There’s no place like SEMICON West for a company to make a major announcement. After all, it is the semiconductor industry’s annual ‘coming out party’. My inbox was flooded with press releases this morning, and since my flight was delayed so much that I completely missed the SEMI press conference, I figured I’d make use of the time and I pick out the ones that would be of interest to 3D integration enthusiasts.
Direct bonding technology pioneer, Ziptronix announced it has licensed its technology for a cell phone handset application, once again demonstrating the technology capabilities beyond image sensors. This news comes on the heels of the company’s announcement at ECTC, that it was working in collaboration with a customer in 3D memory applications. Additionally, the company reports that it is in licensing discussions for a variety of 3D applications. I hope to learn more about this when I talk with Kathy Cook later this week.
On the equipment front, SUSS MicroTec introduced its next-gen 200mm automated coater/developer platform. According to the press release, the ACS200 Gen3 combines capabilities of its predecessor, the ACS200Plus with Gamma platforms, and can combine four wet process modules with up to 19 plates for high volume production. The goal is to bridge the R&D/HVM gap. While the tool targets applications in the Advance Packaging, LED and MEMS markets, as its a 200mm tool, I’m thinking it may be more focused on LEDS and MEMS, than 3D integration, but I thought I’d still mention it, and will find out the answer to that question at the 3D workshop tomorrow afternoon.
On the R&D front, imec announced it has entered into a research agreement with SK Hynix to generate “continued growth in memory and logic devices, advanced interconnects and 3D integration.” The two entities have an established collaboration on advanced lithography and advanced memory. Sungjoo Hong, Sr. VP and head of R&D, SK Hynix says joining imec’s research platforms on logic devices, advanced interconnects and 3D system integration will establish “a cornerstone to enable us to strengthen our research competence for the next generation technology. I plan to find out more on this from Ludo Deferm about it when we meet tomorrow.
In OSAT news, STATS ChipPAC announced it has take in its fcCuBE technology to HVM. FcCuBE features copper (Cu) column bumps, Bond-on-Lead (BOL) interconnection and Enhanced assembly processes, and was designed to reduce the cost of flip chip packaging while expanding its scalability to finer bump pitches. A stand-out feature is its ability to handle both standard mass reflow or thermo-compression bonding (TCB). It’s the TCB capability that makes it significant for advanced silicon nodes and through silicon via TSV interconnections. Learn more about FcCUBE from this video.
That’s about it for now. Be sure to stop by these company’s booths on the exhibitor floor, and tell them I sent you! ~ F.v.T.
