(July 8, 2008) ST FLORIAN, AUSTRIA — EV Group(EVG)announced the order and successful installation of its 300-mm bonding, alignment, and photoresist fully automatic processing tools at ST Microelectronics'(ST) 300-mm through-silicon-via (TSV) pilot line in Crolles, France. The company says the tools will be used in the manufacture of CMOS imaging sensors (CIS) Using TSV technology.
Industry experts anticipate that the first products to feature TSV technology are reportedly expected to hit the market in 2008 and will include flash memory and image sensors, similar to what ST is developing with the help of EVG’s 300-mm tools.
“ST is committed to accelerating the manufacturing of 3D TSV-based devices into high volume.” Says Gareth Bignell, program manager, 300-mm equipment selection, STMicroelectronics. “As such, we’re turning to trusted suppliers, like EVG, who can help us maintain our competitive edge by minimizing manufacturing risks, while increasing the speed of implementation and time to market.”
EVG has been actively involved in bringing this TSV technology to market commercialization. Key to this effort, the company is a founding member of the EMC-3D international consortium, which is chartered with developing the 3D market infrastructure by demonstrating a cost-effective, manufacturable, stackable TSV interconnection technology.
“We believe TSV technology holds tremendous potential and we are poised and committed to being a key player in this space,” said Paul Lindner, EVG’s executive technology director, citing this milestone order from ST as a testament to EVG’s ability to meet the chipmaker’s performance, uniformity and repeatability demands.
According to Lindner, a number of factors contributed to the company’s recent win with ST over the competition such as its NanoSpray photoresist coating processing capabilities for steep topographies, along with its IQ Aligner’s lithography backside alignment capabilities. EVG reports that the ST order also included its EVG150 Coater and EVG150 Developer.
EVG was named a finalist in this year’s Advanced Packaging Awards for its NanoSpray coating process.