Semiconductor Technology

Our semiconductor work focuses on the chip design, manufacturing and packaging innovations inside every connected device.

Semiconductor focus

Every phone, car, data center and robot runs on semiconductors. As chips shrink, specialize and stack in new ways, inventions in design, manufacturing and packaging decide how fast, efficient and affordable technology can be. We follow innovation across the semiconductor value chain and make it available through fair licensing.

Semiconductor innovation in everyday life

The semiconductor technologies we focus on sit inside nearly every electronic product. Here are a few of the ways they make a difference.

Smaller, Faster Chips

Advanced process technology that packs more transistors into less space.

Advanced Packaging

Stacking and chiplet techniques that combine specialized dies in one package.

Power Efficiency

Low-power designs that extend battery life and cut data-center energy use.

RF Front-Ends

Radio chips and filters that make 5G and Wi-Fi connections possible.

Image Sensors

Sensors that capture sharper photos and help vehicles and robots see.

Power Electronics

Chips that manage power for electric vehicles, chargers and renewable energy.

Featured

Advanced Packaging: Building Chips in 3D

As shrinking transistors gets harder and more expensive, the industry is building upward instead. This paper explains how 3D stacking and chiplet packaging combine specialized dies into a single high-performance package, and what that means for phones, PCs and AI data centers.

Explore our semiconductor focus areas in depth

Learn more about the research areas shaping semiconductors.

Sustainability in semiconductors

Chips power the digital world, and how they are designed and made affects energy use everywhere. Many of the semiconductor inventions we focus on help reduce that footprint:

Designs that deliver more performance per watt
Packaging that shortens the distance data has to travel
Power chips that waste less energy in conversion
Manufacturing advances that use materials more efficiently

Efficient semiconductors are better for device makers, for users and for the planet.

Our semiconductor focus

Our semiconductor work spans three connected areas.

Following what’s next in semiconductors

We follow research across chip design, manufacturing and packaging.

Monitoring advanced process and packaging research
Following RF, power and image-sensor innovation
Tracking new semiconductor materials

The standards behind semiconductors

The semiconductor inventions we focus on are found in the interface and packaging standards used across the industry.

UCIeChiplets

JEDECMemory & packaging

MIPIMobile interfaces

PCIeInterconnect

USB4High-speed I/O