In 2007, when I was managing editor at the now defunct Advanced Packaging Magazine, we went out on a limb in our January Industry Forecast to declare, as our cover story: Advanced Packaging Saves the World! In 2008, we tempered that declaration to Advanced Packaging Drives the Industry! By 2009, we were in the midst of a downturn, and the January Cover Story was titled Weathering the Storm. Halfway into January, the magazine folded.
Despite that, I never lost faith in the promise of advanced packaging. I staked my career on it by launching 3D InCites in July 2009. Were we clairvoyant? I’d like to think we were just paying attention. Fan-out wafer-level packaging and 3D integration technologies were in the early stages of development, and we followed them closely. While most of the semiconductor industry was still in hot pursuit of Moore’s Law, EUV lithography, and 450mm wafers, we were focused on through-silicon via (TSV) fabrication and emerging developments in hybrid bonding.
Nonetheless, it was never really the packaging part that would save the world. It was the emerging advances in interconnect technology that caught the attention of the semiconductor industry as traditional CMOS scaling slowed. How do we improve power, performance, area, and cost? Chiplets are the answer and advanced interconnect processes that make them possible. Imec’s Luc Van den hove calls it CMOS 2.0. We call it Interconnectology.
Now, as regions around the world race to be leaders in semiconductor manufacturing, they also recognize that advanced packaging and interconnectology are the keys to it all. The semiconductor industry and governments worldwide recognize this. Investments in advanced packaging innovation were the big stories in 2024 and will continue to be so in 2025. That’s why we dedicated a special cover section to Advanced Packaging Around the Globe in this issue of the 3D InCites Yearbook.
Our newest technology blogger, Jillian McNichol, kicks things off with her article, How Arizona is Growing its Advanced Packaging Capabilities. She paid visits to several of our members located in the Greater Phoenix area to learn how the state’s investments are impacting them. In US-JOINT Consortium: Strengthening Semiconductor Innovation Across Borders, 3D inCites intern, Avery Gerber interviews our community members participating in this collaboration organized by Resonac. Dean Freeman provides his market researcher perspective on advanced packaging in Asia. Spoiler Alert: the region still reigns supreme for advanced packaging. I report back from visits to two member companies that are expanding operations in the Midwest and East Coast: NHanced Semiconductors in Odon, Indiana, and Raleigh, North Carolina; and Onto Innovation with its PACE Center in Massachusetts.
This special section also features contributed articles by members of the 3D InCites community. IBM’s Dr. Scott Sikorski provides an update on advanced packaging in the Northeast Corridor. EV Group’s Paul Lindner helps us navigate the European chip renaissance. Frank Windrich and Juliana Panchenko celebrate Fraunhofer IZM-ASSID’s 15th anniversary with the article, Fraunhofer: The White House of Advanced Packaging.
The issue also features contributions on other topics that were top-of-mind for 2024. You’ll get an update on the PFAS situation from Julia Freer Goldstein. Jim Straus, of ACM Research writes about what’s driving the move to panel-level packaging. Tony Mastroianni and Todd Burkholder, Siemens EDA bring you the latest update on taking 3D IC heterogeneous integration mainstream.
Isabella Drolz, Comet Yxlon writes about closing the gap on the European talent shortage. Henkels’ Ram Trichur describes the benefits of attending industry events, and Texas A&M senior, Camden McCrea, shares his experience as an intern with IMAPS and attending the IMAPS Symposium.
Simon McElrea, who, along with Scott Jeweler, helped coin the words interconnectology and interconnectologist, once explained that to him, interconnectology means more than a toolbox of interconnect solutions – it means inter-company collaboration.
We couldn’t agree more. That’s why 3D inCites is more than just a platform. It’s a community of interconnectologists. So we’ve launched some networking events adjacent to major conferences to foster that community feel. In March, in addition to our annual 3D InCites Awards ceremony, we held the first Backyard Olympics in collaboration with the IMAPS Device Packaging Conference. In November, the day before SEMICON Europa, we celebrated all things interconnectology at the 3D InCites Member Stammtisch and the inaugural Interconnectology Eisstockschiessen Invitational hosted by LQDX. Check out the Year in Pictures to see how much fun we had making connections at all these events. We’re already looking forward to continuing these traditions in 2025.
So in more ways than one, this issue celebrates all things interconnectology. Will it save the world? Who knows. But one thing is for sure, we’re going to have fun trying. ~ FvT
This editorial first appeared in the 2025 3D InCites Yearbook. You can read the full issue here.
