Issue

Global semiconductor sales reached $12.53 billion in December 2002, a 2.3 percent decrease from the $12.83 billion in revenue reported in November 2002, and a 23.1 percent increase from the $10.18 billion total recorded in December 2001.

While current economic conditions will affect all aspects of the semiconductor industry, the impact on the embedded field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) market should be minimal, according to In-Stat/MDR.

Traditional packaging, as we know it, is beginning to change. I have always divided packaging into either integrated circuit (IC) or systems packaging.

A series of low-volume ProFlow transfer heads reduce costs and enhance the precision of high-accuracy mass imaging, using small quantities of high-value materials. These include fine particle, low-alpha solder pastes and high gold content compounds used to create grid arrays and other features in advanced packages such as CSP and flip chip. These new additions are said to achieve high accuracy and repeatability in processes requiring individual deposits less than 200 mg.

As devices shrink and functionality or clock speed increase, the power density, in addition to power dissipation increases dramatically.

A growing number of semiconductor manufacturers use wafer bumping packaging technology to pack chips more closely together for such applications as cell phones, where space is at a premium.