February 25, 2026

Chiplets 2026: Where Are We Today? At the Chiplet Summit, Jim Handy and Jawad Nasrullah forecast rapid chiplet adoption to accelerate AI. Handy traced packaging's evolution from MCMs and stacked die to HBM, hybrid bonding, and AMD's V-Cache, questioning what truly qualifies as a chiplet. Semiconductor Engineering

Sponsor BGA Component Rework Simplified When you're confronted with tough BGA rework, who do you turn to? Discover the #1 resource used by military contractors. We have solutions for all your BGA rework and repair needs. Circuit Technology Center

VIEWPOINT 2026: Melissa Grupen-Shemansky, CTO and VP of Technology Coalitions, SEMI Advanced packaging (AP) and heterogeneous integration (HI) now define the industry's trajectory as traditional scaling reaches its limits. The shift to multi-die architectures, chiplets, and 3D stacking is accelerating, driven by insatiable compute demand across AI, high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, and ... SEMI

Eliminating Interfacial Delamination in High-Power Automotive Devices This study demonstrates that coating power devices with APTES adhesion promoter after wire bonding eliminates interfacial delamination, providing a simpler alternative to lead frame roughening technology. Technical Paper

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South Korean Fabless Sector Hit by 2025 Losses as AI Lifts Foundry Costs and China Competition Grows South Korea's fabless chipmakers face deepening losses as 64% post operating deficits, hit by rising AI-driven foundry costs, EDA fees and Chinese price pressure. Seoul is launching the M.AX Alliance and a 1 trillion won AI chip project to shore up the sector. TrendForce

NVIDIA, Apple Reportedly Court Korean HBM, NAND Talent with Six-Figure Pay Amid AI Memory Boom U.S. tech giants including NVIDIA, Apple and Google are aggressively recruiting South Korean HBM experts from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, offering salaries above $300,000, as a global AI memory talent war intensifies. TrendForce

Sponsor Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors This white paper explains why die-on-tab is critical for GaN and GaAs RF power devices, improving heat dissipation, reliability, and system life. Download now. StratEdge Corporation

Technical Papers Alpha Particle Emissions: An Overlooked Risk for Soft Errors in Advanced Packaging Revolutionizing IC Packaging with High-Density RDL Technology EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors: Enabling Advanced RF Power Systems Package Assembly Design Kits: The Future of Advanced Package Design Novel Molded FCBGA Package Platform For Highly Reliable Automotive Applications Eliminating Interfacial Delamination in High-Power Automotive Devices MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor Ultra-Thin Wafer Handling Brewer Science temporary wafer bonding systems allow for safe handling and transport of ultrathin wafers during rigorous backside processing steps. Brewer Science

AI demand to boost ChipMOS spending ChipMOS Technologies Inc will sharply increase capital spending to expand advanced packaging capacity as AI and data center demand surges. Backed by long-term contracts, it raised service prices and posted its strongest quarterly earnings in nine quarters. Taipei Times

Meta strikes AI chip deal with AMD days after committing to deploy millions of Nvidia GPUs A week after striking a massive deal with Nvidia, Meta signed a multiyear agreement with AMD to deploy up to 6GW of AI chips. The performance-based pact, including equity warrants, marks a transformational expansion of AMD's AI ambitions and infrastructure scale. CNBC

Sponsor Dedicated Tool for Process Development Advanced plating capability at Uyemura Tech Center: Process Development, UBM, pilot production. ENIG, ENEPIG, EPIG/EPAG, RAIG immersion gold; all substrates. On-site analysis. Uyemura

Intel partners with AI chip startup SambaNova after acquisition talks reportedly failed Intel is investing in SambaNova Systems and adopting its AI chips in a multiyear partnership to challenge Nvidia. Backed by a $350 million funding round, the alliance aims to boost AI chip sales and expand cloud deployments. CNBC

Research Bits: Feb. 24 Researchers at Rice University, Sungkyunkwan University and UC Santa Barbara unveiled advanced diamond growth, thermally engineered ferroelectric transistors and high-efficiency microLEDs, improving heat control, stability and optical performance for AI and data centers. Semiconductor Engineering

Sponsor Cleaning Silicone and Hydrocarbon Residue Using Atmospheric Plasma Residue from dicing tape and silicone trays can hinder chip bonding. ONTOS effectively cleans surfaces before bonding. Read more. Ontos

Semidynamics Becomes 3-nm Ready, Moves Europe Toward Hardware Sovereignty Semidynamics is expanding into full-stack AI infrastructure and has taped out 3-nm designs with TSMC. Leveraging open RISC-V IP and EuroHPC collaborations, it aims to strengthen Europe's digital sovereignty with homegrown AI silicon and integrated hardware solutions. EE Times

Samsung foundry's Q1 utilization rate surpasses 80% Samsung Electronics Co. boosted foundry utilization above 80 percent in the first quarter, driven by mass production of the Exynos 2600 for the upcoming Galaxy S26. Rising AI and 2-nanometer orders are expected to restore non-memory profitability later this year. Pulse

Sponsor Micro Dispensing Technology White Paper The trend toward micro-dispensing technology increases as electronic assembly's shrink & component packages decrease in size. DL Technology

AI Impact Summit: From Minerals to Models, India Stakes Its AI Claim At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, India pledged over $400 billion to build the full AI value chain, joined the U.S.-led Pax Silica coalition, and partnered with OpenAI, Tata Group, Infosys, and Anthropic to boost minerals, chips, compute, and enterprise AI adoption. EE Times

Sponsor Hermetic Package Automation with HDHS® Technology Enables Seam Sealing with industry standard tooling including Auer carriers and custom carriers including non-standard square trays. Rapid switchover from one carrier tooling to the next is a PC program change. MicroCircuit Laboratories, LLC