LATEST TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES IN

MICROELECTRONICS AND TRANSITION TO

SUBMITTED BY:
KIM RAINER D.G. MUNSAYAC
2013-08194-MN-0

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. RAFFY QUIÑONES
 Microelectronics is a subdivision of the field of electronics that deals with very small

and microscopic elements to manufacture electronic components. As the name implies,

it relates to the study and manufacture, as well as microfabrication, of very small

electronic designs and components. Typically, these devices are made from

semiconductor materials. Microelectronics, microprocessors in particular, and the

microcomputers of which they are a part of, have the capability to perform complex data

processing tasks. Because of these and the increasing demand for inexpensive and

lightweight equipment, microelectronics has been evolving rapidly as one of the most in-

demand in the field of electronics.

For the past decade, the technological progress has been an important factor in

the advancement of modern society by supplying better quality goods to the field.

Innovation of these technologies, from the first ever invention up to the present

developments, has shaped the industry of semiconductor as well as the field of

electronics as a whole. These technologies would not exist if not for microelectronics to

be a highly developed and researched science as it is today. In this paper, the latest

breakthroughs from years 2015 to 2018 in the microelectronics technology will be

discussed and be further explained as to how it will impact the future of microelectronics

industry.

According to Frost & Sullivan (2015), “Demand for low cost devices with improved

performance characteristics will keep innovation ecosystem active.” For the year 2015,

wearable and flexible electronics are the rising technologies in the field of
microelectronics. The development of microelectronics technology is evolving because of

the increase in use of smart devices and the anticipated adoption of wearable

technologies. As the demand for cheaper yet powerful devices that are capable of low

power consumption, high-speed data connectivity and increased efficiency is

continuously increasing, the pace of innovation will remain steady. The following were the

top technologies in microelectronics for the year of 2015:

• Wearable Electronics • Wireless Charging

• Flexible Electronics

• Near-Field Communication

• Smart Lighting
• Transparent Display • Smart Haptics and Touch

• Brain-Computer Interface • Solid-State Lighting

• Encapsulation Technologies

Wearable electronics had high impact on consumer and healthcare applications

while the development of greener solutions had help from LED lighting along with

technologies such as sensors and wireless communications. Short distance wireless

charging of multiple devices was also developed in the year of 2015. Compliance with
global standards was a concern then with the emergence of more companies in the

microelectronics industry. The penetration of microelectronics across industries was also

lessen because of supply-chain complexity and imposing factors such as the decreasing

lifetime of electronic products and dynamic market needs.

Because of microelectronics’ versatility and being highly dynamic, the field is

experiencing high level of technology innovation. In the year 2017, most of the

technologies that emerged and became in-demand were those environmentally yet

economically friendly devices esp. those with small form factor and low cost. Being an in-

demand field of electronics, more industries were opening up opportunities for

development of existing technologies and producing new products to the market. The

following are the top technologies that were developed and rose up in the industry in the

year 2017:
• Wearable Electronics • Micro-LED

• OLED Lighting • Wireless Charging

• Next Generation Data Storage

• Rapid Charging

• Holographic Display
• Smart Antenna • Flexible Hybrid Electronics

• Visible Light Communication

Microelectronics, while being along with the trends in technological advancements

across the world such as IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence), also

undergoes a phenomenal transformation. In the past year of 2018, many key innovations

that are sought to have high impact on the future technologies had emerged, developed

and been produced. Most of these technologies were on the sectors of data storage such

as hybrid cloud storage, next generation displays such as MicroLED displays, wireless
charging, flexible electronics, GaN-based power electronics and structural electronics. In

2018, the following are the top technologies and innovations that were developed into the

industry of microelectronics:

• AI chips • Micro-LED

• Non-volatile Memory Express

• GaNtronics

• Wireless Charging
• Flexible Electronics • VCSE Laser

• Hybrid Cloud Storage

• Structural Electronics
 Some of the listed top technologies for the part years of 2015-2018 are repeated

and some have just arrived and emerged in the industry. This just proves that

technologies and researches that are once done will not end and will just continue to be

used and be developed by future innovators that are taking every opportunity to make the

microelectronics industry grow and keep searching for more technologies that will help

the world in terms of the field of electronics. The microelectronics sector is in dire need of

more innovations that will impact the future of the industry, both environmentally and

economically.

The success of microelectronics in the future will be determined by the continuity

of more innovations, researches, manufacture of technologies and the cycle of

productivity of these technologies. With this cycle, the improvement on the trends of these

technologies and producing them comes first. After improving, it enables the expansion

of the markets and revenues in the industry which will also eventually enable larger

research and development and manufacturing investments for these microelectronics

technologies. And as the cycle goes on, it all comes back to more improvement and

production. The microelectronics technologies will still face challenges to keep the

innovations on trend. Future engineers and innovators, as well as the manufacturers,

investors and the consumers, all have to come hand in hand to keep the fire of

microelectronics industry and make the future technologies better for the future world.

As the globalization and modernization grows, more technologies are emerging

aside from microelectronics that was seen as the future of electronics. Nanoelectronics is
one of these technologies. Nanoelectronics refers to the use of nanotechnology in

electronic components. These components are often only a few nanometers in size.

However, the tinier electronic components become, the harder they are to manufacture.

In 1947, the first transistors built were only over a centimeter in size while the

smallest working transistor today is only 7 nanometers long, over 1.4 million times smaller

than the first ones. Billion-transistor processors are the result of these efforts where 20

billion transistor-based circuits are integrated into a single chip.

Below are some of nanoelectronics technologies that are being used and

developed today:

• Spintronics – it is the study and exploitation in solid-state devices of electron spin and

its associated magnetic moment, along with its electric charge. Spintronics also plays

a role that exploits quantum behavior for computing.

• Optoelectronics – these are devices that source, detect and control light which can

come in many shapes and forms. At this time of technology, highly energy-efficient

optical communications are increasingly in-demand. Materials like nanofibers, such

as light-emitting nanofibers, and carbon nanotubes have been used and especially
 graphene has shown potentials for optoelectronic devices.

• Displays – organic LEDs, electronic paper and other devices intended to show still

images, and field emission displays are three broad technology areas of display

technologies.

• Wearable & Flexible Electronics – wearable electronics does not come out of trend

because of the fast-growing array of trendy devices such as smart watches, fitness

bands and other advanced, next-generation health monitoring devices.

where nanoelectronics are used.

As of today, the field of electronics is experiencing the transition of technological

trends from microelectronics or the semiconductor industry to nanoelectronics

technology. Although most of the nanoelectronics devices are developments from the old

microelectronics technologies, the demand for research and more improvement and

development of nanoelectronics is continuously increasing. This is the time that

researchers and innovators should take the advantage to transitioning from electronics

solely based in classical physics to deal with quantum mechanics which influence most

design, device and architecture decisions when working at nano-length scales. Compared

to microelectronic devices, the most obvious difference is changing the devices and

technologies’ components into nano-sized scales which requires more work for the
industries to manufacture and produce. However, the smaller the size of these

components are, the more polished and refined the future devices and technologies will

become when out in the market. These developments will also lead to the success of the

future of the electronics technology industries.

• P.K. Chatterjee & R.R. Doering (1998); The Future of Microelectronics