more equipment?
8. What specifically do managers look for when promoting someone to Tier 2?
9. Does taking on more equipment, certifications, troubleshooting ability, attendance, or performance affect 10. how quickly you can progress?
   11. And how is the workload do they work you to the bone like tesla?

I’m on a Pitman schedule, so I’m especially interested in how predictable the hours and OT opportunities are and how the career progression works.

Any advice from current/former Samsung equipment technicians would be greatly appreciated.

"Open-weight models lower adoption costs, expand developer communities and allow companies to work around constraints imposed by a lack of access to the most advanced chips. They are especially attractive to emerging markets but are gaining popularity among developers worldwide because of their cost efficiency and adaptability to different workloads.

Xi’s ambition is to accelerate the global proliferation of Chinese technology, build a stronger strategic foothold abroad, diversify China’s exposure to geopolitical risk and shape the global system more in China’s favour."

China’s open-source strategy is turning constraint into global reach. Countries adopting those models absorb Chinese technical standards over time. The more durable answer for the US is not only export controls, but a deliberate effort to develop strong open-weight models that can compete on performance, cost, and adoption.

Both in Bay Area and both and high-level IC roles (PM)

Package similar, everything else is similar. Which company has a higher technical ceiling in terms of future growth (not just stock) ?