Integrated circuit (IC) also called as chip or microchip is a semiconductor wafer on which thousands or millions of tiny resistors, capacitors, and transistors are fabricated. An IC can function as an oscillator, timer, amplifier, counter, computer memory, or microprocessor. In microelectronics, a three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) is an integrated circuit manufactured by stacking silicon wafers and/or dies. 3D IC mainly used in information and communication technology, military and consumer electronics industry.
Global 3D IC market is expected to witness a significant growth over the forecast period owing to growing demand of compact and high-performance IC in end-use industries. Increasing demand for solutions with improved performance and reduced response time and demand from consumer electronics and ICT are also anticipated to drive the 3D IC market over the forecast period. Furthermore, increasing number of portable devices such as smartphone, tablets or laptops are some of the major factors to drive adoption of 3D ICs near future. However, high cost and thermal conductivity & testing issues may pose a challenge to the market growth.
Based on product, 3D IC market has been segmented into LED, memories, MEMS & sensor, logic and others. 3D IC market was dominated by memories and MEMS & sensor segment and is expected to continue its dominance in the global market over the estimated period. LED is another key outlet for this market in 2016 and is expected to grow at a moderate rate due to rising adoption of LED products as it saves power consumption and offers efficiency.
3D IC market can be segmented based on the substrate into silicon on insulator (SOI) and bulk silicon. This market was dominated by silicon on insulator (SOI) segment in 2016 with substantial market share. Further, it is expected to continue its dominance in the global market over the forecast period. Bulk silicon segment is expected to exhibit considerable growth in the next few years. Wafer bonding is the leading fabrication process segment in this market. It is broadly used because it bonds the component without many complexities and reduces the size of the integrated chip and power consumption.
Some of the key applications of the 3D IC include information and communication technology, military, consumer electronics and others. Information and communication technology application segment held the largest market share for the 3D IC in 2016. This segment accounted for 26% market share of the total market. It is followed by consumer electronics and military segments. Consumer electronics is another key outlet of the market and is likely to grow with consistent rate due to rising demand for consumer electronics products with smaller size and enhanced performance.
In term of revenue, Asia Pacific emerged as one of the largest markets for 3D IC in 2016 and accounted for over 40% share of the total market. Some factors such as the stable economy and growing demand for consumer electronics devices will drive the growth of the 3D IC market in this region. North America is expected to witness robust growth during the forecast period. Europe is also expected to grow at significant rate in the years to come.
Some of the key players in the global 3D IC market include 3M Company, Tezzaron Semiconductor Corporation, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Xilinx, United Microelectronics Corporation, and STMicroelectronics amongst others.