January 21, 2011 — In a move that promises to provide increased performance and smaller size for portable electronics and other advanced systems, CEA-Leti signed a multiyear agreement with SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO. LTD. to develop advanced semiconductor packaging technology. They will focus on volume production of silicon interposers.
The work, which will be part of Leti’s broader efforts in advanced silicon substrates, will focus on silicon interposers, a technology that has existed for some time but that now offers a number of compelling advantages for next-generation applications. These passive intermediate layers can be used in several ways to boost the useable performance and reduce the footprint of advanced silicon chips, providing much of the benefit of 3D packaging without requiring wholesale changes to design and manufacturing processes.
Example applications include the mounting of multiple chips on a single interposer, and the use of interposers to route large numbers of input/output connections onto silicon dies that would otherwise be too small to accommodate them.
Engineers from SHINKO, headquartered in Nagano, Japan, will work alongside Leti personnel at the common lab, which will be located at Leti’s headquarters facility in Grenoble, France. Leti provides world-class facilities and expertise for experimentation and evaluation, plus the ability to integrate new technologies into existing high-volume manufacturing flows.
"This collaboration will combine the intelligence and creativity of fine technical staffs, and we expect the resulting advances to be quickly adopted into real-world applications," said Laurent Malier, CEO of Leti. "SHINKO has done the preceding development of the processing 3D silicon packaging technologies so far. SHINKO can accelerate development for mass production of the next-generation high-density substrate by the joint development with Leti," added Mitsuharu Shimizu, senior corporate officer of SHINKO.
CEA is a French research and technology public organization, with activities in four main areas: energy, information technologies, healthcare technologies and defence and security. Within CEA, the Laboratory for Electronics & Information Technology (CEA-Leti) works with companies in order to increase their competitiveness through technological innovation and transfers. CEA-Leti is focused on micro and nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems, to biology and healthcare or photonics. Nanoelectronics and microsystems (MEMS) are at the core of its activities. For more information, visit www.leti.fr.
SHINKO is an all-around manufacturer of semiconductor packages, notably lead frame and Plastic Laminated Packages (PLP). More information on SHINKO is available at http://www.shinko.co.jp/english/index.html
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