In this talk, we will discuss the direction of semiconductor technology from digital, analog and radio frequency (RF) applications. We will first discuss CMOS technology and the ESD Technology Roadmap highlighting the trend in the semiconductor industry; this will be followed by a discussion on the trend in Silicon on Insulator, RF CMOS, strained Silicon, to FINFET devices. ESD trends and advances in RF CMOS, BiCMOS Silicon Germanium, Silicon Germanium Carbon, Gallium Arsenide, and RF MEMs will be reviewed. The presentation will also include the magnetic recording industry’s transition from MR heads, to tunneling MR (TMR) heads and the ESD implications. Electrostatic discharge issues associated with photomasks, and reticles in the mask product process will also be highlighted.

In IBM, Dr. Voldman was responsible for CMOS latchup since 1984, and ESD since 1991. He has been a member of IBM’s Bipolar SRAM development, CMOS DRAM, CMOS logic, and SOI technologies. He is presently in IBM’s BiCMOS Silicon Germanium, RF CMOS, power, and image processing technology teams.

Voldman served as the SEMATECH ESD Working Group Chairman (1995-2000) for the US semiconductor industry. He has served as the ESD Symposium General Chairman, and presently serving on the ESD Association Board of Directors, ESDA Education Committee, ESD Technology Roadmap Committee, ESD Standards Chairman for Transmission Line Pulse (TLP) testing and Very-Fast TLP (VF-TLP) testing, and all other ESD/latchup device standards committees.

Voldman initiated the “ESD on Campus” program to bring ESD lectures and tutorials to faculty and students internationally. The ESD lecture program has visited universities in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and United States. The ESD on Campus lecture program has provided visits and technical lectures at Jiao Tung University (Shanghai), Fudan University (Shanghai), Zheijang University (Hangzhou, China), Nanyang Technical University (NTU Singapore), National University of Singapore (NUS), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), National Taiwan University (NTU), National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU), Stanford University, University of Illinois Champaign Urbana (UIUC), University Wisconsin Milwaukee, (UWM), and University of Arizona (UA). He has also provided technical tutorials and lectures within China in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Suzhou. Steve Voldman serves on the technical program committees of the EOS/ESD Symposium, International ESD Workshop (IEW), Taiwan ESD Conference (T-ESDC, Hsinchu), International Conference on Electromagnetic Applications and Compatibility (ICEMAC, Taipei), International Physical and Failure Analysis (IPFA, Singapore), International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), and Bipolar/BiCMOS Technology Meeting (BCTM).

Voldman is an author of a three book series -- on ESD physics, ESD: Physics and Devices, a second text on ESD circuits, ESD: Circuits and Devices, and a new text ESD:RF Technology and Circuits, as well as a contributor to Silicon Germanium: Technology, Modeling and Design. He has written over 150 technical papers, and recipient of 156 issued US patents in the area of semiconductor technology, CMOS latchup and ESD.