UBM lays the groundwork for building solder bumps; typically, multiple layers of various compatible metals are deposited and a thick photoresist is applied, followed by electroplating and photoresist. Excess metal is then etched away before bump reflow and completion. SEZ’s single-wafer wet process, which they claim to be the first in the bumping market, meets increasingly stringent performance requirements of the final etching step. The single-wafer tools control undercut to <3 µm per solder bump side and 1 µm per gold bump side, and boost overall uniformity down to <4% for UBM etch and RDL seed-layer etch on 300-mm wafers. Amkor chose the SEZ systems over their competitors because of performance in areas such as undercut control, etch uniformity, and local support, claims Daniel Teng, UST’s general manager. “SEZ is known for its products’ reliability and low cost-of-ownership &#8212 certainly, our existing SEZ tools have delivered convincing results,” says Teng.

(March 29, 2006) Jersey City, NJ &#8212 Cookson Electronics’ Shenzhen, China site recently earned three Business Management Certificates from the British Standards Institution (BSI) due to their performance in meeting stringent standards for the company’s Quality Management System (QMS) ISO 9001:2000, Environmental Management System (EMS) ISO 14001:2004, and Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Series OHSAS:18001 standards. John Broome, VP of Operations and Compliance, Asia-Pacific for BSI Management Systems, presented the certificates.