The 2017 3D InCites Awards program has turned out to be the most exciting yet! We had as many as seven nominees in some fields (supplier of the year), and tallied just over 17,529 votes in total! We also saw a considerable increase in nominees using social media to promote their participation in this year’s event. As heterogeneous integration, fueled by advanced packaging and 3D integration, moves to the forefront of the semiconductor industry, we are excited to see the 3D InCites Awards program grow in prestige to become one of the most coveted additions to a company’s trophy case. The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found here.
As in previous years, the 5th edition of the 3D InCites Awards Ceremony was held not only to acknowledge those who have made significant contributions to the advancement of heterogeneous integration but also to benefit a cause that we deem most worthy. In the past, proceeds have benefited graduates of SEMI High Tech U, as well as the Frances B. Hugle Engineering Scholarship. This year, we are proud to support G1ve A Buck Fund, with all proceeds from the evening to benefit a #KidSizeCure for Childhood cancer.
Thanks to our platinum sponsors, KLA-Tencor and EV Group, as well as participating sponsors, UnitySC and Amkor Technologies Inc. Without your generous support, this event would not have been possible. I’d also like to thank all those who made generous donations to this year’s event, especially Brewer Science, SPTS Technologies, Rudolph Technologies, and Diane Scheele.
We are honored to announce this year’s winners:
Device of the Year
InFO PoP – TSMC
A device architecture that was developed and qualified for high volume production in record time. The announcement of its use in the A10 processor in September 2016 paved the way for fan-out applications to be used in mobile products in high volumes. It single-handedly changed market reports for FOWLP adoption.
Engineer of the Year
Dusan Petranovic
Mentor, A Siemens Business
Dusan has worked diligently with major foundries and OSATs to enable 2.5D and FO-WLP designs. The Mentor software he developed assures that multiple dies co-exist peacefully in an IC package. He developed a significant part of Mentor’s recently announced die – package – board high-density advanced pPackaging (HDAP) design flow.
Process of the Year
Direct Bond Interconnect
Invensas, a Subsidiary of Xperi
DBI technology is a low-temperature hybrid wafer bonding solution that allows wafers to be bonded with exceptionally fine pitch 3D electrical interconnect without requiring bond pressure. DBI 3D interconnect can eliminate the need for thru silicon vias (TSVs) reducing die size and cost while providing a roadmap to pixel level interconnect for future generations of image sensors.
Fabless of the Year
Invensas, a subsidiary of Xperi
Invensas technologies Zibond and DBI are at the forefront of enabling the adoption of wafer-to-wafer, die-to-die and die-to-wafer bonding in the volume production of image sensors, MEMS, 3D IC and other semiconductor packaging applications.
Foundry of the Year
GLOBALFOUNDRIES
GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ advanced packaging and test solutions provide a direct path to power, performance, cost and form-factor optimized solutions. Capabilities include novel wafer level fan-out solutions (HD-FO); non-monolithic integrated solutions (2.5/3D), 2.5D silicon interposers, high bandwidth memory / advanced memory integration with stacked memories integrated on an interposer, parallel interface, Hybrid memory cube (standalone memory, serial interface) and 3D TSV at advanced nodes.
OSAT of the Year
NANIUM S.A.
NANIUM S.A. is a world-class provider of semiconductor assembly, packaging, test, engineering and manufacturing services. A leader in 300mm wafer-level packaging, both fan-In/WLCSP and fan-out/WLFO, NANIUM offers in-house capabilities for the entire development chain, from design to multiple WLP technologies, and the flexibility to tailor and test solutions that respond to the most demanding customer requirements. In recognition of NANIUM’s market-leading role in fan-out, Amkor Technology announced in early 2017 that it will acquire NANIUM to enhance Amkor’s position as one of the leading providers of WLP and WLFO packaging solutions.
Suppliers of the Year (Tied)
Mentor, A Siemens Business
Mentor was nominated for introducing the OSAT Alliance Program, with the goal of jump-starting the OEM/design industries’ ability to adopt the latest IC packaging technologies. By creating an open, no cost program, the world’s OSATs can access state of the art design tools, technical expertise and expert support to help them define and build design flow, Assembly Design Kits and Process Design Kits that will be made public their customers.
Brewer Science
Brewer Science’s wafer-level packaging materials have enabled device manufacturers and assemblers to reduce the form factor and increase the efficiency of their products. Spearheading the temporary wafer bonding market with its chemical release platform in 2004, Brewer Science has had multiple generations of products that have increased throughput, performance, and yield rates, from chemical to thermal slide, and today with mechanical and laser release systems.
Startup of the Year
KOBUS
A spin-out of the former Altatech after its acquisition by Fogale Group, KOBUS was launched during SEMICON Europa 2016. The company has developed a unique deposition technology called F.A.S.T. for Fast Atomic Sequential Technology. They also developed hybrid reactor between ALD and CVD, with plasma enhanced capability. Offering thick and conformal deposition capability at high throughput and compatible with low thermal budget constraints its technology was designed to answer the future needs in thin film deposition of advanced packaging.
Research Institute of the Year
imec
In imec’s Industrial Affiliation Program on 3D System Integration, imec’s own staff works alongside engineers from industrial partners, key suppliers, and leading academic partners towards radical innovation and pre-competitive development. In the field of 3D, imec has made ground-breaking contributions, for example in the areas of TSV processing, micro-bump interconnect and scaling, temporary and permanent die and wafer bonding, 3D design, testing and probing, design-for-test and the standardization thereof, the impact of 3D structures on FETs, thermal management, chip-package interaction, reliability, and cost modeling.
Lifetime Achievement
Paul Enquist, Invensas, a subsidiary of Xperi
As a co-founder and CTO of Ziptronix, Paul was a key inventor of ZiBond and Direct Bond Interconnect (DBI) – fundamental technologies enabling the world’s most advanced 3D stacked CMOS image sensors and RF antenna switch shipping in multiple generations of smartphones around the world. These platform technologies are now migrating into a wide range of other high volume semiconductor applications including MEMS, RF SAW and BAW filters, fingerprint sensors, memory, and SoC, among others, and are poised to be the interconnect foundation of future 3D electronics, allowing the industry to scale beyond Moore’s Law.
Thanks to all those who participated in this year’s event. We look forward to year!
