Silvaco Group has enhanced its partnership with flash memory and chipset maker Micron Technology. Silvaco is a provider of TCAD (technology computer-aided design), EDA (electronic design automation) software, and SIP (system in package) solutions that enable efficient chip design and support AI.
The deal includes expanding the scope and timescale of Silvaco’s software license and support services, and securing a $5 million investment from Micron. “This reflects our partnership with Micron for the development of our FTCO digital twin modeling tools,” said Silvaco.
“We have combined our expertise in semiconductor technologies with machine learning and data analysis to develop an artificial intelligence-based solution named ‘fab technology co-optimization,’ or FTCO, for wafer-level fabrication facilities,” said Babak Taheri, Silvaco CEO.
FTCO uses manufacturing data to perform statistical and physics-based machine learning software simulations to create a computer model or “digital twin” of a wafer that can be used to simulate the fabrication process.
Customers can utilize this model, said Silvaco, to run simulation experiments to understand and enhance wafer yield, without the need to run physical wafers that can be time-consuming and expensive.
“Silvaco’s AI and digital twin solution is enabling us to accelerate our ground-breaking advancements in memory and storage,” said Gurtej Sandhu, principal fellow of technology pathfinding at Micron Technology.
Silvaco’s technology is used for process and device development across displays, power devices, memory, high performance computing, photonics, the Internet of Things, 5G/6G mobile, the automotive industry, and complex SoC (System-on-Chip) design. It is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has offices across North America, Europe, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Earlier this week, Micron launched a 2500 QLC NAND internal fit client product that’s faster than its 2550 TLC predecessor.
For its second quarter, Micron returned to profitability. For the three months ended February 29, revenues of $5.8 billion were generated, 57.6 percent higher than a year ago. There was a net profit of $793 million versus a $2.3 billion net loss for the same quarter a year ago. The firm’s technology is in big demand as organizations scale up their AI strategies.
