(April 13, 2005) Morris Township, N.J. — As part of its product portfolio for semiconductor manufacturing, Honeywell announces the availability of its “wafer-thinning materials,” which will be produced at Honeywell’s new Electronic Materials manufacturing site in Chandler, Ariz., as well as at their Seelze, Germany facility.
“I am pleased to announce the availability of our new wafer-thinning materials because it demonstrates delivery on that plan and our commitment to provide customized, application-specific solutions to our customers,” says Barry Russell, VP and general manager of Honeywell Electronic Materials.
Wafer-thinning materials thin the wafer substrate upon which ICs are built to increase flexibility, allowing smaller chip packages or multiple chips in the same package, and improved chip performance due to increased heat dissipation. Modern chip applications require flexibility; for example, new “smart” cards, which are credit or debit cards with embedded chips. Without adequate flexibility, the embedded chips would quickly break during normal card use. Also, as electronic devices shrink in size, they require smaller chip packages. Wafer thinning is one way of reducing package size.
Semiconductor manufacturers also are seeking ways to dissipate the tremendous heat produced by today’s high-powered chips—wafer-thinning materials allow chips to function at higher speeds since the insulating silicon between the device and thermal management material is reduced.